Ron Hannah - Reviews

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in English, Français, Deutsch

CD: RONALD HANNAH - Music for Piano and Organ
Label: PGM 2201-2 [Link not yet available for streaming]

Classical Music Sentinel (Canada) Excerpt: "What immediately strikes me when listening to the music of Ronald Hannah is its concise cohesiveness. Too many living composers meander and babble on as if to demonstrate that they have plenty to say when they're not actually saying anything worth hearing... His writing style is modern without being foreign or alien. There's always a logical sequence to his dissonances and rhythmic shifts."
   Overall, and somewhat like the previous recording of his Chamber Music, I somehow discern a sense of humor, a spirit of play, lurking deep within the music which makes it all the more congenial. Music from a living composer who understands that since you can't mess with the laws of physics, you shouldn't mess with the laws of music as well.   Jean-Yves Duperron (September 2023)

DOWNLOAD PROGRAM NOTES
in English, Français, Deutsch CD: RONALD HANNAH - Chamber Music
Label: PGM 2102-2 [Link for streaming]

Music Web International (UK) Excerpt: "Ron Hannah is very much his own man writing music of direct lyricism and terpsichorean refinement, spiced with those constructive dissonances of his, and his is a voice worth knowing." Jonathan Woolf

Czech Radio - Review by Petr Veber - positive, I think!

Classical Music Sentinel (Canada) Excerpt 1: The flute and piano 'Concert Piece' holds a fine balance between serene and playful passages, and as a whole exudes an idyllic, bucolic atmosphere. The 'Meditation' that follows doesn't break the ambience, as it plumbs the cello's darker colors and highly expressive character. And the piano's subtle chord progressions act as the perfect foil to the cello's lyrical, ruminative discourse. And again in 'The Lonely Princess', the guitar's steady, chordal harmonic forward momentum, well supports the flute's beautiful flights of imagination.
     Excerpt 2: The pièce de résistance would have to be the highly expressive Con dolore [2nd] movement from the String Quartet, performed to perfection here by the Penderecki String Quartet. From its tentative, darkly tinged beginning, it slowly builds to an emotionally charged, harmonically rich and dense climax only to resign in the end.   Jean-Yves Duperron (March 2022)

⇑    My String Quartet of 1973 appears on the albums above and below.    ⇓

Stringtime: Canadian Chamber Music [Link]
Label: Eclectra ECCD 2050

Excerpt: [re String Quartet] ...the second movement is fittingly slow, introspective, in a remarkably beautiful intonation and a counterpoint that is devastatingly serene and clear, bringing you – I’m not kidding! – almost to tears. This is high art. I have to find out where I can obtain more CDs by Ron Hannah, because this string quartet makes it mandatory to go looking for further wonders. Masterly!   Ingvar Nordin

The Albertan Composer,
Spring, 1997
SUITE of ORCHESTRAL DANCES [Link]
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, cond. Neal Gittleman

Excerpt 1: ... The work was splendidly orchestrated with always a hint of impressionism. "Suite of Orchestral Dances" is a welcome addition to the Canadian repertoire and deserves many performances.
Excerpt 2:...the composer handled these themes just as they should be, with breadth and simplicity, organizing them into a refined statement.
Andrew Creaghan

Review of 6th New Music Festival,
October 31 through November 9, 1997
Sponsored by Edmonton Composers' Concert Society (Alberta, Canada)
... now New Music Edmonton
DIVERTIMENTO for STRINGS [Link]
Members of Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, cond. David Hoyt

DAY ONE: Excerpt: ... [The work] that stands out in my mind was also one of the most traditional, the Divertimento for Strings (1991) by Ron Hannah. ... One thing that usually deeply impresses me about this piece and most others by Ron is his grounded thoroughness. The parts and the piece all fit into a seamless whole. He writes for both player and instrument, something that many young composers fail to grasp.
Elgar James Schmidt

The Calgary Herald, Alberta, Canada, February 1981
MISTER LEAR [Link]
SATB and Brass Quartet

