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Search Result for Genre CLASSICAL
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FOX 019LP
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 11/8/2019
As noted on Alternative Fox's Berkeley November 7, 1970 (FOX 002LP) and Information, Transmission, Modulation and Noise (FOX 006LP) releases, the New York-born composer and abstract keyboard artist Steve Reich was one of the most important pioneers of minimalist music. After studying with jazz pianist Hall Overton, Reich studied composition at the Julliard School of Music and later at Mills College, a hotbed of experimental music in Oakland, near San Francisco. He subsequently began experimenting with audio tape as a medium for recorded and performed music at the San Francisco Tape Music Center with important figures of early electronic music, including Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Ramon Sender, and Phil Lesh (the latter eventually a bassist in the Grateful Dead), and more importantly with Terry Riley, who joined Reich for the staging of In C in 1964, based on constantly shifting, fragmented music patterns. Reich went on to compose a number of noteworthy film soundtracks and in 1967 collaborated with Oliveros and Richard Maxfield for the LP New Sounds In Electronic Music. Phased musical and rhythmic patterns, sonic loops and electronic percussion were focal points from the mid- 1960s. Music For 18 Musicians was first released by jazz label ECM in 1978, based around pulsing patterns of tuned percussion created by several pianists, a vibraphonist and three marimba players, along with a clarinetist, a cellist, and a violinist, as well as three vocalists, with players switching to different instruments and percussion as necessary; the masterful version presented at Tokyo's Opera City on May 21st, 2008 features the choral group Synergy Vocals, close-microphone specialists founded by BBC Singers and London Choir alumnus Micaela Haslam, who first collaborated with Reich on his 2002 Drumming release.
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NW 80815CD
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$15.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 10/25/2019
"While certain recognizable fingerprints are found throughout the body of Daniel Lentz's (b. 1942) work, he has never been content to settle within one particular style or mode of music for long, moving ever forward in an evolutional continuum, an overriding arc that defines his growth as a composer -- beginning with traditional music, diverting into electronic music, moving into performance art pieces for his various touring groups, then sallying into minimalism, followed by work distinguished for its revolutionary use of live multi-track recording in performances in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally evolving into his own brand of modern romanticism. Perhaps the most important aspect of Lentz's compositions is that they immediately connect to the listener. This is because he started out as a performer, not as an academic, and from his first jazz band through years of touring his music with multiple groups, he never lost sight of whom he was writing for -- the listener. This simple intention permeates his music. Never pandering or soft-peddling his message, never compromising his artistic integrity, Lentz has gone straight for the listener all his life, and his music connects in ways that are simultaneously intellectual and emotional. Continental Divide (2003) (for string orchestra) is traveling music. And as the piece progresses the listener is swept along across this massive line of demarcation -- a line dividing perhaps more than just the west from the east, or one way of life from another. Lentz wrote the music as a testament to the many road trips he took across the American landscape, and it captures stark granite formations, the lushness of desolation, the beauty of sky and rock, and the exhilaration of giddy peaks traversed. Ending(s) (2018) (for tenor and double string quintet) is protest music at is best, music that champions life over those things that try to rip apart the fabric of the country, the society, the self."
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OME 1024LP
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Fantôme Phonographique present a reissue of Serenata I/Sonatine/Canteyodjaya/Zeitmasze, originally released in 1958. The avant-garde composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was a titan of post-war experimental classical music. Born in the small cheesemaking town of Montrbrison in central France in 1925, Boulez studied at the Paris Conservatoire with the composer and organist Charles Messiaen and received private tuition from pianist Andrée Vaurabourg; after moving to the Marais district in 1945, he briefly studied with Schoenberg disciple, René Leibowitz, and further influence came from immersion in Balinese gamelan, Japanese classical music, and African drumming, among other sources. Earning money by playing an early electronic keyboard called the Ondes Martenot on theater productions, Boulez soon became music director of the Renaud-Barrault Theatre Company, leading to tours of Belgium, Switzerland, Britain, and both North and South America. American composer John Cage became an ally, though they subsequently clashed over Cage's commitment to the role of chance in his compositions, paving the way for an intense and lasting friendship with the German composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen, who arrived in Paris in 1952 to study with Olivier Messiaen. In July of that year, the pair attended the International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, leading to contact with Italian composer Luciano Berio and other noteworthy figures. Then, in 1954, with backing from Barrault and Renaud, Boulez began staging a series of concerts of experimental music at the Petit Marigny Theatre, titled Le Domaine musical. The pieces collected on this album are all taken from performances staged for the 1957 Domaine musical season, beginning with Berio's "Serenata I", conducted by Boulez, which debuted in Paris in March of that year; arranged for flute and fourteen instruments, Berio said that the idea behind the piece was for the solo flute to be confronted by continuously interchanging elements, rather than mere accompaniments or oppositions. Boulez's own "Sonatine", composed in 1946 for flute and piano, is a 12-tone piece that evidences Messiaen's influence, with shades of Asian classical music in places; then, Stockhausen's monumental "Zeitmasze" (or "Time Measures") a serial composition for five woodwinds, played in different combinations of tempos and speed, was partly inspired by Webern's principles of homogenous and harmonic textures. Finally, Messiaen's 1949 work "Cantéyodjayâ", delivered by pianist Yvonne Loriod, takes it shape from the classical Hindu rhythms of ancient India, as with much of the composer's oeuvre. 180 gram vinyl.
