Peace Nature & Renewal

Peace, Nature, and Renewal: The Music of Mark Dal Porto

Originally posted on Cinemusical

Mark Dal Porto teaches at Eastern New Mexico University. His work has received wide recognition in a variety of genres, several of which are represented on this new collection of his music. The current release includes two of his orchestral works, a woodwind quintet, music for oboe, and several choral pieces creating a varied program to introduce his music to a broader audience.

The two orchestral works frame the other material. The opening Song of Eternity takes its inspiration from an ancient Chinese text. After an almost Copland-esque opening, the music begins to take shape as a more Neo-Romantic tone poem with some striking orchestral writing that grows slowly until it nearly explodes from the orchestra. The final moments bring us back to a more reflective quality in this quite evocative work. …

Peace, Nature, and Renewal: The Music of Mark Dal Porto

Originally posted on www.reviewgraveyard.com

A selection of composer Mark Dal Porto’s work is collected on the Navona Records release Peace, Nature & Renewal. The album is the perfect introduction to the composer whose style is wide in scope but perfectly focussed on pure quality…

From the opening, reflective ‘Song of Eternity’, which has obvious influences of Mahler and Prokofiev with the occasional hint of Holst. To the off-kilter three-part ‘Exotic Animals’, composer Mark Dal Porto’s body of work is diverse and never dull.

What’s intriguing about Porto’s compositions is that he’s not afraid to experiment. The album opens with tracks that are conventional, comfy classical pieces, before slowly throwing a little experimentation in on pieces like ‘Romance’. This is a track that is still grounded in traditional classical music, but there’s a little insight into the composer’s …

Mark Dal Porto: Peace, Nature & Renewal

Originally posted at www.textura.org

Mark Dal Porto’s material has been characterized as neo-Romantic, pensive, and evocative, and certainly the seven works on this memorable collection exemplify such qualities. Dal Porto, an Eastern New Mexico University music professor who’s also a guest composer and conductor at the institution, is well-served by Peace, Nature & Renewal, which is distinguished not only by the calibre of the works presented but a set-list that includes orchestral, chamber, and choir performances. Recorded between 2012 and 2018, the release features the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Vox Futura, Arcadian Winds, and oboist Tracy Carr. Don’t be surprised if composers such as Mahler, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Richard Strauss come to mind as you listen to the recording, with Dal Porto’s compositions aligning themselves to the stylistic tradition associated with those figures more than recent ones.

Drawing for inspiration from …