Volume 4 of Bridge's CHINARY UNG series (a 2-CD set), presents five major works composed between 1987 and 2018 by the Grawemeyer Award-winning Cambodian/American composer. Annotator Adam Greene writes: "Ung was inspired by his mentor, Chou Wen-chung, to pursue music that explored cross-cultural practices. Ung's own term for the "style" of music that evolved was 'futuristic folk music', which generally speaking, he approaches through two processes: quotation and evocation. Ung's music is deeply suffused with Asian features, including modal writing, the use of drones, microtonal inflections, elaborate percussion sections, and an expansive, even languid approach to musical-time."
Reviews:
"All the performances seem authoritative. Special attention must be paid to the composer’s wife Susan, who has mastered the technique of performing on her viola while singing, and in Khmer to boot! While she does not have a traditionally trained voice, its slight rawness actually adds a level of humanity and authenticity to her interpretations. I never doubt her intonation, since she delivers her lines so convincingly.” - Fanfare
“Bridge has assembled a virtuoso ensemble to record these works, most prominently the composer’s viola-player wife, Susan. She leads the chamber concerto Singing Inside Aura as a singer-viola-player – a demanding dual feat of musicality carried off with finesse...with Bridge’s crystal-clear sound this is an endlessly fascinating and rewarding release.” - Gramophone
“Throughout each piece, we as listeners are surrounded with entwined modal intricacies, suggestive drones, and shimmering percussive magic – all creating the elixir of undiscovered, and yet familiar, cultural scenery. This, together with world-class performances from the musicians, transports the listener to a place where time seems lost, and instead, sound pervades a sense of instance.” - theWholeNote
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Disc A
Singing Inside Aura (2013)
Spiral XIV: Nimitta (2012)
Spiral I (1987)
Therigatha Inside Aura (2018)
Disc B
Spiral XII: Space Between Heaven and Earth (2008)
BRIDGE 9533 a/b