Reviews

[Oboe Quintet]
"Mr. Baksa's style, for all of its "conservative" grounding, seems to me very much his own. Its chief characteristic is, to my ears, melody...it continually branches and unfurls like some fast growing vine."

MHS Review 1984

"...one acknowledges the authenticity of this voice...upon closer acquaintance Baksa's work...begins to take on an almost preternatural rightness."

Fanfare, 1984

[Nonet and Octet]
"...melodic lines that are clear and comprehensible, harmonies that never grate on the ear even when they challenge them, and a sense of instrumental color as precise as Stravinky's or Debussy's."

MHS Review 1989

"Robert Baksa is a tonal composer who utilizes classical tonal forms...tuneful, well crafted, a rich aural experience, and most importantly,...a satisfying musical experience."

The Clarinet, July/August 1989

"...elegantly gemutlich works...the music comes across as remarkably uncliched...well made and appealing."

Fanfare 1990

"Baksa's strengths are transparent textures, ingratiating melodies, and a certain artistic sincerity...there's nothing gimmicky or self-conscious about his stuff."

American Record Guide 1991

"...it is appealing music...full of tenderness and winsome charms..."

Fanfare 1991

[Flute Sonata #1, Wind Quintet #1, Quartet for Piano and Winds]
"...a pleasant surprise because of the incredible accessibility of the music...Baksa is, first and foremost, a skilled craftsman-composer. He can write a beautiful tune, cloak it in a warm accompaniment, and orchestrate it to perfection. This is beautiful stuff."

The Double Reed, Winter, 1992

[Flute Sonata #1]
"...a beautiful, lush, romantic work...as lovely and intertwined as Schumann...a skillfully crafted piece..."

Flute Talk, January 1994

[Alto Sax Sonata, Oboe Sonata, Bassoon Quintet, Clarinet Quintet]
"...a truly first-rate composer, conservative, to be sure, but one who may be an underrated master of the 'neo-ist' Neo-Classical school."

The Music Connoisseur, Spring 1998

[Six New Bagatelles for Piano]
"...the music has an unusually fresh appeal--a result, in large part, of Baksa's distinctive harmonic style...By turns joyous, affable, mischievous, and contemplative...The pieces are effective and will prove satisfying for both performer and listener. This music is catchy; it hangs around for a while after you've heard it. It wouldn't surprise me to hear audience members leaving a recital humming Baksa's tunes."

Piano and Keyboard, September/October 1998

[Sonata da Giardino solo Guitar]
  "While the garden alluded to in the title of Robert Baksa's Sonata da Giardino is not depicted in any programmatic way, its spirit is conveyed through the emotional exuberance of this robust music...it does augment an area of repertory in which the guitar is particularly deficient--the formal, multimovement sonata. .. the vocabulary of this work is likely the most readily accessible of the scores discussed in this review..."

Calvin Elliker, (Music Library_ Notes, March 2001

[Cello Sonata]
"...Robert Baksa's "Cello Sonata" (1980) (began) with a long, winding melodic line which exploited the full beauty of the cello's sound. Sounding completely original, Baksa's Cello Sonata is firmly in the grand romantic tradition with beautiful themes and dramatic musical high points" (Piccolo Spoleto Chamber Music Concert)

Jeff Johnson, Charleston Post and Currier, June 1, 2001

"Baksa's (Cello Sonata) is music of broad, passionate intensity. It is thoroughly tonal and almost embarrassingly attractive...The sonata is obviously very difficult to play, but it is extremely rewarding too. On Thursday, the first movement drew a burst of applause, and at the end the applause was enthusiastic and sprinkled with a gratifying number of shouts and whistles."

Robert Jones, Charleston Post and Currier, June 1, 2001

[Winter Pleasures for two pianos]
"...the piece was performed well and reflected much of what this composer is known for: lyricism, melody, intricate harmonic writing and counterpoint...The overall sense was very Russian, very wintery, very beautiful indeed."

J. Peter Bergman, The Independent, December 14, 2001

"Baksa's new sonata...is a winner...Baksa is a composer of distinct personality. A superb melodist, Baksa's beautiful work abounds in impressive contrapuntal and fugal effectiveness. Through composed without filler or note spinning, it evidences piquant harmony and rhythmic enlivenment. It is eminently pianistic. An underlying music energy unites the three movements producing drama , poignance, humor and joy."

