Call 314-516-4990 VIV 603

These two pieces, premiered by Dorothy Lewis at Carnegie Recital Hall, are each inspired by a visual image. Electric Church is inspired by a picture of a small rural church in New England surrounded by a mist during an electric storm. The music incorporates the opening notes of a Gregorian Kyrie. The second piece takes its title from the walls of the old temple in Jerusalem which are built with very large stones. This work uses the Hebrew chant Kol Nidre, one of the best-known ancient Jewish melodies.
VIV 603, 16 pages, $8.95

“expertly conceived for the keyboard”

“The high energy of the piece is sustained throughout, and there is a brilliant ending.”

“These two pieces would work well as a set, the impressionistic drama of the first being contrasted with the driving energy of the second. They should be a welcome addition to the repertoire, for they provide works that are short, evocative and contemporary sounding. They are musically rewarding for the performer, technically fun to play, and should please audiences even at first hearing.”

Robert Starer was born in Vienna (1924-2001) and received his musical education at the State Academy in Vienna, the Jerusalem Conservatoire and the Juilliard School. He became an American citizen in 1957. He has taught at Juilliard and at the Graduate Center of C.U.N.Y. where he was named Distinguished Professor in 1986.

His symphonic works have been performed by Mitropoulos, Bernstein, Ozawa, Mehta and others. Interpreters of his music include Itzhak Perlman, Janos Starker, Leontyne Price, and Roberta Peters. Excerpts from his book Continuo, A Life in Music, have appeared in the New Yorker, Musical America and the London Times.

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.