American composer Kyle Gann is no stranger to the use of the internet and Creative commons licensing. His MP3 page has a large variety of original compositions that well showcases this eclectic and eccentric composer of contemporary music. I am featuring five of his more extended works, all of them worth a listen and more.

Custer and Sitting Bull is the most interesting work to me. It is a solo work and makes ample use of both Native American music and microtones. The narrative is by the composer.

Sunken City is a concerto for piano and winds and was written in memory of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. There is some nice use of New Orleans jazz coupled with an atmospheric dissonance in the later parts. It is performed by the Orkest de Volharding at De Doelen with Jussi Jaatinen conducting. Geoffrey Douglas Madge is the pianist.

Transcendental Sonnets is written for chorus, two soloists and orchestra. The 35 minute piece is based on the poetry of Jones Very (1813-1880), a protege of Ralph Waldo Emerson. This recording is of the October 19, 2002, premiere by the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Orchestra conducted by Eric Stark. The soloists are Kathleen Hacker and Christopher Paul Aspaas. It is a monumental work of beauty.

Last Chance Sonatan is a sonata for clarinet and piano. It is Gann’s farewell to the 20th century. It feels very much like Hindemith to me , perhaps even Barber?.

I’itoi Variations is a work for two pianos and , if the author’s description is to believed, has influences from Beethoven, Brahms, Busoni and The Papago Indians. Did I mention that the author is eclectic?

There are a lot of other works on his page but this will give you more than a good start. The files are in 160kbps MP3.

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