Composer: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Johanna Beyer
Performer: Sarah Cahill New Albion Records
#114 November 18, 1997
Number of Discs: 1
ASIN: B000000R4K
Ruth Crawford (also known as Ruth Crawford Seeger) wrote these Preludes when she was in her early 20s. They’re miraculous mystical microcosms. Larry Polansky introduced me to her music in the mid-80s, when he produced a major Ruth Crawford retrospective at Mills College. Check out the Frog Peak catalogue for the virtually unknown works of Johanna Beyer, who studied dissonant counterpoint with Ruth Crawford; the two composers were also connected through Henry Cowell. This CD was recorded one hot summer in Roslindale, Massachusetts, by the excellent engineer Joel Gordon.