Stuart Ross Carlson
Originally for organ, Adoration by Florence Price is heard here in Stuart Ross Carlson’s sensitive arrangement for flute and piano. Friend’s flute soars with an almost vocal quality, while De Silva lends a devotional calm to the accompaniment. The result is both haunting and deeply moving, making this premiere a highlight of the album.
Full of such life, the way these tracks radiate a sense of discovery feels majestic. The cinematic quality of the atmosphere wafts over every part of the soundscape. Instrumental richness defines every nook and cranny of the pieces. Evolution goes for the meticulous, ensuring that every detail is in its right place. Lots of the...
A Cinematic Tour de Force from A True Virtuoso. Stuart has managed to arrange a beautiful hour-long cinematic piece in this majestic one-hour composition. ‘Portrait of a Landscape: SEASONS’ stands out as a thoroughly impressive composition that spans the most profound and most inspired of influences: from the subtle Baroque complexity of Jonny Greenwood to...
‘Portrait of a Landscape: SEASONS’ is a fantastic mix of classical and country, orchestral and folk music, blurring the lines between more formal and rootsy worlds and again underlining that music is just music. It can, indeed should, be allowed to take whatever form it likes, regardless of ideas of genre, style, and even potential...
There’s something reminiscent of romantic string quartets by Schumann and Dvorak in these artistic arrangements of traditional Christmas carols. The arrangements, by local musician Stuart Carlson, definitely do not fit into the standard verse-chorus-repeat category of carols. Augmented by mood-setting intros and expanded by key changes and lush unexpected harmonies and countermelodies, these are great...
In this impressive transcription Carlson captures much of the sound and power of the organ and offers it to solo violin. This arrangement requires double stops, accents, jumping across strings, high left-hand work, and dramatic flourishes with the bow and with chromatic left-hand runs… The advanced student or professional will surely enjoy bringing this classic...
This edition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue—an eerie opus heard in dozens of scary films and in more than one Scooby-Doo episode—is transcribed by Stuart Carlson for solo violin. Easily one of the most famous pieces of the organ repertoire today, it was first published in 1833 thanks to Felix Mendelssohn. Carlson, a young competition-winning...
Stuart’s stunning, gentle tone sparkled alongside Jade’s improvised embellishments to the arrangement, which Stuart had encouraged her to add. The result was the sound of two people collaborating selflessly, sharing themselves with a touched audience. “How sweet the sound,” indeed!
The finale performed by violist Stuart Carlson and pianist Mi-Eun Kim was especially rewarding because it was to the tune of “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin. The audience hummed along and chuckled to the tune. Ending the show with “Smile” after experiencing all the complexity of the pieces before seemed like a reward for attending. This...
