“Stucky’s angular, percussive and, at times, strangely lyrical [Piano Quartet] brought, for me, the most arresting and galvanic performance ...
“Composed in one movement, the piece championed dissonance and flirted with rhythmic patterns, yet proceeded in a linear but never predictable trajectory. Stucky made sure each instrument leaped to the front of the soundstage. A middle passage, all churn and burble, served as an oasis before the music plunged recklessly into jazzy slashes for the strings and a driving, engine wheel of sound from the piano.
“This was music that perched itself on the edge of a cliff and by turns floated like a feather and crashed to the ground after a dramatic plunge.”
– John Fidler, Reading Eagle
[read full review]
“[Radical Light] is a study in wondrous sonorities: thick string clouds, incandescent brass, chattering and glittering winds. Fast music invades slow music but doesn’t overpower it. The end is one big rapt, rich sound, with the strings shimmering, rippling, a grand but still muted sunrise. The piece has the feeling of Sibelius’ sound but provides a sensual pleasure all its own.”
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
“Stucky’s ‘Radical Light’ a feast of mood, color: ... Radical Light unfolds in a single span that encompasses a wealth of moods and orchestral colors. ... What proved most striking here was the composer’s command of harmony, and particularly the way the piece moves deftly in and out of the world of traditional tonality. The densely packed string textures of the opening - more notable for their chilly coloration than any harmonic content - suddenly resolve, in a bit of harmonic legerdemain, to a dark minor chord.”
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2009
[read full review]
"'Radical Light,' the opening work by PSO's composer-of-the-year Steven Stucky, did something equally compelling with orchestra form. Asked to pen a work to fit between two monumental Sibelius symphonies, Nos. 4 and 7, Stucky distilled the essence of the great Finnish composer. Fragments and allusions swam in a shimmering sea of harmonic clusters. More than anything, it was Symphony No. 5 that bobbed up, to the point that it sounded as if we were listening to it submerged, like a sunken cathedral of its own. ... it is clear he is a fascinating voice in American composition."
– Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 22, 2011
“[Second Concerto for Orchestra is] a colorful, delight-bringing score, it has the feel of music we know well lovingly replanted to charm new surroundings ... a perfect fit for an orchestra, conductor and audience. It is music expertly designed to show off the Philharmonic, Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Disney acoustic at their dazzling best.”
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
“... a distinguished addition to [his list of works created for the Los Angeles Philharmonic]. ... a fascinating amalgam: color, rhythm, propulsion ... bright solo instrumental writing and breath-stopping dark sonorities.”
– Alan Rich, LA Weekly
Son et lumičre has “... a great deal of energy, brilliant orchestration and thematic interest.”
– Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun
“Stucky writes for the orchestra with great flair and confidence and the piece delivers exactly what the title promises: interesting sounds featuring an enjoyable interplay of light and shade.”
– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
“Dreamwaltzes is both stylish and substantial, a neatly shaped 15-minute work whose dynamic energy is considerable and whose orchestration is consistently well-crafted.”
– James Wierzbicki, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“... a clever, affectionate collage that puts some old stylistic skeletons through provocative new paces. Dreamwaltzes left little doubt that past-tense creativity, when applied with craft and imagination, can be amusing as well as engaging.”
– Martin Bernheimer, Los Angeles Times
“... Stucky, with his feeling for big gestures and love of timbral variety, is at his best – or at least at his most free – when writing for full orchestra ... imaginative, affecting.”
– Mark Lehman, American Record Guide
“Mr. Stucky set off Purcell’s music [Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary] as if in quotation marks, with a sense of distance built in. Sometimes the melody dwindled to a mere outline, like a bald patch in an old tapestry; at other times it withdrew behind a gentle overlay of modern harmonies, which slightly distorted it, as if viewed through rippled glass.”
– Anne Midgette, New York Times
“The lush sonorities of Pinturas, inspired by five paintings by 20th century Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, fell easily on the ear ... Pinturas is that rare achievement, a piece of programmatic music that is neither too abstract nor too literal ... The audience paid Stucky the ultimate compliment.”
– Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun-Times
“... there’s always the chance of hearing something that will survive the lifetime of its composer ... Boston Fancies by Steven Stucky may be one of those special works ... clear structure of the alternating sections ... a marvelous migration of instrumental highlighting ... what is so impressive about Stucky’s achievement is that the declaration of immediately obvious structure allows him to delight the listener with breathtaking transitional passages between sections.”
– Jeff Dunn, San Francisco Classical Voice
“[Boston Fancies's] seven connected sections alternate between quick, rhythmic material and reflective musings. Stucky creates suspense by taking seven players through abrupt changes of mood and color. The music percolates, stops to sigh and sometimes gives the musicians the freedom to improvise in aleatoric passages that are notated but not strictly timed.”
– Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“[Nell’ombra, Nella Luce (In Shadow, In Light)] was a piece with far more light than shadow in it and great arcs of tensely radiant harmony, beautifully imagined for the medium.”
– Paul Griffiths, New York Times
“Nell’ombra, Nella Luce is a significant addition to the repertoire. ... As the title’s visual metaphor suggests, it is concerned with the contrast between darkness and light. The composer uses the full palette available, from basics such as high and low notes to less common techniques, including harmonics and sul ponticello ... But unlike most color-study pieces of music, Stucky’s new quartet satisfies the listener with an inner coherence undoubtedly strengthened by his close study of the music of the late Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski.”
– Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“The 20-minute, four-movement [Concerto Mediterraneo for Solo Guitar and Orchestra] rarely raises its voice above an inviting, relaxed mezzo forte. Modernist techniques in the score blend with the often lovely guitar lines and soft-edged support from the orchestra ... exquisite phrases ... delicate and fragile touches ... It’s a work well worth hearing again.”
– Pierre Ruhe, Washington Post
Additional reviews and complete information about Steven Stucky’s compositions are available from Theodore Presser Company.
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