Morrison: Hard Weather Makes Good Wood

• Album Summary
• Notes & Reviews
• Also Purchased
• Works Details

Album Summary

Performers

• Joe Meyer (Violin)
• Joe Meyer (Brass)
• Jennifer Strom (Viola)
• Jim Jacobson (Cello)
• Troy Gardner (Violin)
• Susan Billmeyer (Piano)
• Maria Jette (Soprano)
• John Morrison
• Vivian Montgomery (Harpsichord)

Composer

• John Howell Morrison (1956 - )

Notes & Reviews:

Personnel: Joe Meyer , Troy Gardner (violin); Jim Jacobsen (cello).

Recording information: Augsburg College, St. Paul, MN (11/13/1993-09/30/2002); Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH (11/13/1993-09/30/2002); St. David's Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN (11/13/1993-09/30/2002).

If Moby ever collaborated with John Adams, the results would possibly sound something like John Howell Morrison's Hard Weather Makes Good Wood. The 18-minute title track, for string quartet (the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble, who have their own releases on Innova) and tape, blends ideas that recall both Adams' Shaker Loops and the kind of found sound and live mixing ideas that Martin Swope pioneered in Mission of Burma and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic; fragmented string quartet tape loops encroach upon the live quartet's performance, at times almost overpowering it, creating a disorienting but ultimately fascinating sound. On the shorter pieces that make up the rest of the album, other electronic elements merge seamlessly with the strings and Maria Jette's soprano vocals, yet at the same time, Morrison's music sounds as if it's based on the folk and blues of his native North Carolina, giving these pieces an earthy soulfulness that keeps them from the cold, clinical quality of many contemporary composers. Although Morrison's music bears little resemblance, the overall effect recalls a contemporary Southern version of Charles Ives' New England-bred modernity. ~ Stewart Mason

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Works Details

Morrison, John Howell : Hard Weather Makes Good Wood, for string quartet & tape

• Performers: Joe Meyer (Violin); Joe Meyer (Brass); Jennifer Strom (Viola); Jim Jacobson (Cello); Troy Gardner (Violin)
• Running Time: 17 min. 50 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Written: 1999

Morrison, John Howell : The Heart Poems, for voice & piano

• Performers: Susan Billmeyer (Piano); Maria Jette (Soprano)
• Running Time: 2 min. 58 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Written: 2001

Morrison, John Howell : My Love Lives Down That Long Dirt Road

• Performers: John Morrison; Vivian Montgomery (Harpsichord)
• Running Time: 1 min. 6 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Written: 1992

Morrison, John Howell : Rising Blue, for violin & tape

• Performer: Troy Gardner (Violin)
• Running Time: 5 min. 21 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Written: 1997