Carol Rosenberger - Reverie (1993)

“…for always…I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore” – William Butler Yeats
(the inspiration for Griffes’ “The Lake at Evening,” heard on this disc)

From the program notes by Steven C. Smith: Carol Rosenberger’s “Perchance to Dream” presented a program of music intended, in part, to introduce young people to classical music…and to remind all listeners of music’s great power to heal. The response was extraordinary. We learned that the simple eloquence of its program not only enchanted young listeners; it aided doctors performing delicate surgeries and monitoring patients in intensive care, and provided peace for terminally ill loved ones. With this album Delos offers a sequel, in spirit, to that collection – Reverie, whose name suggests a similar dream state… A retreat, perhaps, but one that can lead to self-renewal. Not surprisingly, some of the works presented here were responses to times of great stress: the effortlessness of Ravel’s Menuet from “Le Tombeau de Couperin” belies its composer’s shattered nerves after the horrors of World War I; Chopin’s elegant miniatures give no hint of the physical pain their composer endured. Other works pay homage to nature, or recall the fragile pleasures of childhood. All, however, bear simple testament to a timeless desire for inner peace.