William Hedley, The Hours Begin to Sing
This is the first music I have heard by Gordon Getty, famous for another reason, and the impression is favourable. Emily Dickinson’s verse is sparing with words and the subject matter narrow. Getty’s equally sparing music proves an effective vehicle, with the old-fashioned virtue of aiming to complement or enhance the meaning. It is a brave composer indeed who decides to take on Copland by setting “Because I could not stop for death.” Getty refers to the “clip-clop of the hearse carriage,” and indeed the early part of the poet’s journey “toward eternity” is jaunty and sounds like fun. The setting makes more sense as it progresses, and the short piano postlude is highly effective.
David DeBoor Canfield, The Hours Begin to Sing
The poetry of Emily Dickinson has been set by many composers very effectively, and Gordon Getty proves himself worthy to be in their company. These elegant settings of her “Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers,” “There’s a Certain Slant of Light,” “A Bird Came Down the Walk,” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” all distill the essence of Dickinson’s lyrical poetry.
International Record Review, Young America
There's clearly a strong personal voice here [and] the results are consistently winsome, sometimes even hauntingly beautiful...Those attracted to the spirit behind this music will find that the performances are fluent and that the soundas usual with PentaTone - is exceptionally natural.
Georgia Rowe, Four Traditional Pieces
Getty’s lovely Four Traditional Pieces opened the program in a performance of disarming sonorities. Each episode in the quartet explores harmonic conventions through a distinctly nostalgic lens; the music’s echoes of vivacious dance tunes and sweet, folk-tinged melodies recall the parlor songs of a bygone era. With Salerno-Sonnenberg spinning out the solo violin part with warm, yearning tone, the score made an apt curtain-raiser…
Henry Fogel, Young America
...Getty is an extremely talented, communicative composer—one who writes in an extremely conservative, audience-friendly style, but who manages to find his own authentic voice. The more of his music I have heard, the more I've come to appreciate him as a powerful musical personality...While his music is tonal and tuneful, it is not without touches of 20th-century harmonic grammar...For any listener who enjoys robust choral writing, good tunes, lively rhythms, and ethereal beauty, this disc can be enthusiastically recommended. The texts of Young America were mostly written by Getty...This music and the texts recall just what the title implies, a young America, and the work is evocative and powerful despite or perhaps because of its simplicity. Getty also has a nice feel for orchestral colors. The Three Welsh Songs are settings by Getty, and "All Through the Night" is a remarkably beautiful closing to the group. Victorian Scenes is a setting of poems by Tennyson and Housman, and evokes scenes of nature very effectively. Annabel Lee is a setting of Poe's heart-on-sleeve poem paying tribute to his wife who died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. What saves Poe's words from excessive sentimentality is their deeply felt sincerity and the elegance of his outpouring of love and sorrow, and Getty captures this in his music...