| david leisner guitarist and composer |
Composer Press Quotes
"Embrace of Peace [for orchestra] struck me as a rich tone poem, striving, passionate,hopeful. It
reflects brilliant intellect in combination with brilliant sensitivity on the part of Mr. Leisner...Mr.
Leisner combines them freely, openly, honestly. The result is a sparkling work using new and
imaginative combinations of instruments, with dissonances that were not so much strong for
effect as they were subtle setups for warm and satisfying resolutions. The Fairfield Orchestra...
afforded the work a meaningful sendoff into the mainstream of important repertoire.”
Westport News, CT
“Leisner’s songs have proved popular with the younger generation of American singers, and
with reason. He has good literary judgement and shows imagination and taste in taking poems
from disparate sources and putting them into cycles that trace emotional progress and develop
dramatic shape. His prosody is excellent, and he sets words with an ear for sound, rhythm and
sense...Best of all, Leisner has a gift for eloquently shaping a vocal line that is also grateful to
sing.”
Boston Globe
“These pieces [Passacaglia and Toccata] are far superior to almost anything else being written
for guitar today. Not many composers manage to be equally satisfying to the hands, the ear and
the mind as Leisner has.”
Guitar Review
"His own Nel Mezzo: Sonata is an original and profoundly personal work...powerful, angry and
moving music."
Soundboard
“David Leisner’s four Dances in the Madhouse are a potent addition to the repertory--giddy,
attractive reinterpretations of traditional forms.”
Los Angeles Times
“We heard what may be one of the most spellbinding new compositions I have listened to in
many a moon--David Leisner’s Dances in the Madhouse...It is one of those small but delightful
pieces which we all go to concerts hoping to hear: something new which pleases on its first
hearing yet promises to yield further treasures the next time...a contemporary gem.”
The Easthampton Star, NY
“It is refreshing to find a work of such imagination and ingenuity that could be enjoyed by all
types of listeners. In fact, virtually every aspect of Dances in the Madhouse supports the
contention that a composer needn’t sacrifice originality and quality for accessibility...a work of
exquisite beauty.”
Guitar Review
“Leisner’s music was consumer-friendly, his forthright style simultaneously accessible and
uncompromising. Spare texture, haunting colors, and fine solo efforts from first violin, oboe,
trumpet and flute ignited the 'Tango Solitaire.' 'Waltz for the Old Folks' and 'Ballad for the
Lonely' invoked a soothing confluence of innocence and worldly wisdom, and 'Samba!' made for
an energetic close. Leisner applauded the orchestra and received a warm ovation.”
Springfield Union-News, MA
“The result is easily accessible to the average listener, regardless of his musical sophistication,
even though it’s a sound the like of which he has never heard before.”
The Springfield Advocate, MA
“The songs are ravishing. Very sophisticated music all of it. And clean and thin, and it sounds
good.”
Virgil Thomson
“The songs of David Leisner are real songs: full of good melody, vocally “gracious” (as singers
say), accessible to hearers, comparatively easy for pianists, and based on poetry of the highest
order but of simple comprehensibility. Leisner’s respect for the voice and for the poet is
exemplary. In short, his songs are good to sing and good to listen to. They work.”
Ned Rorem
“Like his vibrant guitar performances, David Leisner’s music is colorful and deeply sensitive. His
song cycle Confiding, to poems by women, is full of musical and literary interest and leaves an
indelible impression upon the listener. Several passages are particularly haunting. David
Leisner deserves serious attention.”
Richard Hundley
Reviews
Leisner and Golijov: Impressive Musical Journeys
The New Mexican
By Craig Smith, May, 2001
"One wonders what Orpheus felt as he approached the upper world, having won his wife
Eurydice back from Hades. Was it joy on seeing a glimpse of blue sky? Or sudden fear that
stung his heart like a scorpion in a rose? David Leisner's Vision of Orpheus , which received its
world premiere Saturday evening from 20th Century Unlimited in St. Francis Auditorium, rather
suggests that it was a combination of both.
Orpheus was a near-divine musician for whom the rocks and trees walked and rivers left their
beds. But he also was human, with all the inconsistencies and imperfections that suggests.
When his two natures crossed, and the two emotions warred, he hesitated, looked back - and
lost his love forever.
Vision of Orpheus , for guitar and string quartet, was inspired by Santa Fe painter Mark
Spencer's depiction of the final moments of the singer's Stygian journey. Leisner's five
movements (Plea to the Underworld, Ballad of Orpheus, Deliberation, Release and Vision of
Orpheus) begin with a request for mercy and move through pleading, success and doubt to melt
at last into quiet despair.
It proved effective for its straightforward musical material and lack of grandstanding, for Leisner
satisfied the ear with simplicity rather than trying to dazzle it with florid complexity. The
movements were well crafted, with themes expanded, contracted and developed by different
instruments. But the initial inspiration always was clear. The writing for both strings and guitar
was idiomatic, at times even bard-like.
Leisner and the St. Lawrence String Quartet (Geoff Nutall, Barry Shiffman, Lesley Robertson
and Marina Hoover) were a good team."
Guitar Review
By Ian Gallagher, Winter 2007
"The emotions of Leisner's solo works are dizzying. Here, Leisner exudes creativity and
expression at every moment, and each piece has an almost improvisatory quality that sounds
like music, not "composition." Nel Mezzo: Sonata is a brilliant chromatic exploration. The middle
movement, Lamento, is six and a half minutes of tension building that hooks the ear to its
beautiful and surprising dissonances.
Every piece on here is inventive and refreshing, pushing the expressive envelope, while
keeping harmony and rhythm accessible but never boring. Most importantly, SP never sounds
like you've heard it before: a must have for guitar lovers and players alike."
