Luening's compositional style in these songs is not what one might expect from someone who, with Vladimir Ussachevsky, established the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. As a flutist himself, Luening wrote frequently for the combination of flute and soprano. In the latter Starer gives the soprano the challenge of virtuosic passages and high range, and creates a dialogue with flute and clarinet. String quartet completes the sonority. The whole is a fascinating little drama, very effectively set to music.
Starer sets each appropriately with extraordinary wordpainting.
This CD is a major contribution to the recording field. It provides rewarding minutes of music. One result will surely be that many singers will add these works to their repertory. Luening was a student of Busoni, pioneer of electronic music, and a composer of finely wrought, expressive music which flirts cleverly with atonality and modern techniques while remaining lyrical, ultimately tonal, and deeply satisfying. This disc showcases both composers to their advantage, and is much to be recommended.