"Mr. Paterson's works are notoriously whimsical... Watching his wife braid her hair, he was moved to compose a work for marimba, his instrument. and violin, hers. The seven-minute work did not literally portray the braids Victoria turned around to display on the back of her blonde hair when they took their bows, but it is clear the composer has delightful musical patterns in his grasp. He can also portray the sense of danger and horror. The shorter Piranha (under five minutes) has color and bite, along with subtle dynamics and articulated storytelling."
"...each section of the one-movement piece could be heard to represent a different kind of braid. the audience agreed; it was met with great reception."
"I really like your music a lot! There is humor (Wind Quintet, Closet Full of Demons... etc.) sensuality (Symphony in Three Movements) and some undeniable chops (Electric Lines). I was particularly intrigued by [Crimson Earth]. That was a real psychedelic trip with weird moans casting a dark shadow across a march... lots of kaleidoscopic fades and dissolves—very, very cool! You are a personable laid-back guy, but your music shows years of disciplined dedication to your craft combined with a wonderfully vivid imagination."
"For Robert Paterson's Eating Variations, Ron Singer's five texts cover such meritorious subjects as potential cannibalism at McDonald's ("The Hog"), regurgitation ("Even the Dyspeptic Must Eat"), and the conundrums of why we bother to eat in the first place ("The Dietary Moralist"). Baritone Robert Gardner, crooning like a deadpan philosopher, made the most of Paterson's clever settings."
From a review of the European Premiere by the London-based Naiades Ensemble:
"Next was the European Premiere of Robert Paterson’s Embracing the Wind, an altogether more convincing work by a New York based composer... Inspired by an Olympic athlete running against the wind, the piece is an abstraction of that image, and is described as minimalist romantic, making use of repeated cells and musical fragments in an expressive way. The piece had a dramatic opening, and was performed with precise, even technical control from all of the players. An extended viola solo was played with energy and conviction, and the composer made excellent use of the rich sonorities of the alto flute to good effect... this work presented opportunities for all of the players to shine, with some impressive harp playing matched by a wonderful bisbigliando effect in the flute, which was played with absolute precision."
Comment on the Australian Premiere by the New York City-based New York Harp Trio:
"We were hopeful that Australian audiences would be receptive of a modern program" said Peter Bucknell, violist. "Rob Paterson's piece Embracing the Wind was a huge hit... The crowds were extremely attentive in Melbourne. We found a real depth there."
"If this is not in your [Volti] 30 year recording project, it must be. It is an incredibly moving piece for young and old alike... It has the makings of a modern Choral Standard, Volti should do what you can to help it along the path. Thank you for the commission and the first performance, but the commercial recording will put the icing on the wonderful cake you made... One would think that three texts on eschatology, tragedy, and death would make for a rather dismal piece of music. But Rob has created one of the most moving and beautiful compositions it has ever been my pleasure to hear. A poignant pleasure to be sure, but aren't those really the best kind?... If you ever get a chance to hear this work, or Volti does record it, let nothing get in your way. Hear it!"
"Mr. Paterson's works are notoriously whimsical... it is clear the composer has delightful musical patterns in his grasp. He can also portray the sense of danger and horror. The shorter Piranha (under five minutes) has color and bite, along with subtle dynamics and articulated storytelling."
From a review of a concert by the New York New Music Ensemble:
“People who go to recitals like this one don’t necessarily expect to hear catchy advertising ready jingles rife with simplex melodies and harmonies. They want intellectual meat, creative powers working on a higher plane. It helps that the music they were playing, even the new works from the back end of the ‘90s, was worth the experience. A case in point is Robert Paterson’s Quintus, which started the evening off with a strong pulse from the piano that was embroidered by the fleet, sliding fingers of violinist Curtis Macomber and the clever, quirky lines played by clarinetist Jean Kopperud as the cello and marimba added commentary. The overall effect was of crystalline textures spiraling toward a goal that only appears logical at the last instant.”
- Garaud MacTaggart, The Buffalo News
Review of a performance by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble:
"The first half was lively, opening with Robert Paterson's Sextet. Beware the generic name, this piece for violin (Natalie Shaw), cello (Norbert Lewandowski), flute (Lindsey Goodman), clarinet (Campbell MacDonald), piano (Keith Kirchoff) and percussion (David Skidmore), was a brilliant riff on TV real crime shows. Seeing "Cops" and other shows as packaging real emotion for comfortable consumption, Paterson instead infused the work with a nervous energy—the real sweat on the brow of a perp who knows the jig is up. From strident whistles to a siren imitated in a violin glissando to anxious rhythms, this piece definitely got its man."
Review of the New York City, Merkin Hall premiere by the Da Capo Chamber Players:
"The concert opened with Robert Paterson's entertaining Sextet, inspired by "television shows that expose people in the act of committing crimes," perhaps referring to Cops, a long-running and popular show in the United States. With periodic and startling whistle blasts, the format covers a criminal’s day of running from the police, traveling by car, breaking out in a cold sweat in a motel and finally getting caught, after a colorful rumba chase scene."
"I've just now had a chance to hear the disc you sent of your recital. Bravo! Everything on there is musical. I especially enjoyed the Sextet and the Wind Quintet."
“I love the piece! Congrats!!”
“This is a piece that engages the performers and audience from the first note to the last and reveals the composer's skillfulness as well as a puckish sense of humor.”
“Rob is an extremely talented person. His work Stealing Thunder for percussion ensemble is one of the most interesting, challenging and rewarding new pieces for that ensemble. He is a specialist in the use of six mallets on marimba, and has written many fine pieces to demonstrate that skill. So not only is he a great composer, but a great marimbist and percussionist as well. And by the way, his website—which he designed and constructed himself —is one of the best I have ever seen. Check it out, along with his music!!!”