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NEOS 11905CD
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Zwei Frankfurter Préludes (Two Frankfurt Préludes) presents a live recording of the twos première given on November 19, 1999 with the hr Sinfonieorchester conducted by Arturo Tamayo. The titles of these works are nearly identical ("Two Cranes and Clouds" and "Two Cranes and Clouds / Double") and are conceptually related, though they could hardly be more different. One is based on an extreme accumulation of density over about a minute and a half, while the other explores a radical expansion in both time and space. Each work is scored for large orchestra and the second of them, which lasts some 50 minutes, positions the musicians along a diagonal line that bisects the performance space.
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NEOS 11916CD
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Roland Chadwick began to compose for his instrument, the guitar, during his youth. Today his works are played around the globe and many of his recordings have achieved cult status. The fact that German guitarist Detlev Bork has now gone into the studio to record Chadwick's most important compositions is a real gift, with a number of world première recordings that provide invaluable perspective over nearly 40 years of the composer's work.
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NEOS 11910CD
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Italian composer Agostino di Scipio closely investigates ways to incorporate electronics with music. He is primarily interested in mutual influences between instrument, live electronics, and space. To process sound, he uses a variety of methods, in which conventional analog technologies can play as much of a role as cutting-edge computer programs, electronic sound processing of a simple pitched pizzicato sample, or experimental playing techniques on string instruments. Di Scipio is a professor of electroacoustic composition in L'Aquila. His compositions and sound installations are presented worldwide and are internationally recognized as outstanding contributions to current experimental music and sound art.
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NEOS 11903CD
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Rudolf Kelterborn has had a significant influence on contemporary music making in Switzerland for many decades. In addition to his extensive teaching activities, he has served as the chief editor at Schweizerische Musikzeitung, director of the Musik-Akademie Basel, and head of the music department for the Swiss-German radio service. His compositional oeuvre is wide-ranging, internationally recognized, and has been awarded numerous prizes and distinctions. This CD contains "Ensemble-Buch I" (Ensemble-Book I) (1990) and "Gesänge zur Nacht" (Songs to the Night) (1978), two important vocal works based on texts by Erika Burkhart and Ingeborg Bachmann. Kelterborn composed "Musik mit 5 Trios" (Music with 5 Trios) in 2016/17 for Musikkollegium Winterthur, dedicating the work to the ensemble's chief conductor, Pierre-Alain Monot.
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NEOS 11933CD
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This 33rd volume of the Musica Viva series on NEOS documents an extraordinary concert. The program comprises exclusively works by Peter Ruzicka, conducted by the composer himself, to commemorate his 70th birthday in July 2018. One of the CD's highlights is the world premiere of the fulminant trumpet concerto, "LOOP". One of the work's two soloists plays only piccolo trumpet while the other occasionally switches to flugelhorn. This way, the piece exploits the fullest conceivable extent of the instrument's range -- as well as the boundaries of what's technically possible. Other works presented here provide a multilayered insight into Ruzicka's orchestral works from 1984 to the present.
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NEOS 11802CD
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Philippe Manoury is one of the most important French composers working today and is a pioneer in combining music with live electronics. With Le Temps, Mode D'emploi (Time -- a User's Guide) he created an evening-length work about the phenomenon of time and various possibilities for sculpting and experiencing it. Two real pianos positioned in the middle of the hall are surrounded by four virtual pianos that sound from loudspeakers. This highly complex work is dedicated to the GrauSchumacher Piano Duo, who premiered it in 2014 in Witten, Germany in cooperation with the SWR Experimentalstudio and have worked again with them here to produce the studio recording for this CD.
