Gramophone / Jun 2024
John Dowland's 'Go, crystal tears' and 'Flow, my tears,' the two settings subtly and delicately arranged for string quartet by David Bruce.
artfuse.org / May 2024
David Bruces The Consolation of Rain lingers most in my memory. Scored for oboe, cello, percussion, and harp, this score captures the consoling effects of listening to rainfall. A kind of restlessness permeates the first of its five movements. But that gives way to a gentle rush of harmonies as the work unfolds. Pulses grow from light pitter-patters to a full-on wash of sound in the fourth movement. The work ends calmly, conveying the Zen-like serenity that served as Bruces inspiration. Musicians Nancy Dimock (oboe), Sarah Rommel (cello), Matt Sharrock (percussion), and Madeline Olson (harp) played with hushed momentum to make a compelling case for this music.