"Hi! Just wanted to remind you—in case you'd forgotten—that Stealing Thunder totally rocks! Congrats again on writing an exceedingly cool piece!”
- Brian Robison, Composer
Winner of the American Composers Orchestra Whitaker Prize
"I can't say enough how much I enjoyed your string quartet. Your music has a great combination of craftsmanship, brilliant originality and humor. I look forward to hearing more of your music."
From a review of the premiere at the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Concert:
"The audience just roared. Never has a new work been given such an ecstatic reception. Robert Paterson is a highly gifted composer, and a few years will no doubt suffice to establish him as one of the major contenders in American music."
- Mark G. Simon, Ithaca Times
“You are a terrific composer! The Symphony in Three Movements is dazzlingly colorful. I loved it! Bravo!”
“...an enjoyable performance... This cute but sophisticated work deserves publication, and it should prove popular with other ensembles. Volti commissioned the piece in 2005, and this performance struck me as more secure than the premiere. The repeated performance is an encouraging development because too many worthy new works disappear after their first airing.”
– Thomas Busse
Music Critic, San Francisco Classical Voice
Music Director of San Francisco’s City Concert Opera Orchestra
From a review of the premiere performance by the Volti choir of San Francisco:
"Paterson's music was characterized by generous word-painting and a predilection for arpeggiated diminished seventh chords. He experimented effectively with some “extended techniques” for chorus, such as “sh” sounds to represent water rushing."
From the NYC premiere by the American Modern Ensemble...
"Rob, your piece is such a polished jewel! Beautiful sonorities, impeccable pacing, compelling arches...Congrats!!"
- Melinda Wagner
Composer for the New York Philharmonic, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music
"The concert was great, with special thrills from Rob Paterson's achingly strange and beautiful The Thin Ice of Your Fragile Mind, which was, to use a rather technical musicological term, tinkly and outer-spacey (lots of metallic percussion and upper register woodwind/piano)."
- Dave Cote
Time Out New York
“Many listeners commented on Robert Paterson’s The Thin Ice of Your Fragile Mind, which sounds nervous but actually has some rather sweet ensemble phrasing, punctuated by percussive sounds, most notably some earthy bells. The latter were inspired by Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri’s pioneering desert complex... in its icy way, Paterson’s piece espoused a serenity that might have paralleled the architect’s ideals.”
- Bruce Hodges
MusicWeb International
“I was very impressed with your Thin Ice! Your characteristic orchestration and special use of percussion really rings true in this piece: it glimmers and shines. Really beautiful.”
- Chester Biscardi
Award-Winning Composer, Chair, Sarah Lawrence College Music Program
“I especially enjoyed [The Thin Ice of Your Fragile Mind], Rob! Riveting...”
- Joseph Pehrson
Composer and Co-Founder of the NYC-based Composers Concordance
“The song-set Thursday especially appealed to me, both words and music. The characterization was clear and convincing. I hope you are thinking about more vocal music!”
Two quotes from English translations of reviews of the premiere recording by the Cracow-based Philharmonia Quintet...
"On this CD, among pieces frequently performed by wind quintets [is] Wind Quintet composed two years ago by Robert Paterson, a thirty-six year old American composer. The piece consists of four movements and is written with great imagination. What is interesting is that the composer interweaves a mix of quotations from popular American TV shows... The last movement is entitled Klezmeshugeh, meaning klezmer variations, and is full of energy. Philharmonia Quintet plays this difficult and brilliant work excellently. It will be the first performance of Robert Paterson's quintet in Poland during the concert in Cracow."
"The second piece is the Wind Quintet (2004) by Robert Paterson, a gifted young American composer. The work is technically extremely difficult and includes many interesting ideas, like for example a mix of quotations from popular American TV shows, humorously interweaved into musical narration; programmatic references (musical illustration of Salvador Dali's painting "Persistance of Memory"), and real rhythmic madness in the last movement, Klezmeshugeh, meaning variations on a klezmer theme."
- Julita Kosinska, Ruch Muzyczny
Philharmonia Quintet member Miroslaw Ploski interviewed by Julita Kosinska in What's The News
"I've just now had a chance to hear the disc... Bravo! I especially enjoyed the Sextet and the Wind Quintet."
“What a delight to hear [Paterson's] recent music—a most impressive body of work. I find it exuberant and rhythmically vital music marked by energy and a wonderful sense of color.”
“Vivid, imaginative, and with a direct, intelligent style. Rob Paterson is a composer that connects!”
“[Paterson's music] is both musically and emotionally effective. The variety of expression is most noteworthy and he really cares about the pitches. It is a pleasure to listen to his music and I predict that he will go far.”
“Robert Paterson is the consummate musician: he performs, composes and creates. I first heard of Rob as a high school student when I was impressed with a percussion ensemble work that he wrote. As a percussionist he has created a six-mallet technique for the marimba, performs with six-mallets and has written an instruction book on the technique. His most recent percussion ensemble composition, Stealing Thunder, is at the main stream of percussion ensemble compositions. He continues to compose for all musical mediums, continues to perform and is fast establishing a position of excellence for himself in the music world.”
“Rob Paterson’s music kicks arse!”
– Asmira Woodward-Page, Violinist
Founder and Leader of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City)
Member, Concert Artists Guild
"...you gave me one of the best 'composing for percussion' what the hell were you thinking bitch slaps ever! Percussionists love playing my stuff now, and I owe some of it to you and your up front honesty."
- Scott Good, Composer & Trombonist
Composer-In-Residence, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
"Out of most six mallet music I have heard, yours seems to be the most musical, in the sense that it really concentrates on the music aspect, rather than the fact there are six mallets being used, and that is how it should be. I can't wait to start playing them... the music is fantastic."
|