John Paul Keeler, Register-Star, Hudson Valley Newspapers, December 14, 2001

"Robert Baksa's new piece, getting it's third performance here...was a thoroughly catchy but challenging work, the kind you want to hear again right after you've heard it for the first time...It is crisply rhythmic, a little jazzy, intensely personal and whistleable. The audience loved it..."

Ron Emery, Albany Times Union, February 18, 2002

"The first half of the program ended with American Composer Robert Baksa's "Winter Pleasures" sonata for two pianos. This great contemporary work is more impressive with each hearing. The duo pianists were in superb form, relishing every measure of this stunning work. The outer movements of the sonata sparkled with melodic play, rhythmic bite and wit. The middle movement, titled "Tenderly" overflowed with poignancy and poetic expression."

John Paul Keeler, Register-Star, Hudson Valley Newspapers, February 22. 2002

[Autumn Tapestries for two pianos]
"...it must be said that Mr. Baksa's [music] is always beautifully and sensitively written, with traditional musical values always honored, including those of voice leading and species counterpoint. Yet this fact, and the real approachability of his music, should not make it feel that it could have been written at an earlier period.
For me his music is a truly modern event and I want to hear more of it."

William Carragan, Musicologist, Harpsichordist, Contributing Editor to the Bruckner Edition,
Vienna, Music Critic for The Independent,
September 17, 2002

Festival participants Bret and Annette Heim then took the stage for a dazzling performance of a dazzling new work called Celestials by Robert Baksa....the two virtuosic roles were at once independent and divergent, and carefully sewn together in precarious, thrilling counterpoint

Reviews, PAN magazine, England, September 2002

[Hudson Festival Overture, Spring Games, Summer Rituals, Autumn Tapestries, Winter Games]
"...a stunning piano duo concert featuring the music of American Composer Robert Baksa...One could count on one hand composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries whose music would hold an audience's interest, let alone enthusiasm for an entire evening. Baksa, whose music (was) played so marvelously by Elena Winther and Vladimir Pleshakov, delighted the audience and brought forth and overflow of enthusiastic bravos."

John Paul Keeler, Register-Star, November 19, 2003

[Hudson Festival Overture]
"This piece is full of fun...yet it has a sophisticated sound and lots of musical goodies...This particular work is very light and uplifting and would please the most picky of your contemporary-scared students--or audience for that matter. It has melodies that can be hummed and a rhythm, that for the most part, can be tapped."

Sheri Stoner-Harris, American Music Teacher, Aug-Sept 2002

[Flute Sonatas 1-3, Aria for Flute, Monologue, Soliloquy]
"A Breath of Fresh Air...Baksa's music for flute conveys the freshness of sunlight and limitless space as it explores the expressive capabilities of the instrument...a deep love and understanding of the flute's capabilities that will surely make him friends with flutists and flute fanciers everywhere...This is not a composer to torture the tessitura of the flute and make it do unnatural things, but rather one who delights in the expressive, emotional range of what the flute does best. A charming recording. You will like it."

Atlanta Audio Society, Spring 2004 (online)

"...the flute music of Robert Baksa...with its lucid structure and effusive and natural melodic content...is very easy to enjoy. Baksa...
is basically a new-Classicist with a strong feel for fundamental and tautly formed musical architecture...it is always ingratiating without being overly simplistic."

Peter Burwasser, FANFARE, June/July 2004

[Duo Concertante for Harpsichord and Guitar]
"Baksa's work marries the natural plucked sounds of the Guitar and Harpsichord with finely wrought melodies and beautiful triadic harmonies."

Rob Haskins, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, March/April 2005

[Housman Songs, Emily Dickinson Songs]
"Soprano Mary Hack and Baritone Keith Spencer gave a recital featuring the wonderful songs of American composer Robert Baksa...One of the chief pleasures of the afternoon was the composer telling the audience how he came to write the songs and of his interest in the poetry of both Emily Dickinsons and A.E.Housman.  Baksa, in his charming way, became the star of the afternoon."

Dallas Morning News May 2, 2006

[Romance for Viola and Piano, Duo Sonata for Violin and Viola, Occasional Variations for Violin and Piano, Violin Sonata, Viola Sonata]
On Sunday ...a gala concert of the music of Columbia County Composer Robert Baksa was held to celebrate his 70 th Birthday. Baksa is a one of a kind original composer in the period of the end of the 20^th and beginning of the present Century ... Baksa is out of the loop of Academe ...[and}...remains free of all the fetters of officialdom. He is a true independent artist who dares to write real music. All the elements of the best in Western music are part of his musical palette. His music in Neo Nothing but pure Baksa.