STEPHEN PERILLO: Requiem
for a Goldfish - also: Lullaby for Orchestra;
Crushed Tomatoes; Brass Symphony - Russian Festival
Orchestra/ Yuval Waldman - Centaur CRC 2445:
Who says contemporary
symphonic music can't be lots of fun?
I simply had to ask for
this one when I saw the title of the album (the
Requiem). The composer studied
with David del Tredici
(the Alice in Wonderful fixated composer), but
composing is just his leisure time activity. He is
head of an international travel tour company. So
going to Moscow for this recording session was
nothing that unusual for Perillo. His strictly
instrumental Requiem honors the only pet he's had as
an adult, and as its title implies, "things turned
out badly." The goldfish on the cover is not
floating at the top of the bowl, and neither is the
bowl's sunken castle the expected architecture -
it's St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square! Perillo
describes his style as pop music poured into
classical molds, and that about tells the story of
these four symphonic poems. The Brass Symphony began
as a brass quintet and Perillo practiced his
orchestration techniques on it. He learned a few
things in the process: the first trumpeter accused
him of writing clarinet music for his part. Good
natured light symphonic fun completely free of the
corny or hackneyed. Begone Carter, Berio,
Stockhausen - bring on Perillo and Torke!
