“...Refreshing,
fascinating and continually surprising...astringent, brilliant...quite dazzling...”
NEW YORK REVIEWS
The New York
Times:
“He is one of the more prolific and most played of his
generation...”
“More than many of his colleagues, he seems to know what will sound well,
and he works for some remarkably attractive, pure textures.”
“The world of sound is quite the composer’s own and it is a world
that has color and idea as well as a fine sense of forward thrust...”
“...The musical imagery was both fresh and appropriate and particularly
beautiful...”
“...His sounds seem to grow from a physical sense of exactly what material
is right.”
“...Refreshing, fascinating and continually surprising...astringent,
brilliant...quite dazzling...”
“...Another of Mr. Sydeman’s carefully constructed, reflective tour
de forces...”
“Sydeman - uncommonly gifted...”
Time Magazine:
“ ‘The stuff has just exploded.’ The stuff is composer Sydeman’s
music...”
“His works have become notable for the variety of their instrumental
colors, for their fresh, perky themes and invigorating rhythms.”
New York Harold
Tribune:
“This is a composer to watch...He has much to say and the means with
which to do so.”
“Sydeman is a highly individual composer...His music is full of life,
variety and color...”
“Full of fresh and original sounds...his sense of form is delicate and
accurate...his instrumentation is finesse itself...”
“...Compelling at every moment...a sense of having heard something important.”
“...Avant-garde music of a very high order...marvelously alive with ideas...
consistently vital...”
CURRENT
REVIEWS
The San Francisco
Chronicle:
“A shining light among N.Y. composers...blessed with grants, awards,
commissions, even good reviews.”
“Top of
the heap...”
“Sydeman...easily the musical high point of the evening...Such an experience
leaves little doubt that music has a healthy and viable future...”
“...The music is as un-self-conscious and direct as his earlier scores
were complex and reflective...”
“W. Jay Sydeman’s second life as a born-again composer seemed real
and rewarding...welcome back, Mr. Sydeman.”
The Sacramento
Bee:
“Having sat atop the music world, he’s at peace here.”
“...A brilliant symphonic star...not only a master of his art... a successful
one.”
“...The most-performed composer of his generation.”
“...Conductors of major orchestras were at his door - knocking as insistently
as the opening notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.”
“His transformation became musical as well as personal, and today one
can listen to works more personal and pure...these include nine large orchestral
pieces, some 80 chamber works and miscellaneous items that come to a total
of 200.”
“Sydeman, the world-class composer...”
Critical Acclaim - William Jay Sydeman