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NEOS 11729CD
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Sir Harrison Birtwistle is doubtless one of the most important and influential British composers of the last decades. This CD brings together two works with a strong link to the tradition: "Responses" is a piano concerto that, in accordance with historical convention, focuses on the dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. Birtwistle's second large-scale opera, "Gawain", deals with the legend of King Arthur. In the orchestral version, "Gawain's Journey", which was published the same year the opera premiered, the voice parts are allocated to various instruments. Instead of merely cobbling together selected passages into an orchestral suite, Birtwistle composed them into a standalone orchestral work of immense musical power.
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NEOS 11913CD
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"33 approximations to silence" is how Markus Schimpp describes the collection of piano miniatures recorded here. The catalyst and starting point for this composition was his relationship to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. On this disc, Schimpp seeks out quiet moments, experimenting with simple harmonies and contemplative repetitions -- silent music as a counterbalance to the daily onslaught of media overstimulation.
Markus Schimpp was born in Augsburg in 1964. After earning a degree at the Leopold-Mozart-Konservatorium there, he set out on an unusual career path. Today he works as a cabaret pianist, singer, host, and composer in Bonn.
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NEOS 11904CD
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With his second chamber music CD on NEOS, Michael Quell has once again provided a large variety of forms and instrumentations. In addition to the Freiburg-based Ensemble Aventure, this recording features four top-class guitarists who play microtonal guitars developed by Tolgahan Çoğulu. Other guests include soprano Christine Simolka and conductor Hermann Beyer. The works' titles betray the fact that Quell is intensely devoted not only to music, but to philosophy, theosophy, and the natural sciences.
Michael Quell was born in Fulda, Germany in 1960. He teaches at the Institute of Musicology at the Goethe University Frankfurt and is a guest lecturer at various universities. His works are performed regularly in Europe, the USA, Canada, South America, and Asia.
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BLUME 014-15LP
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2019 repress. Very limited double-LP bundled version of the two individual LPs, 180 gram color vinyl. Includes printed inner, Nagaoka anti-static record sleeve, plus and Obi-style insert in a fold-out outer sleeve. Only a handful of years ago, the name Julius Eastman would have been met by a unanimous blank look. The legacy of this once-darling of the New York post-minimal avant-garde had, since his untimely death at the age of 49, in 1990, been almost entirely lost. Eastman's story is as fascinating as they come: black, angry, and queer in an all too polite, straight white musical world. A prodigy and genius whose music took him to astounding heights, whose unwillingness to conform and play by the rules took him down the path of drug abuse and homelessness, as well as the loss of his scores. Even before his death, he was already a forgotten name. Eastman belongs to a generation of composers who inherited the mantel left by minimalism, but despite being highly respected by his peers, he was given few chances to record his work, relegating most of his talent as a singer and pianist to the realization of others' work. It was Eastman who conducted the iconic recording of Arthur Russell's Tower of Meaning, and whose piano cuts its way across the 1976 recording of Morton Feldman's For Frank O'Hara. It's likely that Eastman's work would have been entirely lost, had it not been for rigorous efforts of a few close friends, the most persistent of whom was the composer, Mary Jane Leach, who spent years tracking down his lost scores. These efforts eventually led to the comprehensive CD collection, Unjust Malaise (2005). It was the beginning of a turning tide, and over the 13 years since, Eastman's singular voice has slowly returned to the audience he always deserved. It also represented the recorded debut of some his most thrilling and controversial work, three compositions for piano from what he called the N*gger Series: Gay Guerrilla, Evil N*gger, and Crazy N*gger. The three pieces are now issued across two LPs in their first-ever vinyl release with extensive liner notes by Leach and Bradford Bailey. These three seminal works by one of the most important, but neglected, American composers of the 1970s and '80s, return to the light once more. Not only are they an entire rethinking of musical minimalism, but they ferociously blow the doors off of what classical music can be. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. All three compositions on these 2 LPs are for piano quartet: Performed by: Frank Ferko, Janet Kattas, Julius Eastman, Patricia Martin. Recorded 1979/80.
