Reviews of works by James Dashow


Soundings in Pure Duration vol.2

Gramophone - a review by Guy Rickards

Take Effect - August, 2022
"This 2nd installment in James Dashow’s 'Soundings In Pure Duration' series is equally as captivating as his initial venture, and the electronic sounds and instrumental soloists present here illustrate his profoundly artistic vision."

Soundings in Pure Duration Vol. 2 - a review by Colin Clarke, Fanfare, Feb. 2023
"The imagination of James Dashow is vast, but he has the compositional 'nous' to know how to create coherent soundscapes, both in the mixing of live performer with electronics and in pure electronic music. The music feels immersive, not just because of the recording techniques; it seems to speak deep inside one."

Soundings in Pure Duration Vol. 2 - a review by James North, Fanfare, Feb. 2023
"Dashow wields his magic wand with incredible dexterity and virtuosity. The impression received is that he is as capable and as confident in his electronic world as was Berlioz in his instrumental one."

Soundings in Pure Duration Vol. 2 - a review by Ross Feller. Computer Music Journal. Feb. 2023
"This disk represents an important collection of works that showcase many successful ways to integrate live instruments and electronic sounds, within a robust approach to spatialization. This is an important release by a well-known practitioner of both analog and digital electronic music, and multi-channel systems that integrates pitch, timbre, and spatial effects into convincing compositions."


Archimedes

Computer Music Journal - a review by Bradley S. Green, June, 2021
"The music is both captivating and dramatically compelling for the entirety of the opera’s 2.5 hour duration.. . . the opera’s themes are relevant and poignant, the music is composed with an incredible sensitivity and attention to detail, and the quality of both the performances and the recording are exceptional."

Archimedes: Scene II (Young Archimedes); Mnemonics for violin and computer; Oro, Argento & Legno for flute and computer - a review by Mike Silverton, August, 1990
"Archimedes (1988) survives CD excision from its mixed-media context as an intricate and subtle electronic work. . . .  In Mnemonics (1982/4/5) and Oro, Argento, & Legno (1987) the interplay of solo instrument (violin and flute respectively) and computer-generated sounds is as beautifully done as anything I can think of; the two pieces balance on elegantly honed tensions and impress me as masterworks."

Art & Culture Maven - April, 2022

Take Effect - April, 2022

Review by Thomas J. Delio, Amazon, November 2021
"Thrilling and masterful contemporary opera !!"

Review by Bruce Saylor, Amazon, February 2022
"An original, gorgeous, and thoroughly modern opera - with music of our own time"

Archimedes -- a review by Colin Clarke, Dec. 2022
"Dashow’s score is a miracle of the imagination. It uses 'sampled orchestral sounds' as well as electronica in a very successful and natural way; it ebbs and flows like any good operatic score, propelled not only by Dashow’s fertile imagination, but by the sheer excellence of his performers and the strong libretto. . . . While the ideal remains to actually see the opera, produced in a planetarium as a full immersion audio and video theatrical experience, this is one of the most successful compact disc versions of an opera to have come my way, ever."

Synchronies

Take Effect - December, 2021
 "Dashow and company make some very distinct sounds in the area of chamber, orchestral, classical and electronic music, as the manipulation of sound and space is certainly appreciated and nothing short of exceptional."

Synchronies - a review by Colin Clarke, June 2022
"This is a spectacularly fascinating release showcasing the music of a composer with a highly individual voice."

Songs from a Spiral Tree

Take Effect -January, 2021
“Dashow’s artistic vision is nothing if not rich and eloquent, as the composer leaves us with an unpredictable and meticulous body of work that few could emulate on this fascinating effort.”

Nieuwe Noten - February, 2021  (in Dutch)
"What is immediately noticeable is the brilliant way in which Dashow allows both instruments to engage in a dialogue with the human voice into an inseparable whole.”

Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review - March, 2021

Soundings in Pure Duration Vol. 1 - a review by Colin Clarke, Fanfare, Dec. 2019
"This is volume one of Soundings in Pure Duration and can be heard in 5.0 surround sound or in stereo. As a foremost composer of electronic music, James Dashow has at his hands an extraordinary palette, and it is good that the very present sound on this release enables a full immersion. Bruce Sayler’s excellent notes aptly describe the journey of the disc as 'not unlike the unitary experience of a huge symphony, each part featuring a different, virtuoso soloist.' "

Disclosures - a review by Mike Silverton, Fanfare, June 1992
"Disclosures eschews frivolity; this is serious music impinging on the solemn and is therefore demanding. One is especially impressed by the meticulous interweavings, mirrorings, and caricatures between the cello's often soulful, Romantic line . . . and those of the somewhat cooloer computer."

Le Tracce di Kronos - a review by Mike Silverton, Fanfare, August 1997
"That James Dashow is a composer of superior gifts comes as no surprise. . . . A deceptively brief work's primary mystery is one's sense of having been transported a long and lovely distance. There's not a squandered or out-of-place gesture anywhere en route."

Morfologie, Punti di Vista No. 2, Reconstructions - a review by Mike Silverton, Fanfare, June 1996
"This excellent Neuma CD is a must-have for the collector who takes a particular interest in new music's electroacoustic possibilities . . . Excellent performances throughout in good recorded sound. Go for this one."

Some Dream Songs - a review by William Wians, Fanfare, August 1991
"I greatly enjoyed Dashow's insightful settings of six of John Berryman's Dream Songs, which capture and complement the sardonic qualities of the originals."