Dream Drapery Galax Quartet & Karen R. Clark

• Marc Mellits (b. 1966): String Quartet No. 2 "Revolution":
• 1 String Quartet No. 2 "Revolution": I. Groove Canon 02:31
• 2 String Quartet No. 2 "Revolution": II. Mara's Toys 03:12
• 3 String Quartet No. 2 "Revolution": III. December 1989 03:45
• 4 String Quartet No. 2 "Revolution": IV. Groove Machine 04:04
• Joseph Schwantner (b. 1943): Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs":
• 5 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 1, Each More Melodious Note I Hear 03:36
• 6 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 2, I Was Born Upon Thy Bank River - The Poet's Delay 04:24
• 7 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 3, I Mark the Summer's Swift Decline 04:07
• 8 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 4, A Winter and Spring Scene 04:37
• 9 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 5, Hymn for Bruce "Dies irae" 03:00
• 10 Dream Drapery "Thoreau Songs": No. 6, Low-Anchored Cloud - Old Meeting-House Bell 06:39
• Robert Morris (b. 1943): Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version):
• 11 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): I. Acamar 02:53
• 12 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): II. Achenar 02:23
• 13 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): III. Kochab 02:13
• 14 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): IV. Denebola 03:42
• 15 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): V. Ginehah 03:15
• 16 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): VI. Eltanin 04:10
• 17 Radif IV "Stars of Highest Magnitude" (Galax Version): VII. Zuben'ubi 04:03
• Total Runtime 01:02:34

Info for Dream Drapery

The Galax Quartet (Elizabeth Blumenstock and David Wilson, Baroque violins; Roy Whelden, viola da gamba; and David Morris, Baroque cello) is equally at home performing works by 17th and 18th century composers as well as cutting edge, newly commissioned works. Their period instrumentswith gut strings, low angle fingerboards, no chin rests or end pins, and lighter bowsoffer a rich pallet of coloration and nuances to composers of new music. Joined by guest artist Karen R. Clark (contralto) the Galax Quartet takes us on a traversal of three vivid musical realms. Featured are two world premieres: Dream Drapery Thoreau Songs by Joseph Schwantner (Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1979), and Radif IV Stars of Highest Magnitude by Robert Morris. Also included is Marc Mellits popular String Quartet No. 2 Revolution in a new setting. Three fantastical worlds debouch from this talismanic Galax release!

"Dream Drapery by the Galax Quartet and contralto Karen R. Clark is a bold and beautiful recording. The dynamism and exuberant groove of “Revolution,” Marc Mellits’ tribute to the brave Romanian protesters of 1989, are well captured by the Galax Quartet. Robert Morris’ “Radif IV – Stars of the Highest Magnitude” sweeps us along on a minimalist excursion fueled by world music traditions. Best of all is the title work, “Dream Drapery – Thoreau Songs” by Joseph Schwantner. In this performance, the Galax Quartet and Karen Clark are locked sonically in a loving embrace. Clark demonstrates admirable vocal control and great sensitivity in capturing the songs’ many characters. The Galax Quartet matches her with a compelling display of nuance." (Hank Dutt, violist, Kronos Quartet)

Karen R. Clark, contralto
Galax Quartet:
Elizabeth Blumenstock, baroque violin
David Wilson, baroque violin
Roy Whelden, viola da gamba
David Morris, baroque cello

Karen R. Clark
Founder and director of Vajra Voice's, Karen R. Clark has performed and recorded with world renown ensembles, to include, Sequentia, Boston Camerata, Project Are Nova, Waverly Consort, New York Early Music, Pomerium Musices, and Joshua Rifkin's Bach Ensemble. Karen holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music where she studied with the legendary artists Virginia Zeani, and Thomas Binkley. In new music, Karen has premiered works by Joseph Schwantner, Ben Johnston, Fred Frith, and Roy Whelden. Her recording with the Galax Quartet, On Cold Mountain: Songs on Poems of Gary Snyder (Innova) was the culmination of concerts with the Pulitzer Poet, Gary Snyder. Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle) wrote,“It’s mesmerizing in it’s unplaceable timelessness. Clark’s majestic, throaty singing hints of modernist extravagance and medieval troubadours.”

A devoted voice teacher and practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method®, Karen has developed a somatic approach to vocal instruction which she offers in classes and workshops, and, which she implements in her work with Vajra Voices. ​

Karen R. Clark has served as private voice instructor and ensemble director in the music schools and departments of UC Berkeley, USC Thornton School of Music, Sonoma State University, Swarthmore College, and Princeton University. Karen's lecture/demonstrations, workshops and classes have been hosted by The Jung Institute, San Francisco; Chanticleer Workshops in Sonoma, Grace Cathedral Camerata Choir, The San Francisco Choral Society, San Francisco Early Music Society, The Madison Festival, Amherst Early Music, and Stanford University.

Galax Quartet
Founded in 2005, the Galax Quartet—two violins, viola da gamba and 'cello—explores the realm where early music and Baroque instruments intersect with new music and living composers, in classical quartets, film scores, song cycles, jazz, and collaborations with poets and mad scientists.

The Galax Quartet’s instrumentation is modeled on an early version of the string quartet as practiced by the late 18th century composer and viola da gamba player, Carl Friedrich Abel. The period instruments are characterized by the use of gut strings, low angle fingerboards, the absence of chin rests or end pins, and the use of lighter bows balanced nearer to the player’s hand. The ensemble tunes to A 415 Hz. These elements offer a rich pallet of coloration and nuances to composers of new music.

By keeping their ears open to a myriad of modern influences, the Galax Quartet has helped create in little more than a dozen years more music for the ensemble than it inherited from the early classical period.

Each member of the Galax Quartet is a specialist in the field of early music. David Wilson, violin, is author of Georg Muffat on Performance Practice (Indiana University Press); Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin, is a frequent soloist and concertmaster with San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; cellist David Morris was founder and musical director of the Baroque opera ensemble Teatro Bacchino; and composer and gambist Roy Whelden has been called “a key figure in the world of new music" by Early Music America.

Booklet for Dream Drapery