L PETER DEUTSCH is a native of Massachusetts, U.S.A., now living in Sonoma County, California, and British Columbia, Canada. After a long detour through a distinguished career in Computer Science, he returned to composition part-time in 1986 and full-time in 2003, receiving his M.A. diploma under Frank La Rocca at CSU Hayward.
Deutsch's strengths as a composer include sparkling counterpoint and polyphony, lyrical melodies, fluent text setting, lush homophony, and the use of a large harmonic palette centered around modal scales. He writes primarily for small instrumental or a capella vocal ensemble, spanning styles from spiritual to romantic to jazzy. His work to date includes four choral commissions, a string quartet, suites for brass quintet and piano trio, and a short concerto for cello recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. His music is recorded on the Navona and Ansonica labels and is also available for streaming through Spotify and Naxos. The Navona release MOTO FINALE, which includes Deutsch's string trio work "Winter 2005", won a silver medal in the classical category of the Global Music Awards in 2022; Deutsch's cello concerto "The Forest Stream", on the Navona LONDON CELLO CONNECTION release, was selected for ASCAP's weekly playlist in March 2023.
TAPESTRY OF VOICES from Navona Records showcases the versatility and elegance of the human voice woven with grand orchestral statements, colorful choral arrangements, and intimate settings with piano. Threading modern takes on Greek mythology, meditations on concepts of loss, morality, and more, TAPESTRY OF VOICES is a diverse collection of artistic tributes to the human condition.
L Peter Deutsch's The Voices of Creation, with text by the composer, commemorates the majestic beauty of the mountains and waterways of the Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. There Will Be Stars, setting a poem by the American Sara Teasdale, is a reflection on the permanence of the heavens contrasted with human mortality: "There will be stars forever ... while we sleep."
Light the fireplace, don your coziest sweater, and let the festive sounds of DASHING VOL. 4 from Navona Records whisk you away on a joyful journey through holiday music both new and familiar. This edition of the series fuses the magic and warmth of holiday tones with the modern flair of today’s classical music.
L Peter Deutsch's Der Tannenbaum on this album is a dance-like, completely original choral setting of the familiar German holiday carol.
Navona Records presents VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL V, a dynamic album showcasing the human voice and the powerful storytelling capabilities that vocal music wields. Six contemporary composers from around the world offer breathtaking works that stir the senses in this release, from hauntingly beautiful ballads to uplifting choral arrangements and climactic moments of triumph.
Of L Peter Deutsch's three tracks on this album, When We Are Apart, with words by the composer, is a reflection on choral singers' feelings about the physical separation enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic: "When we are apart, we are still together; ... The song continues without the singer." The Dimensions of Love, commissioned by the Bay Choral Guild, sets a metaphor-infused E.E. Cummings poem, concluding joyously that love is "higher than the sky." And N'fashot Tzadikim is a short but haunting piece based on the composer's adaptation of Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-3: "Where are the souls of the righteous? ... They are in peace."
The Sirius Quartet returns with the long-anticipated PLAYING ON THE EDGE 3, adding to their ever-thrilling catalog with a fresh batch of imaginative compositions.
L Peter Deutsch's Eternity is a wordless setting of Henry Vaughan's famous poem "The World," best known for its opening lines: "I saw Eternity the other night, Like a great ring of pure and endless light...." The setting offers lush harmonies as bookends for polyphonic melodies that retain the prosody of the poem.
Eight exceptional composers, eight premiere recordings with a legendary orchestra, and one spectacular soloist: LONDON CELLO CONNECTION is a captivating compendium of contemporary compositions by celebrated cellist Ovidiu Marinescu and the London Symphony Orchestra with conductor Miran Vaupotić.
L Peter Deutsch's The Forest Stream was inspired by memories of wooded mountain areas of New Hampshire and California. With a chamber music flavor, it offers an expressive cello theme in dialogue with the harp and woodwinds in three different scenes -- a marshy area, a deep shaded pool, and a rocky cascade -- before the stream finally reaches its destination in a broad lake at sunset.
Navona Records presents DASHING VOL. 3, a festive assortment of new works inspired by the signature sounds and staples of the holiday season. Comprising stories, nods to classic holiday tunes, and an underlying current of wistful nostalgia, this installment of the DASHING series keeps the spirit of holiday music alive with new compositions and arrangements of well-known favorites.
L Peter Deutsch's O Tannenbaum is a refreshing, completely new choral setting of the text of the well-loved German holiday carol.
Rigorous repertoire is at the ready on WINDSWEPT VOL. II from Navona Records, a sweeping sonic force of contemporary chamber works for woodwind quintet. Performed by the New London Chamber Ensemble, the works of seven composers soar with modern flair, making use of various instrumental textures and irregular meters with jazz-driven influences sprouting from classical roots.
L Peter Deutsch's Toward the Mountains depicts the excitement and toil at the start of a long mountain journey; Twilight Waltz enriches the classical dance form with the quintet instrumentation, in a style reminiscent of Brahms.
