RELEASES JANUARY 20, 2021
A Quiet Madness has been described as "hypnotic, playful, and even at moments celestial," (textura) "healing balm for the anxious soul," (EarRelevant) "...grace and tranquility...," (Sharps and Flatirons), "...joyously lyrical..." (New Music Buff) and, "…mesmerising…an astute and contemporary sonic expression of the 'quiet madness' playing out on 24-hour news TV channels or as an infinite scroll on our smartphone screens." (Spellbinding Music)
Belarca Records presents A Quiet Madness, a new album by American composer William Susman, with violinist Karen Bentley Pollick, pianist Francesco Di Fiore, flutist Patricia Zuber and Bayan accordionist Stas Venglevski.
A Quiet Madness immerses the listener in a peculiarly specific and undeniably beautiful sound world that is both absorbing and thought-provoking.
The album brings together premiere recordings of recent solo and duo pieces composed from 2006 to 2013, including Aria for violin and piano, Quiet Rhythms nos. 1, 5 and 7 for piano, Seven Scenes for Four Flutes, and Zydeco Madness for Bayan accordion.
AllMusic calls William Susman an exemplar of “the next developments in the sphere . . . [of] minimalism,” and textura describes him as “not averse to letting his affection for Afro-Cuban, jazz, and other forms seep into his creative output.” His music has earned praise from The New York Times for being “vivid, turbulent, and rich-textured,” from Gramophone as “texturally shimmering and harmonically ravishing,” and from Fanfare for being “crystalline . . . and gloriously lyrical.”
Soloists include Karen Bentley Pollick one of America’s foremost contemporary violinists, award-winning Sicilian pianist/composer Francesco Di Fiore, leading New York City-based flutist Patricia Zuber, and two-time first prize winner of the Bayan Competition in the Republic of Moldova, Stas Venglevski.
A Quiet Madness was recorded in the US on both coasts and in the Midwest, as well as Sicily including Belmont, California, New York City, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and, Catania, Italy.