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BNSD 035LP
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Portland composer and pianist Derek Hunter Wilson returns with his second album, entitled Steel, Wood, & Air. Ten lush, expressive pieces featuring piano, bass clarinet, and strings, this collection reflects the efforts of a young musician challenging himself and discovering his voice in the process. Inspired equally by the contemporary neoclassical scene and early recordings on the ECM label, Steel, Wood, & Air stands, timeless and buoyant, on its own. After releasing his debut album, Travelogue (BNSD 016LP, 2017), Wilson set about re-examining what it means to be a composer. This reappraisal revealed a path toward self-discovery that in turn led to the gradual unfolding of Steel, Wood, & Air, a surprisingly rich endeavor given its strict palette, elemental mindset, and determination to avoid overdubs. Wilson was also invited to contribute a track to Thesis (Loscil, Julianna Barwick, Dustin O'Halloran), the label curated by artist Gregory Euclide. His response, the 10-minute "A New Way of Thinking (In Three Stages)", hinted at things to come and was paired with fellow Beacon Sound alumni Rauelsson for a limited edition split 10" release in late 2018. Early on in the process of writing the album, Wilson stumbled across the lectures of David Lang, about which he writes: "Listening to him talk about composing and seeing his enthusiasm for being a composer, and the field in general, made me feel like I had permission to feel that way too. It made me more conscious about what could be possible in contemporary classical music. Listening to him impressed upon me the importance of honesty in creating music. It creates a need as the creator to examine what is essential to them, and that in one sense is what music is or can be -- it's a tool to use to figure out who you are as a person. And honesty is key to this. It's a journey that I'm just at the beginning stages of." From the attention-arresting opening track "Different Opinions" to the unabashedly gorgeous "Knife Fight", and through to the meditative resolution of "Steel, Wood, & Air #7", this is an album with open arms bringing gifts for those who listen carefully. Cover photo by Brett Kallusky. Design by FISK Projects. Recorded at Type Foundry and The Map Room in Portland. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll. Includes two-sided insert and download code; edition of 300. "An evocative cycle that promises to be one of the season's highlights." --A Closer Listen
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NW 80808CD
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"Born in Michigan but for most of his life a true Californian, Robert Erickson (1917-1997) had a reputation as a maverick. His musical path was never a straight line, nor, really, a line at all but a landscape, with ranges of features rather than mere points of interest. He was a profound and original musical thinker who embraced the expressive possibilities of all music, from the Western classics and moderns of his own early education to Indian and Balinese traditions and all manner of contemporary experimentation, as long as it served a musical purpose. When encountering his work, one doesn't need to know more than one hears: what's important are the sounds one encounters and the expressive journey they suggest for each listener. His works can be looked at in three periods. There was an early period where he worked out his relationship to mid-twentieth century expressionism and atonality, producing such enduring and engaging works as the Duo for Violin and Piano (1957) (included here), the Chamber Concerto (1960) and the Concerto for Piano and Seven Instruments (1963). A middle period followed where he became involved with technology and all sorts of experimental techniques. The tape-and-instrument pieces Pacific Sirens and Nine and a Half for Henry (and Wilbur and Orville) and the music-theater trombone extravaganza General Speech can be said to typify this period. The final period begins in the mid-70s, when technology is put aside (most likely because of his declining health) in favor of instrumental works for his friends and associates. These works reach their culmination in the works on this CD: Fives (1988), Trio (1986) and Quintet (1985), among others. In all three periods, what he never abandoned was a sense of taste, elegance and style -- and a curiosity about sound and its functioning."
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NW 80813CD
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"'An insatiable listener, learner, and reader, Stuart Saunders Smith (b. 1948) has taken into his mind and spirit myriad styles of musical performance spanning centuries, methods of compositional practice of all sorts, and innumerable close personal relationships with artists of all disciplines. He has absorbed this vast expanse of knowledge, art, and personal experience, and rather than mimicking anything he has encountered along the way, he has manifested a truly personal, honest voice that rings true to himself and to all of his inspirations. In four of the works presented here, specifically Thicket (2010), Family Portraits: Self (in 14 Stations) (1997), Palm Sunday (2012), and Among Us (2007), Smith calls upon the performer to provide the musical dynamics, articulations, and phrasing to the traditionally notated pitches and rhythmic structures he provides. This charge extends the performer's contribution well into the realm of composition. In making personal musical decisions regarding dynamics, articulations, and phrasing, given the contrapuntal density of the material Smith composed, it became important for me to remove the mental burden of choreographed performance from the process and make my choices from the listener's perspective. This process involved the making and reviewing of a series of self-recordings that gradually led to the versions of the pieces I present here. The recurring issue in preparing these pieces was negotiating the balance between larger dramatic gestures, illuminating formal clarity in longer works, and shaping local nuance to assist the listener in aurally parsing dense passages.' --Kyle Adam Blair"
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ARB 167CD
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Live unpublished and newly restored broadcasts. Artur Schnabel lived as a concert pianist, composer, teacher and editor, activities that reveal a complete musician whose genius enlightened chamber music, under-represented in studio sessions. His live duo recital with Joseph Szigeti attests to the heights he achieved in real life, away from the studio atmosphere that he loathed. A legendary Beethoven player whose teacher studied with Beethoven's assistant, Schnabel's Schubert was equally important and three otherwise unrecorded works emerge here with his only known performance of Mendelssohn, recorded at a festival in Edinburgh. Liner notes open a trail of letters discovered inside the basement of Schnabel villa in 2018 in which Szigeti and Schnabel's son engage in an espionage caper to liberate this legendary recital; Excerpts from letters to a mistress indicate Schnabel's reactions to post-War Europe's attempts for normalcy after the fascists had destroyed culture, with scathing accounts of how box-office legends fell miserably below moral standards. Features works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Schubert. Includes a lecture by Szigeti on Beethoven's Sonatas for Violin & Piano. Recorded between 1942-1962.
