Medieval Dances for Flute and Harp

Laurel Zucker and Susan Jolles present a highly lyrical premiere recording of George Frederick McKay\’s Suite for Harp and Flute, which expresses a warm love of life, and explores ancient mysteries that drift quietly through our world.

The ‘Triple Rondo’ here has a very demanding harp part, to which Jolles more than lives up. The music is played with sensitivity and passion.

Lauber’s ‘Four Medieval Danses’ cheerful and executed with wit and restraint, yet exposing the tuneful creativity to just the right degree, this can be enjoyed alongside Jongen’s ‘Danse Lente’, which is fresh and light.

The emphasis is on a relatively unexplored corner of the American instrumental repertoire from the past century and a quarter. The tradition in which these composers are working is squarely American as influenced by European impressionism. There is inventive, delicate and energetic music making and Zucker and Jolles make persuasive advocates for the composers they perform.