Jeffrey Mumford: 'through a stillness brightening,' 2-CD set, Albany Records Troy 1473-74 (2014) reviewed by Time Out New York and New York Times

Jeffrey Mumford
(Al Fuchs, Courtesy of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

Jeffrey Mumford

through a stillness brightening

Albany Records Troy 1473-74 (2014)

Jeffrey Mumford:

FYI, two recent critic's picks in NYC!  Hope you are well and thanks for all that you are doing!!

Best,

J

Time Out New York

TimeOut.com

Posted: Thu Apr 3 2014

Jeffrey Mumford, a composer who studied with modernist lions Elliott Carter and Bernard Rands, has an uncanny knack for writing music that plays rigorous but sounds painterly, a point neatly made by through a stillness brightening, a two-CD compendium on the Albany label. Here, you can catch three of the artists involved in that set—violinist Miranda Cuckson, cellist Julia Bruskin and pianist Steven Beck—in live renditions of Mumford's works.

Miranda Cuckson 

(Gregory Christopher for The New York Times)

The New York Times
April 9, 2014

MUMFORD: ‘Through a stillness brightening’

Miranda Cuckson, violinist; Wendy Richman, violist; Julia Bruskin, cellist; Winston Choi, pianist; Argento Chamber Ensemble, conducted by Michel Galante; and others (Albany)

Jeffrey Mumford, a distinguished American composer who studied with Elliott Carter and Bernard Rands, among others, has an unerring knack for fashioning rigorous works as changeable as cloudscapes, bursting with color, nuance and poetry. Those qualities are abundantly present in this generous Kickstarter-financed collection of chamber pieces spanning 30 years; sources and sonorities vary, but inspiration and expert advocacy are consistent. (Steve Smith)