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R 063LP
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"The Claviorganum & The Violin is the first published recording of Michel Samson since his unparalleled work with Albert Ayler's quintet in the late 1960s. Samson's violin playing has changed me with his great exuberance and ecstasy, all sliding through an interlocking sadness. Since I first began Recital, I have dreamt of contacting Michel to publish an album that gives reverence to his violin playing; seven years later, it has come to be. The collection on this LP holds numerous 17th century works of the Italian Baroque, performed by Samson and his wife, Rebecca. It showcases some of the earliest music composed for the violin as a featured soloist. Rebecca accompanies on a replica -- believed to be the only extant replica in the United States -- of the claviorganum, a rare and curious instrument that traces back to the 15th century. Comprised of both an organ and a harpsichord integrated into a single case, the claviorganum harkens to a time of experimentation and artistry of design. Michel's violin was made by Francesco Gobetti in 1718; its sound carries beautifully throughout the room. Samson worked as a dealer of rare and antique violins for many years, and has an ear for majestic craftsmanship. The style adopted by Italian composers during the baroque was one of heightened lyricism, emotion, and ornamentation, especially when voiced through the violin; it is no accident that Michel's unique approach to articulation and intonation speaks both to the present and the past. In these recordings one can hear the same joy dripping across the strings, as in his days with Ayler; it shows what beauty can be instilled inside someone. Rebecca's playing is exquisite, too, complementing each movement as they fold on. Please enjoy this special album" --Sean McCann (with contributions by Sarah Davachi), April 2019. Edition of 250, includes eight page insert with program notes and paintings by Michel Samson.
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R 058LP
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"The Entertainer is Alex Twomey's first album since 2012. Many have been waiting and finally, here we are! During the silence, Twomey's keyboard work has germinated into a more framed compositional structure, beaming with orchestral strings, woodwinds, and brass; eleven cinematic settings and bouncing refrains mark this LP. Alex describes the album as, 'vignettes alluding to a vague narrative regarding one's idea as an artist.' A somber beauty is penned. Alex previously recorded as Mirror To Mirror, and operated the record label Jugular Forest from 2004-2012. I first met him in 2010 during a large concert in Santa Cruz, CA. Alongside Twomey, myself, Kyle Parker (Infinite Body), Matthew Sullivan (Earn), Pedestrian Deposit, Mike Pollard, and Peter Friel performed that night. Alex's performance was a thick ocean of chords, a penetrating grace that I can still recall. Everyone has since bloomed from the ambient roots of that time in their own way. Alex has held onto utilizing the keyboard, albeit as a tool to build a larger musical world, a legend to the map. On this album the melodies dance as twinkling bulbs along a retired parade float. A dark comedy, a tragic smile, love found in the rough of it all. Twomey is currently studying composition at Occidental College in Los Angeles" --Sean McCann, April 2019. Edition of 250, includes signed postcard.
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NEOS 11908CD
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Peter Ivan Edwards was born in New York, studied in the USA and Germany, and is now a professor of composition in Singapore. Extramusical influences can often be found in his work, such as computer-supported processes, algorithmic processes, or a linguistic model as in ionobia. Edwards also teaches computer music, though the computer itself is only used once on this CD: in "Ssoonro" for bassoon and electronics. Otherwise, this CD focuses on a variety of instrumentations. The number and quality of the interpreters is evidence of both the fact that Edward's music is performed internationally and of the surprisingly diverse and colorful new music scene in Singapore. Performers include: Trio SurPlus; Ensemble Interface; Ensemble Wu Xian; Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra; Jason Lai - conductor; Matteo Cesari - flute; Pieter Jansen - violin; Christoph Wichert - bassoon.
