CRI is a non-profit organization devoted exclusively to “serious” compositions by twentieth century Americans. Their reputation is to remain impartial in stylistic matters, and their catalog has works from conservative to radical names, from well known figures to the secrets of the cognoscenti. And here is one of the difficulties with the catalog. It consists solely of composer name, title of work, and performers — no descriptive material. If you’re not one of the cognoscenti, good luck knowing what you’re reading about. Perhaps next time they’ll see fit to send some samples for inclusion here, so we might all approach cognoscentiism.
