Nancy Bloomer Deussen
"for me, melody is foremost"
Composer
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Reviews
"A tremendous musical climax, ending in triumph and bringing the cheering audience to their feet. Without a doubt, this work is Deussen's finest achievement"
21st CENTURY MUSIC on the World Premiere of "A Silver, Shining Strand" for orchestra
"I immediately fell in love with the melodius qualities of this music as well as its high level of craftmanship. The piece for violin and piano titled "Julia's Song" is truly one of the most beautiful pieces for violin and piano I have ever heard."
Marvin Rosen, classical disc jockey on radio station WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey commenting on the music of Nancy Bloomer Deussen
"Nancy Bloomer Deussen is based in the SF Bay area and her work is distinguished by a genuinely sweet lyricism which is most satisfying in the tunefulness of its slow movements."
Fanfare
"Slow movements are songful; fast ones perky, with every note in place. She is not afraid to be beautiful"
21st CENTURY MUSIC
"Of note is Nancy Bloomer Deussen's Peninsula Suite" which I enjoyed greatly, particularly the last movement"
Carson P. Cooman's on-line review of "Masterworks of the New Era-Vol 2 CD at Amazon.com
"Deussen's "Piano Prelude", "Amber Waves" and "Cascades(Toccata)are the most charming works on the CD. The "Piano Prelude" demonstrates Deussen's aptitude for lyrical, tonal writing. "Amber Waves" portrays the rolling fields of Eastern Oregon...autumn grasses sway freely in the breezes. Deussen captures this idyllic picture with a beautiful cantibile melody that rises and falls. "Cascades"was inspired by waterfalls and provides the pianist with a tour de force. These delightful pieces by Deussen have immediate appeal through their tonal orientation, creative melodic lines and variety of pianistic styles"
Katherine Boyes review of the North/South CD "Diversions" in IAWM Journal 2004
"The music is gorgeous. This work possesses a tremendous range of expression. It touches on sadness and
reflection, but also has a very bright. rhythmic Latin movement, beautiful melodic material and a powerful build to the end of the final movement. It was a priviledge to be selected as the orchestra to premiere this lovely work".
Joyce Johnson-Hamilton, the conductor of The Diablo Symphony Orchestra regarding the World Premiere of "A Silver, Shining Strand", a new Bloomer Deussen suite for orchestra.
"Over multiple hearings, it seems as if the composer has captured the longed for state of mind of a particularly beautful part of the California coast line, evoking in the listening participant the yearning to be there now, and often. Like the mythical summer vacations of youth, nothing terribly important happens here-except, perhaps, warmth, smiling sunight and the desire for its eternal return. May it always be thus"
Description of "The Central Coast Concerto" for piano and orchestra by The American Prize chief adjudcator, David Katz (2014)
Reviews
You can't help but like Nancy Bloomer Deussen's music. With its shifting tonal centers, effectively used dissonances and occasional jazz rhythms, it has enough modern flavor to be of today, yet her music is meant to please the ear, rather than shock it.
PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE, 1993
Deussen's "Reflections on the Hudson" (for orchestra) received the most enthusiastic reception of any new work premiered here in recent years. The themes were musically and emotionlly understood and assimilated; the composer painted for us a restful, sylvan vision of a wide-flowing river.
REDLANDS DAILY FACTS (CA)
Nancy Bloomer Deussen will plainly please a wide audience with her thoroughly beautiful music. Very modern, very tonal.
CD Review of "Postcards"
North/South Records
ALTERNATE MUSIC PRESS
Bloomer Deussen of Palo Alto has an irrepressible lyric penchant which marked all the works performed at Monday evening's concert. Even "Cascades" (for piano), a toccata, couldn't wait to break off into song, which it did twice and generously.
PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE, 1990
Nancy Bloomer Deussen is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and her work is distinguished by a genuinely sweet lyricism. Where I find the music most satisfying is in the tunefulness of its slow movements, the lovliest of which is "Julia's Song," in memoriam for the composer's mother.
CD Review of "2x3-Music of Women Composers"
North/South Records 1015
FANFARE, September/October, 1998
The sense of the composer's identity was never overwhelmed. The piece asked only to be unashamedly enjoyed for its sensuous and cleanly stated sentiment, yet was written with the elegance and intelligence that would make it difficult to dismiss.
Review of "Amber Waves" for solo piano performed by the composer at ACF Salon. The work was rediscovered after the manuscript was missing for 30 years.
20TH CENTURY MUSIC, 1998
A gorgeous little exercise in conservative music writing!
Review of world premiere of "Reflections on the Hudson" by the Marin Symphony.
COMMUTER TIMES, 1994