Excerpt: ... Ron Hannah's composition for Brass Quartet and Voice was truly a stroke of genius. The players themselves were all talented, not only as brass players but singers. * Their tongue-in-cheek barber shop quartet performance of Mr. Lear was positively hilarious.
Pat Robinson
* They did double duty, in fact, in this première performance. When I learned that the 1st trumpet happened to be a soprano, 2nd Trumpet an alto, Horn a tenor, and Trombone a baritone, I wrote it such that when a given voice was singing his/her instrument was silent. Thus a work for choir and quartet was done by only 4 persons!
P.S. It has been performed successfully as a choral piece too! RH

The Edmonton Journal, Alberta, Canada. June 10, 1989
THE DINNER-PARTY [Link]
for soprano, clarinet and piano

Excerpt: ... It was a tricky, shady work, with a dark text .... and dark music to match. [Linda] Perillo did very well in a difficult piece for soprano, filled with edgy intervals and a sense of the desolate and desultory.
Mairi MacLean

Augsburger Allgemeine,
Mindelheim, Germany, July 4 2012
Review of "La Mandragola", directed by
Andrea Mellis,
part of the Frundsberg Festival.
AY LINDA AMIGA - Spanish folksong [Link]
arranged for 2 sopranos by Ronald Hannah

Excerpt: ... Besonders eindrucksvoll: das Duett von Sonja Berthel als Mutter Lucrezias, und Barbara Lutz als Dienerin des Callimaco.
(Especially impressive: the duet of Sonja Berthel as Lucrezia's mother, and Barbara Lutz as Callimaco's servant.)

The St. Albert Gazette,
Alberta, Canada.
May 18, 2013
PASORAL SUITE  [Link]
for Guitar solo

Excerpt: ...One of the movements, "Deep Grotto", is layered with shimmering textures in a minimalist mood. And the voice comes in a haunting style.
Anna Borowiecki

The Edmonton Journal,
Alberta, Canada. April 12, 1986
A SEA LITURGY [Link]
Incidental Music for the play by Gloria Sawai

Excerpt: ....You'll find yourself thankful for Ron Hannah's delicate original music .... and wishing he'd been more generous with it. What atmosphere there is, the music provides.
Liz Nichols