BRASS TACKS transcends the idioms of classical music with subtle contemporary flairs that shine throughout this multi-composer album. Odd meters, blue notes, ferocious brass writing, and imaginative deviations from traditional song structures seamlessly push the envelope for brass repertoire.
L Peter Deutsch's 5/4 Fugue in G Major adds modern twists to a cheerful exploration of a time-honored form; Toward the Mountains envisions the start of a demanding mountain journey; and Twilight Waltz pays homage to another classical form, with echoes of Brahms.
MOTO FINALE brings the beloved chamber music series to a close with a number of works inspired by nature, loss, spiritual connection, and music of the past. The seasoned Trio Casals returns for this seventh and final installment to perform the works of seven composers in a diverse and conclusive capstone of modern composition.
L Peter Deutsch's trio Winter 2005 seamlessly blends mastery of 18th-century counterpoint with the lyricism of the violin to create an appealing small musical gem inspired by an unhappy love affair.
Navona Records presents some of the finest American voices of modern serious music on THROUGH GLASS, a brand-new compilation of recently-created works for piano - both solo and in chamber setups.
L Peter Deutsch's fugue De Profundis Clamavi ("from the depths I have cried [to you, Lord]") is a calm reflection on the human longing that creates but also transcends religion. Inspired by Renaissance polyphony, this trio (set for conventional piano trio) calmly and conclusively rounds off THROUGH GLASS.
Acclaimed international piano trio Trio Casals makes a triumphant return with the fourth installment of Navona Records' MOTO series, zestfully interpreting nine new American compositions – virtually all of them either tailor-made or arranged for the ensemble.
L Peter Deutsch presents a lyrical, uncompromisingly aesthetic reminiscence about a day's end in a Southern French town in Sunset at Montélimar.
VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL. II presents the best that modern choral compositions have to offer. Settings of traditional prayers are mingled with ethereal stories and otherworldly visions, and each of the eight compositions both stand unique and work together harmoniously to create a collection that nods to the future of choral music.
In L Peter Deutsch’s A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, with jagged intervals and interesting harmonies, and text by famed fantasy author Ursula K. LeGuin, the choir and a single narrator retell the melancholy story of a young fisherman's loss resulting from a tryst in a magical underwater kingdom.
With QUADRANTS, Navona Records presents six of today’s best modern string quartets that meld the old with the new, combining traditional forms with contemporary influences to present expressive, emotional works that both make and break the mold, through the multifaceted voice and intimate setting of the string quartet -- in this case, the acclaimed Boston group, the Pedroia String Quartet.
On QUADRANTS VOL. 2, each of the four movements of L Peter Deutsch's Departure connects clearly with the notion of a journey: "Anticipation," "Preparation," "Leave-Taking," and the finale of "Setting Sail." Especially for a contemporary composition, Departure is notably communicative, through its use of varied musical textures, of what is promised in its overall title and in that of each of its movements.
Continuing in the series of Cuban recorded Ansonica Records projects comes CORO DEL MUNDO – choir of the world. With tracks ranging from sacred to secular, and from delicate to aggressive, the surprising cohesiveness of the composers’ work is astonishingly beautiful and impassioned. Schola Cantorum Coralina and Vocal Luna contribute exquisite vocals to the proceedings.
On CORO DEL MUNDO, L Peter Deutsch’s Dance to the Revolution takes inspiration from the writing of Emma Goldman, a seminal early-20th-century anarchist writer and activist, whose vision of ideal society spans interpersonal relationships, not only political or economic ones. Where Everything is Music transports the listener to Havana, with words excerpted from a poem by Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet and mystic; as with much of Rumi's writing, the text asks us to recognize the greater reality of the spiritual compared with the physical world.
Navona Records and the acclaimed ensemble Trio Casals proudly present MOTO BELLO, the next chapter in the moving series that brought 2015's MOTO CONTINUO and MOTO PERPETUO in 2013. Living up to its name, MOTO BELLO, or "beautiful motion", is a collection celebrating the synergy of Trio Casals and the vibrant works of ten contemporary composers featuring L Peter Deutsch.
On MOTO BELLO, the ensemble exists as the dynamic storyteller of each composer's artistic statement, weaving each tale of beauty in motion with their own inspired story.
Navona Records is delighted to present DASHING, a festive album for the holiday season featuring brand new works and arrangements of holiday favorites by several outstanding composers, with performances by The Stanbery Singers, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra.
L. Peter Deutsch weaves choral voices with solo instruments on each of his Three Winter Holiday Songs, "A Winter's Rime", "Hodie Christus Natus Est", and "The Holly and the Ivy".
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(links are currently only for MOTO BELLO, updates coming soon)
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"Where Everything is Music" | Arizona Women in Tune, 2012
"The Dimensions of Love" | Bay Choral Guild, 2011
"Brethren and Lovers" | San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, 2008