This Alvin Singleton collection originally was released on Nonesuch in 1989. Singleton composes in more or less typical late-20th-century style that skirts the edges of...

This Alvin Singleton collection originally was released on Nonesuch in 1989. Singleton composes in more or less typical late-20th-century style that skirts the edges of tonality, with more emphasis on the music's physical sound than on its melodic content. Thus, there's great variety of texture and frequent timbral contrast if not confrontation among various orchestral sections. The brief After Fallen Crumbs (composed in memory of Martin Luther King Jr) is just such a study in dramatic effects, beginning with Corigliano-like brass eruptions and ending with agitated strings.

The mood shifts from frenzied activity to meditative stillness in Shadows, which is a sort of grand passacaglia based on a brief chorale-like theme vaguely reminiscent of Mussorgsky. The music proceeds through a series of minimalist (à la Reich) permutations as it builds to a powerful, sustained climax, after which the opening calm returns.

Despite its intriguing title, A Yellow Rose Petal is the least compelling of the three works. Yet another study in sonic contrast, the music's procession of tone clusters and provocative instrumental effects makes much of the work sound like cinematic background music. We've pretty much heard all this before--many times over. Still, this doesn't prevent the Atlanta Symphony players from giving their all and providing virtuoso performances, with Louis Lane conducting After Fallen Crumbs and A Yellow Rose Petal, while the late Robert Shaw takes the baton in Shadows. The recording is somewhat low-level, but cranking the volume reveals an impressively reproduced orchestral sound.

--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com