Reviews

“Der Ton des Cross-Over Wunders Daniel Schnyder verführte in ein Paradies der Fantasie.”

“Zum Triumph wurde dann Schnyders "Oriental Jazz Suite" fuer Solisten und grosses Orchester. Unbestreitbarer Publikumsmagnet war Daniel Schnyder, der mit seinem hinreissenden Spiel auf Sopran- und Tenorsaxophon imaginaere Welten der besonderen Art hervorzauberte.”

“(...) Schnyders Musik ist unerhört rhythmisch, kombiniert mit reinen Jazz-Elementen. Sie ist reich an Facetten und mischt weiche Passagen mit unbeugsamen, um nicht zu sagen dissonanten Partien. Es ist eine Musik mit viel Kraft und Energie, und sie stellt wahrhaftig Ansprüche sowohl an die Interpretin wie auch an das Publikum. (...) Die Kombination Weigle-Schnyder-Chastain war ein Erfolg. Das zahlreiche Publikum, nur ganz wenige Plätze waren nicht besetzt, rief, pfiff und trampelte seinen Beifall als Kompliment zum traditionellen Applaus.”
(Schnyder’s Violin Concerto has a lot of power and energy, the combination Weigle-Schnyder-Chastain was a big success. The audience started screaming and trampling at the end of the concerto. This was not the traditional classical applause at all.)

“(…) eine bemerkenswerte Einspielung (…) Daniel Schnyder zeigt, welche interessanten Früchte entstehen können, wenn man klassische Elemente mit denen des Jazz kreuzt.
Lesen Sie das ganze Interview hier.”
((…) a remarkable recording (…) Daniel Schnyder shows us, how interesting the musical outcome can be when mixing classical elements with jazz.
Read the entire interview here (in German).)

“Unantastbarer Hoehepunkt des Abends war Schnyders Ballade ’Memoires’. Wie Schnyder sein Tenorsax aufbluehen liess, das war zum Dahinschmelzen. Nein: Es war koeniglich.”
(Climax of the concert was Schnyder’s ballad Memoires. The way he played his tenor brought you almost to tears. No: it had a royal quality to it.)

“Old conflicts can eventually become obsolete, as Daniel Schnyder’s music proves. The Swiss saxophonist-composer makes nonsense of the idea that classical music and jazz belong in separate bins, or that a great deal of diplomacy should be devoted to uniting them. Even when he does not place his own soprano saxophone at the center of an orchestral work, where it stutters, spins and wails, his writing is improvisatory and fiendishly precise. (...) Born in 1961, he comes from a generation of composers who throw all kinds of music under their beds as they grow up and emerge in adulthood with a natural concoction.”

“... eine musikalisch und kompositorisch überragende Einspielung.”

“Mr. Schnyder’s works exploited the players’ excellence.”

“... Daniel Schnyder is the instant hit of the Barossa Music Festival ... he is winning people over with his jazz-influenced compositions for string quartet and saxophone ...”

“If Stravinsky would have had a chance to hear this music he probably would have liked it more than his Ebony Concerto...”

“Daniel Schnyder and his expert team is of one mind as they explore fresh harmonies and complex, changing rhythms to offer a thrilling classical-tinged jazz blend that constantly pushes the envelope without deserting warmer roots.”

“Rich in dynamics, Schnyders music is potent mood- and image-inducing. It is a complete musical statement, the musical equivalent of the quest myth in Western literature.”

“The results are never less than compelling… an intriguing interface of jazz and classical elements.”

“Schnyder has a rich imagination for texture. There is no one working today who surpasses his detailed palette of fascinating orchestral color.”

“The power and the originality of gesture and orchestration gives Daniel Schnyder’s ‘Revelation of St. John’ the terrible beauty of a sustained hallucination ...”

“The works that stood out both in style and musicianship were the program’s two premieres. Swiss-born Daniel Schnyder’s ‘Hymn for a New Generation’, which received its New York premiere, intermingles the sweeping American iconography of Copland with a jazzy, propulsive beat; and John Mackey’s ‘Redline Tango’. Both are bold, complex compositions.”

“ORIENTAL SUITE by Daniel Schnyder:
(…) As a cultural mélange it works surprisingly well, the Arabic tunes rising with hypnotic power above un-pretentious orchestration, an oriental West Side Story with what seems, incongruously, like a touch of Klezmer. Schnyder’s playing is superlatively elegant, and Öcal rises above it all with maverick virtuosity. At the end, the entire audience rises to its feet and howls approval.
RadioSymphonieorchesterBerlin: Berlin, April 13th, Gedächtniskirche
Daniel Schnyder, ss, Burhan Oecal perc., Kristjan Jaervi Conductor”

“Hier wird auch nach Herzenslust montiert, umfunktioniert und neu zusammengesetzt, sodass am Ende eine Musik entsteht, die man sich spannender nicht vorstellen kann.”