Photo by Gerald Garcia
"Embrace of Peace [for orchestra] struck me as a rich tone poem, striving, passionate,hopeful. It
reflects brilliant intellect in combination with brilliant sensitivity on the part of Mr. Leisner...Mr.
Leisner combines them freely, openly, honestly. The result is a sparkling work using new and
imaginative combinations of instruments, with dissonances that were not so much strong for
effect as they were subtle setups for warm and satisfying resolutions. The Fairfield Orchestra...
afforded the work a meaningful sendoff into the mainstream of important repertoire.”
Westport News, CT
“Leisner’s songs have proved popular with the younger generation of American singers, and
with reason. He has good literary judgement and shows imagination and taste in taking poems
from disparate sources and putting them into cycles that trace emotional progress and develop
dramatic shape. His prosody is excellent, and he sets words with an ear for sound, rhythm and
sense...Best of all, Leisner has a gift for eloquently shaping a vocal line that is also grateful to
sing.”
Boston Globe
“These pieces [Passacaglia and Toccata] are far superior to almost anything else being written
for guitar today. Not many composers manage to be equally satisfying to the hands, the ear and
the mind as Leisner has.”
Guitar Review
"His own Nel Mezzo: Sonata is an original and profoundly personal work...powerful, angry and
moving music."
Soundboard
“David Leisner’s four Dances in the Madhouse are a potent addition to the repertory--giddy,
attractive reinterpretations of traditional forms.”
Los Angeles Times
“We heard what may be one of the most spellbinding new compositions I have listened to in
many a moon--David Leisner’s Dances in the Madhouse...It is one of those small but delightful
pieces which we all go to concerts hoping to hear: something new which pleases on its first
hearing yet promises to yield further treasures the next time...a contemporary gem.”
The Easthampton Star, NY
“It is refreshing to find a work of such imagination and ingenuity that could be enjoyed by all
types of listeners. In fact, virtually every aspect of Dances in the Madhouse supports the
contention that a composer needn’t sacrifice originality and quality for accessibility...a work of
exquisite beauty.”
Guitar Review
“Leisner’s music was consumer-friendly, his forthright style simultaneously accessible and
uncompromising. Spare texture, haunting colors, and fine solo efforts from first violin, oboe,
trumpet and flute ignited the 'Tango Solitaire.' 'Waltz for the Old Folks' and 'Ballad for the
Lonely' invoked a soothing confluence of innocence and worldly wisdom, and 'Samba!' made for
an energetic close. Leisner applauded the orchestra and received a warm ovation.”
Springfield Union-News, MA
“The result is easily accessible to the average listener, regardless of his musical sophistication,
even though it’s a sound the like of which he has never heard before.”
The Springfield Advocate, MA
“The songs are ravishing. Very sophisticated music all of it. And clean and thin, and it sounds
good.”
Virgil Thomson
“The songs of David Leisner are real songs: full of good melody, vocally “gracious” (as singers
say), accessible to hearers, comparatively easy for pianists, and based on poetry of the highest
order but of simple comprehensibility. Leisner’s respect for the voice and for the poet is
exemplary. In short, his songs are good to sing and good to listen to. They work.”
Ned Rorem
“Like his vibrant guitar performances, David Leisner’s music is colorful and deeply sensitive. His
song cycle Confiding, to poems by women, is full of musical and literary interest and leaves an
indelible impression upon the listener. Several passages are particularly haunting. David
Leisner deserves serious attention.”
Richard Hundley
Reviews
Leisner and Golijov: Impressive Musical Journeys
The New Mexican
By Craig Smith, May, 2001
"One wonders what Orpheus felt as he approached the upper world, having won his wife
Eurydice back from Hades. Was it joy on seeing a glimpse of blue sky? Or sudden fear that
stung his heart like a scorpion in a rose? David Leisner's Vision of Orpheus , which received its
world premiere Saturday evening from 20th Century Unlimited in St. Francis Auditorium, rather
suggests that it was a combination of both.
Orpheus was a near-divine musician for whom the rocks and trees walked and rivers left their
beds. But he also was human, with all the inconsistencies and imperfections that suggests.
When his two natures crossed, and the two emotions warred, he hesitated, looked back - and
lost his love forever.
Vision of Orpheus , for guitar and string quartet, was inspired by Santa Fe painter Mark
Spencer's depiction of the final moments of the singer's Stygian journey. Leisner's five
movements (Plea to the Underworld, Ballad of Orpheus, Deliberation, Release and Vision of
Orpheus) begin with a request for mercy and move through pleading, success and doubt to melt
at last into quiet despair.
It proved effective for its straightforward musical material and lack of grandstanding, for Leisner
satisfied the ear with simplicity rather than trying to dazzle it with florid complexity. The
movements were well crafted, with themes expanded, contracted and developed by different
instruments. But the initial inspiration always was clear. The writing for both strings and guitar
was idiomatic, at times even bard-like.
Leisner and the St. Lawrence String Quartet (Geoff Nutall, Barry Shiffman, Lesley Robertson
and Marina Hoover) were a good team."
Guitar Review
By Ian Gallagher, Winter 2007
"The emotions of Leisner's solo works are dizzying. Here, Leisner exudes creativity and
expression at every moment, and each piece has an almost improvisatory quality that sounds
like music, not "composition." Nel Mezzo: Sonata is a brilliant chromatic exploration. The middle
movement, Lamento, is six and a half minutes of tension building that hooks the ear to its
beautiful and surprising dissonances.
Every piece on here is inventive and refreshing, pushing the expressive envelope, while
keeping harmony and rhythm accessible but never boring. Most importantly, SP never sounds
like you've heard it before: a must have for guitar lovers and players alike."
Photo by Gerald Garcia
| Composer press Quotes and reviews |