Inquiries

DOWNLOAD PROGRAM NOTES in English, Français, Deutsch	CD: RONALD HANNAH - Music for Piano and Organ Label: PGM 2201-2 [Link not yet available for streaming] Classical Music Sentinel (Canada) Excerpt: "What immediately strikes me when listening to the music of Ronald Hannah is its concise cohesiveness. Too many living composers meander and babble on as if to demonstrate that they have plenty to say when they're not actually saying anything worth hearing... His writing style is modern without being foreign or alien. There's always a logical sequence to his dissonances and rhythmic shifts." Overall, and somewhat like the previous recording of his Chamber Music, I somehow discern a sense of humor, a spirit of play, lurking deep within the music which makes it all the more congenial. Music from a living composer who understands that since you can't mess with the laws of physics, you shouldn't mess with the laws of music as well. Jean-Yves Duperron (September 2023)
DOWNLOAD PROGRAM NOTES in English, Français, Deutsch	CD: RONALD HANNAH - Chamber Music Label: PGM 2102-2 [Link for streaming] Music Web International (UK) Excerpt: "Ron Hannah is very much his own man writing music of direct lyricism and terpsichorean refinement, spiced with those constructive dissonances of his, and his is a voice worth knowing." Jonathan Woolf Czech Radio - Review by Petr Veber - positive, I think! Classical Music Sentinel (Canada) Excerpt 1: The flute and piano 'Concert Piece' holds a fine balance between serene and playful passages, and as a whole exudes an idyllic, bucolic atmosphere. The 'Meditation' that follows doesn't break the ambience, as it plumbs the cello's darker colors and highly expressive character. And the piano's subtle chord progressions act as the perfect foil to the cello's lyrical, ruminative discourse. And again in 'The Lonely Princess', the guitar's steady, chordal harmonic forward momentum, well supports the flute's beautiful flights of imagination. Excerpt 2: The pièce de résistance would have to be the highly expressive Con dolore [2nd] movement from the String Quartet, performed to perfection here by the Penderecki String Quartet. From its tentative, darkly tinged beginning, it slowly builds to an emotionally charged, harmonically rich and dense climax only to resign in the end. Jean-Yves Duperron (March 2022)
⇑ My String Quartet of 1973 appears on the albums above and below. ⇓
	Stringtime: Canadian Chamber Music [Link] Label: Eclectra ECCD 2050 Excerpt: [re String Quartet] ...the second movement is fittingly slow, introspective, in a remarkably beautiful intonation and a counterpoint that is devastatingly serene and clear, bringing you – I’m not kidding! – almost to tears. This is high art. I have to find out where I can obtain more CDs by Ron Hannah, because this string quartet makes it mandatory to go looking for further wonders. Masterly! Ingvar Nordin
The Albertan Composer, Spring, 1997	SUITE of ORCHESTRAL DANCES [Link] Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, cond. Neal Gittleman Excerpt 1: ... The work was splendidly orchestrated with always a hint of impressionism. "Suite of Orchestral Dances" is a welcome addition to the Canadian repertoire and deserves many performances. Excerpt 2:...the composer handled these themes just as they should be, with breadth and simplicity, organizing them into a refined statement. Andrew Creaghan
Review of 6th New Music Festival, October 31 through November 9, 1997 Sponsored by Edmonton Composers' Concert Society (Alberta, Canada) ... now New Music Edmonton	DIVERTIMENTO for STRINGS [Link] Members of Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, cond. David Hoyt DAY ONE: Excerpt: ... [The work] that stands out in my mind was also one of the most traditional, the Divertimento for Strings (1991) by Ron Hannah. ... One thing that usually deeply impresses me about this piece and most others by Ron is his grounded thoroughness. The parts and the piece all fit into a seamless whole. He writes for both player and instrument, something that many young composers fail to grasp. Elgar James Schmidt
The Calgary Herald, Alberta, Canada, February 1981	MISTER LEAR [Link] SATB and Brass Quartet Excerpt: ... Ron Hannah's composition for Brass Quartet and Voice was truly a stroke of genius. The players themselves were all talented, not only as brass players but singers. * Their tongue-in-cheek barber shop quartet performance of Mr. Lear was positively hilarious. Pat Robinson * They did double duty, in fact, in this première performance. When I learned that the 1st trumpet happened to be a soprano, 2nd Trumpet an alto, Horn a tenor, and Trombone a baritone, I wrote it such that when a given voice was singing his/her instrument was silent. Thus a work for choir and quartet was done by only 4 persons! P.S. It has been performed successfully as a choral piece too! RH
The Edmonton Journal, Alberta, Canada. June 10, 1989	THE DINNER-PARTY [Link] for soprano, clarinet and piano Excerpt: ... It was a tricky, shady work, with a dark text .... and dark music to match. [Linda] Perillo did very well in a difficult piece for soprano, filled with edgy intervals and a sense of the desolate and desultory. Mairi MacLean
Augsburger Allgemeine, Mindelheim, Germany, July 4 2012 Review of "La Mandragola", directed by Andrea Mellis, part of the Frundsberg Festival.	AY LINDA AMIGA - Spanish folksong [Link] arranged for 2 sopranos by Ronald Hannah Excerpt: ... Besonders eindrucksvoll: das Duett von Sonja Berthel als Mutter Lucrezias, und Barbara Lutz als Dienerin des Callimaco. (Especially impressive: the duet of Sonja Berthel as Lucrezia's mother, and Barbara Lutz as Callimaco's servant.)
The St. Albert Gazette, Alberta, Canada. May 18, 2013	PASORAL SUITE [Link] for Guitar solo Excerpt: ...One of the movements, "Deep Grotto", is layered with shimmering textures in a minimalist mood. And the voice comes in a haunting style. Anna Borowiecki
The Edmonton Journal, Alberta, Canada. April 12, 1986	A SEA LITURGY [Link] Incidental Music for the play by Gloria Sawai Excerpt: ....You'll find yourself thankful for Ron Hannah's delicate original music .... and wishing he'd been more generous with it. What atmosphere there is, the music provides. Liz Nichols