Audiophile Audition gives Utah Symphony’s Dawn To Dust recording four stars calling it a “Notable contemporary music from Utah in a lovely recording.”
“Dawn To Dust contains live recordings of three significant and interesting works by leading composers Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman.… The first work on the disc is a lovely and dynamic contemporary ballet for orchestra by Ms. Thomas, called EOS – Goddess of the Dawn. It has a rich palette of orchestra sounds.… The next work is by Muhly called Control – Five Landscapes for Orchestra. The landscapes in question are from Utah, and are inspired by the spectacular geography the state offers.… Here again, there are very rich orchestrations, and evocations of the dramatic landforms Utah provides. The Red Dust movement, designed to musically reference the areas around St. George, is particularly striking. Finally, the disc features Andrew Norman’s Switch, a work featuring a lot of percussion along with the orchestra. Percussionist Colin Currie said he felt the piece evoked being inside a pin-ball machine, a good enough metaphor for the aggressive, dynamic sound. This disc comes from the revered Reference Recording label, and as is no surprise, it is of reference quality. … This disc will be of interest to contemporary classical fans, or those searching for something new and unique. I enjoyed the disc, and the recording is of very high quality. I found the two- channel CD layer to be of also excellent sound, lacking just a bit in dynamic range when the percussion instruments are playing, and a hint of smoothness in the strings.” —Mel Martin, Audiophile Audition