Reviews
of music by Ronald Hannah
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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 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


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