Richard Faith: Neo-Romantic Music for Mixed Chamber Ensemble Woodsmusick Ensemble

• Richard Faith (1926 -): Divertimento:
• 1I. Larghetto03:44
• 2II. Vivace01:16
• 3III. Andante espressivo03:22
• 4IV. Allegretto00:44
• 5V. Andante04:18
• 6VI. Allegro con fuoco02:11
• Trio:
• 7I. Moderato espressivo03:37
• 8II. Andante espressivo08:22
• 9III. Allegro scherzando02:33
• 10IV. Presto07:02
• Quintet:
• 11I. Largo espressivo02:23
• 12II. Allegro giusto05:32
• 13III. Andante, "Gettysburg"02:20
• 14IV. Moderato05:19
• 15V. Allegro risoluto-jauntily03:14
• Total Runtime55:57

Info for Richard Faith: Neo-Romantic Music for Mixed Chamber Ensemble

The neo-romantic music of Richard Faith demonstrates compositional skill, craftsmanship, and moments that transcend sentiment, yet it is clearly human and at certain points “unavoidably sentimental.” Perhaps Faith’s ability to strike a balance between these two poles of expression is what many performers and audiences have found to be so alluring about his music. Scholar Walter Simmons has described American neo-romantic composers as “voices in the wilderness.” Throughout Faith’s career there was pressure to write music that perhaps distanced him from the academic establishment. Yet he has persisted and continues to hold to his unique voice at age 90. His latest compositions, Divertimento and Quintet, were written for the Woodsmusick Ensemble. A family of professional musicians, the Woodsmusick Ensemble has unofficially been performing together for more than 25 years, but they have been under their current moniker and instrumentation since 2012. The group’s inception in its present iteration stems from the opportunity to premier a new work written for them by composer Richard Faith. The first performance of Divertimento inspired an ongoing collaboration. In spite of its members’ wide-ranging and diverse individual performing and academic careers, Woodsmusick reunites often to perform and record. The Woodsmusick Ensemble is composed of Alexander Woods, Aubrey Woods, Garrick Woods, Rex Woods, and Christian Smith.

Woodsmusick Ensemble:
Aubrey Woods, violin
Alexander Woods, violin, viola
Garrick Woods, cello
Rex Woods, piano
Chris Smith, bassoon

Richard Faith
Professor Emeritus of the University of Arizona, is a native of Evansville, Indiana. A graduate of Chicago Musical College and Indiana University, he received a Fulbright Grant to study piano and composition at the Academia de Santa Cecilia in Rome. Winner of numerous awards and competitions, Faith has performed in recitals throughout the United States and Europe and has appeared as soloist with a variety of orchestras including the Chicago Symphony. He is the composer of four operas, a number of symphonic works, three piano concerti, an oboe concerto, a mass, a cantata, chamber music, more than one hundred songs, and many piano works.

Booklet for Richard Faith: Neo-Romantic Music for Mixed Chamber Ensemble