Atacama Sonata
Nancy Galbraith

Atacama

Albany Records TROY 556 ; Buy this CD

Filled with echoes of Aaron Copland, Nancy Galbraith's Atacama Sonata is overflowing with lyrical melodies, lively rhythms, and pastoral harmonies. Stylistically, Galbraith practices a post-minimal reductive romanticism, i.e. extremely simple diatonic gestures with clear dramatic direction but without the overwrought exaggerations perpetuated by most hardcore neo-Romantics. Inquiet Spirits continues the same approach, this time the pacing is more harried with a buoyant outlook. A strong pulse also drives Wind Symphony No. 1, a composition in three movements that borrows long-established riffs from minimalism and combines them with arching melodies and swelling climaxes. A spunky fugue launches Galbraith's Piano Sonata No. 1, followed by a sorrowful slow movement and ending with a euphoric dance-like conclusion. Dos Danzas Latinas is Galbraith's low-key spin on traditional habanera and samba.

—RN

Atacama Sonata (17:36)
Capricho (3:55)
Nocturno - in memory of the missing (8:41)
Volante (5:00)

Inquiet Spirits (8:53)

Wind Symphony No. 1 (16:52)
Allegro (6:25)
Andante (5:07)
Vivace (5:20)

Piano Sonata No. 1 (15:36)
Fugue (4:26)
Religioso (5:16)
Allegro (5:54)

Dos Danzas Latinas (10:45)
Habanera (6:29)
Samba (4:16)