Disc Details

Contents

Work Title	Composer
Stravinsky goes Bach and Schaathun goes Frescobaldi	Asbjørn Schaathun
Transcriptions of an Unknown Symphony	Asbjørn Schaathun
Vier Stücke - aus 6. Kleine Klavierstücke	Arnold Schoenberg	Listen
Vier Stücke - aus 6. Kleine Klavierstücke	Arnold Schoenberg	Listen
Seven Imperatives	Rolf Wallin

Reviews

• Wallin’s Seven Imperatives applies a wide range of 20th-century compositional styles. Seek begins with nods to both Debussy and Schoenberg. Push sounds as if the CD player was skipping or repeating, but it does weave a spell. Much of it is thoughtful, occasionally bursting into over-pedaled climaxes. Sink has long stretches of delicate single notes. Spin treads lightly at the extreme top and bottom of the keyboard. Stab is suitably violent and sudden, over in 30 seconds. Lean , at 8:24 the longest movement, is ethereal and slow; Karlsson is able to hold the musical line through many silences, which is quite a conjuring trick. Quit ties it all together in a mere 18 seconds. Although Seven Imperatives is the one Norwegian work here not written for Karlsson, he extracts an enormous amount of color from it, which suggests stunning technical command as well as sympathy for the work. Wallin should certainly get as much or more credit; composer and performer appear to be one united entity.
  
  James H. North, Fanfare
• the disc opens with Rolf Wallin’s Seven Imperatives and despite the demanding and almost boastful title, I found the music imperative indeed, fully matching the titles each movement gets: Seek, Push, Sink, Spin, Stab, Lean, and Quit. Wallin’s creative force comes into fierce play here and makes for some fine listening.
  
  Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition