Reviews:
I particularly enjoyed Dave Shively's performance of Andrew Byrne's stunning "Cradle Song" and Alex Waterman's deftly rhythmic take on Xenakis's "Kottos" for solo cello. Byrne is a new name to me, but I'm looking forward to hearing more of his stuff- I think Anthony Burr (who guided me to this gig- thanks) is helping him with a record. This was a short piece for crotales (small tuned cymbals), and it was loud, filling the room with overtones and creating a Lucier-like ringing in the head (in the "Bird and Person Dyning" way, not the slow-sweep oscillator way). But it wasn't just a "sonic phenomenon" piece. Like Lucier, and probably even more emphatically, there was a formal arc that kept every moment moving forward most effectively. Shively must get some credit for that too- his rhythmic feel is... enviable.
--Ted Reichman from Techreichman. com, April 2007

Shortly after I took my seat for this year’s Either/Or Festival, a chuckling friend next to me quipped, “I always try to make the latest crotales premiere.” For those unfamiliar with these small, high-pitched cymbals struck with mallets, they are often used as piercing accents, balancing out lower-pitched percussion instruments. But I doubt most composers would consider writing a piece for crotales alone, as Andrew Byrne has done in “Cradle Song,” a section of Radiation Studies. David Shively’s flying hands produced a shrieking mass of metallic, reverberant overtones, able to cause one’s inner ear to vibrate unmercifully. (I doubt any babies being rocked to sleep were actually getting any.) Perhaps I was taking the title too literally, but the relentless pinging does create the feeling of being irradiated, and even odder, it’s a sensation I wouldn’t mind experiencing again.
--Bruce Hodges, from MusicWeb.UK, April 6, 2007

Program note:

As its title suggests, Cradle Song is a lyrical piece with lilting rhythm and gently rocking melody, beginning with two notes and slowing expanding to six. But there is a twist. Cradle Song is written for crotales, tuned cymbals whose complex bell timbres and long sustain transform this melody into a lullaby like no other. As each new note is introduced, it combines with the others to create a constellation of sound, a blurry otherworldly sonority that grows in intensity until the room itself begins to vibrate and resonate. There is not much chance of falling asleep to this cradle song...

Cradle Song is one component of a much larger work titled Radiation Studies, written in 2006
for pianist Stephen Gosling and percussionist David Shively and inspired by their shared virtuosity.

Duration: 4 minutes