Overnight Mail
includes Overnight Mail, Telephone Book, July, Flint and Change of Address

Orkest de Volharding / Present Music / Apollo Saxophone Quartet / Michael Torke Band
Argo 455684

Barbara Hammond's review from Classic CD magazine January 98

Presenting a colourful Telephone Directory of Torke's

Michael Torke's music is not easy to categorise but if you want to sample it then the five pieces on this disc are a fine example of its attractiveness and variety. Whilst the six short pieces that comprise Change of Address are based on permutations of the same eight note chord in a blend most reminiscent of laid-back Bernstein and neo-classical Stravinsky, between the Yellow, Blue and White Pages of Telephone Book a stunningly successful partnership of pulsing, minimalist rhythmic propulsion and sinewy jazz melodies is co-existing. Add to this the quasi brass band close-harmonies of the middle movement of Overnight Mail and you have some idea of Torke's distinctive diversity. What is common to all this music though is its immediacy, as is amply demonstrated by the amazingly dexterous groups playing it here. My particular favourite is July given by the Apollo Saxophone Quartet whose sensual homogenous sound is animated by a vibrant articulation and sensitive ebb and flow of dynamics.

Although five different venues were used to record these works, there is a uniform excellence to the sonics throughout. A happy production indeed.

Barbara Hammond

5 Stars = outstanding
5 headphones = crystal clear

An example of some of the finest contemporary music groups in some of the finest contemporary music.

Javelin:The Music of Michael Torke
includes Javelin, December, Run, Adjustable Wrench, Green, Music on the Floor (mvt 2) and Bright Blue Music

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Philharmonia Orchestra / London Sinfonietta / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Lothar Zagrosek / Yoel Levi / Kent Nagano / David Zinman / Michael Torke
Argo 452101-2

Music on the Floor:
includes Four Proverbs, Monday, Tuesday and Music on the Floor

London Sinfonietta / Lothar Zagrosek / Catherine Bott / Argo Band / Michael Torke
Argo 443528-2

Color Music:
includes Ash, Bright Blue Music, Ecstatic Orange, Green and Purple

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / David Zinman
Argo 433071-2

Chamber Works:
includes The Yellow Pages, Rust, Adjustable Wrench, Slate and Vanada

London Sinfonietta / Kent Nagano / David Alan Miller
Argo 430209-2

Book of Proverbs
Four Proverbs
Catherine Bott / Argo Band
Valdine Anderson, Kurt Ollmann / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus / Edo De Waart
Argo 466721-2

with works by other composers:

Sax Drive:
includes Saxophone Concerto

John Harle, saxophone / Albany Symphony Orchestra / David Alan Miller
Argo 443529-2

Meeting Point
includes Saxophone Concerto

Gerard McChrystal / London Musici / Mark Stephenson
Silva Screen SILKD6010

"McChrystal has an enviably full and warm soprano saxophone tone, and his intonation is as secure as his gift for melodic phrasing is unfailing"

GRAMOPHONE

The Yellow Pages
California EAR Unit
New Albion 019

Balanescu Quartet
includes Chalk

Balanescu Quartet
Argo 436565-2

Rust
Orkest De Volharding
Attaca Babel 9380

Dance Mix:
includes Charcoal

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / David Zinman
Argo 444454-2 "Dance Mix"

Last Updated by David Charlton on Monday, 26 January, 1998 at 3:10 PM. If you have any comments, additions or questions I would be really pleased to hear from you!

Copyright © David Charlton, 1995, 1996, 1998.

This is the 'Unofficial' Web Page for Michael Torke

The music of Michael Torke is published by Boosey and Hawkes

Source attribution: Boosey & Hawkes, Michael Torke