“Daniel Schnyder, der schier unuebertreffliche Sopran- und Tenorsaxophonist, ist in diesem Jahr Kuenstler in Residenz beim Rundfunkorchester Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Man kann beiden dazu nur gratulieren. Schnyder spielte, gleichzeitig Komponist in eigener Sache, unter Leitung des famos wendigen und elegant-energischen Kristjan Jaervi in der Philharmonie zwei hoechst originelle eigene Tonschoepfungen, fuer die ihn ein derart rasender Beifall bedankte, wie er wohl bislang noch keinem seiner Kollegen, von Schoenberg bis Rihm, zuteil wurde. Herzlichen Glueckwunsch.”
(Schnyder played in the Berlin Philharmonie as a solist and as a composer two very original compositions of his. Non of his peers, not Schoenberg nor Rihm, ever got this kind of thunderous applause. Congratulation.)

“Mit viel Fingerspitzengefühl dirigiert Kristjan Järvi die Philharmoniker des NDR (...) Die dreizehnminütige Symphony No. 4 öffnet weite Fühllandschaften (...) Reinhold Friedrich integriert in seinem virtuosen Spiel [im Trompetenkonzert] auf Trompete und Flügelhorn Growl- und Dämpferklänge sowie eine Fülle von Jazzfiguren und die klare, klassische Tonbildung so schlüssig, als seien die beiden Welten schon immer eins gewesen. (...) Die Zugabe, eine dreiminütige "African Suite", wirkt wie ein Ausbruch von orchestraler Energie und Lebensfreude. (...) Vier Orchesterwerke, die selbständig bestehen können (...) Dank ihrer emotionalen Kraft, ihres Melodienreichtums und ihrer komplexen Komposition könnten sie sogar einen Weg ins Konzertrepertoire von Sinfonieorchestern finden ...”
(Schnyder played in the Berlin Philharmonie as a solist and as a composer two very original compositions of his. Non of his peers, not Schoenberg nor Rihm, ever got this kind of thunderous applause. Congratulation.)

“The new cello concerto by Daniel Schnyder is a wild and fantastical stream-of-consciousness riff on every Latin beat and tune the composer ever heard. The opening is a riot, something like spinning through the radio dial in Buenos Aires.”
(Schnyder played in the Berlin Philharmonie as a solist and as a composer two very original compositions of his. Non of his peers, not Schoenberg nor Rihm, ever got this kind of thunderous applause. Congratulation.)

“… Words Within Music [ist] eine genauso hervorragende wie unerwartete Mischung von Jazz mit zeitgenössischer klassischer Musik [und], ein Sound, der purer Schnyder ist.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“... ein paar im eigenen Land unterschätzte Propheten gibt es schon, und Schnyder ist zweifellos einer von ihnen.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“I highly recommend this rare mix of high art and high spirits.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“Mixing swing and counterpoint, Daniel Schnyder is not beholden to West Coast cool or its Viennese offshoots; he brings a fresh ear to the marriage.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“Schnyder’s music draws on jazz and avant garde idioms in practically equal measure, producing a heady brew which is tuneful, rhythmic and immediately appealing without being trite.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“The New York based quintet ‘Nucleus’ led by reed player Daniel Schnyder took the music to heights rarely equaled at festivals I have attended this decade.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“Schnyder has a rich imagination for texture. There is no one working today who surpasses his detailed palette of fascinating orchestral color.”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“The concert's great discovery was Daniel Schnyder whose Concerto for Bass Trombone had one of the most exciting world premieres I have heard in years...”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“Herkömmliche Vorstellungen von ‘Avantgarde’ oder ‘Jazz’ greifen bei dieser wunderbar sinnlichen und zugleich hochkomplexen Musik zu kurz. Kopfmusik für den Körper - Let’s dance!”
(… Words Within Music [is] a superb but unexpected blending of jazz and modern classical music [and] reach[es] a sound that is pure Schnyder.)

“A müfajok közötti határvonalak átjárhatósága nem jelenti azt, hogy minden elöadómûvész képes bármelyik zenei területen maradandó értéket létrehozni. Szerencsére Daniel Schnyder ezen kevesek egyike. (...) Eredeti egyéniség, aki nem gondolkodik kategóriákban, hanem bátran vitorlázik mind a klasszikus zene, mind pedig a jazz vizein. (...) Újabb hozzájárulás ez a zene egységének helyreállítására folytatott törekvésekhez.”
(Today's permeability of the separating borders between different musical styles doesn't implicate that many musicians are capable to generate sustainable values in most different musical fields. Luckily, Daniel Schnyder is one of the few who are. (...) He is an original character who doesn't think in categories, but sails without fear as well as on classical as on jazz waters. (...) This is an up-to-date contribution to the endeavours to create a unity in music.)

“Diese Musik explodiert vor Spielwitz! ”
(Today's permeability of the separating borders between different musical styles doesn't implicate that many musicians are capable to generate sustainable values in most different musical fields. Luckily, Daniel Schnyder is one of the few who are. (...) He is an original character who doesn't think in categories, but sails without fear as well as on classical as on jazz waters. (...) This is an up-to-date contribution to the endeavours to create a unity in music.)