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NEOS 11901CD
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The album Kinderszenen with music by Yoichi Sugiyama is a portrait CD in the best sense. It not only shows various facets of the composer, but the works also have strong biographical connections. Like many Asian composers of his generation, Sugiyama combines Eastern and Western influences in his music. At times this is readily apparent, as in the work Kuguhi for 17-string bass koto (a Japanese zither), or quite subtle, as when he used Schumann's Kinderszenen as the initial material for a complex and richly differentiated viola quartet.
After growing familiar with the Japanese new music scene -- and also influencing it himself, it was Sugiyama's fascination with contemporary Italian composers that led him to travel to Europe. Today he is internationally established as a composer and a conductor. Performers include: Kazue Sawai - 17-string bass koto; Wonjung Kim - voice
Richard Stoltzman - clarinet; Ah Ling Neu - viola; Stephen Gosling - piano; Tokyo Gen'On Project; The Imai Viola Quartet.
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NEOS 11804CD
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Five first-class brass players have joined together to form a quintet called Ensemble Schwerpunkt. Their brilliant debut CD contains Luciano Berio's "Call" and Sofia Gubaidulina's "Quattro", standard works from the brass repertoire, but the focus is on compositions written specifically for the ensemble. After all, these five musicians are dedicated to promoting a broad, demanding repertoire for their instrumentation. This means taking risks and pushing the boundaries of what's technically possible: Benedict Mason's "Brass Quintet" lay in a drawer for 25 years until any quintet dared to undertake it. Ensemble Schwerpunkt's first performance and the world premiere recording here capture their fiery interpretation of this work. Ensemble Schwerpunkt is: Matthew Brown - trumpet; Matthew Sadler - trumpet; Cecilie Marie Schwagers - horn; Mikael Rudolfsson - trombone; Janne Matias Jakobsson - tuba.
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NEOS 11824CD
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Hommage à Jean-Paul Sartre et Simone de Beauvoir. A chamber opera about love based on texts by Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre -- that's what René Wohlhauser wanted to compose in the spring of 2014. When Sartre's estate categorically refused permission for the texts to be used, Wohlhauser refused to abandon the project. He replaced Sartre's words with his own sound poetry and stated a concertante version of the work with Ensemble Polysono during its 2015 and 2016 European tours. This CD documents this production in the form of a studio recording.
René Wohlhauser is a composer, singer, pianist, and conductor. After some years' experience as a rock and jazz musician, he now composes primarily contemporary classical music. He tours regularly throughout Europe with Ensemble Polysono and the Simolka-Wohlhauser duo.
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NEOS 11928CD
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Music for voice(s) is one of the richest and perhaps unexplored areas in contemporary music. Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf wrestled for many years with himself and dedicated serious thought to fundamental issues before composing vocal music. Today, he has written a number of compositions with quite different approaches: While he was radically committed to incomprehensible texts in the 1990s, he later did just the opposite. The breadth of vocal forces is also enormous; on this CD they range from solo baritone in "Esė apie vandenis" to a work for a 24-voice ensemble, "voiced void". Again and again, Mahnkopf deals with the topic of the void: "void -- un diletto italiano" for six voices is an epitaph for Pier Paolo Pasolini. Performers include: ExVoCo; SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart; Rupert Huber - conductor; Neue Voklasolisten; Jeffrey Gavett - baritone.
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NW 80811CD
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"Max Giteck Duykers (b. 1972) stands out for his ongoing dedication to the sound worlds made possible by the Pierrot ensemble. Therefore it is fitting that the first recording devoted exclusively to Duykers's music should feature two of the four 'Pierrot sextets' he has composed this far, that the remaining four works on the disc are playable by P6/P6+ subsets, and that everything here (except for the one vocal work which adds guest soprano Zen Wu) is performed by members of Ensemble Ipse, the P6 ensemble he co-founded in 2016 and for which he continues to serve as co-Artistic Director. As such it is an excellent introduction to Duykers's compositional aesthetic. While he has composed a great deal of multimedia work as well as orchestral music, chamber music forms the core of his catalog. Duykers's music revels in hovering somewhere between graspable tonality and a chromatic tetrachordal harmonic vocabulary that is usually associated with atonal pitch organization, unisons between players as well as a kind of motivic heterophony where players play similarly contoured but different lines simultaneously, constant metric shifts that still somehow groove, trippy microtonal interludes that do not in any way seem theoretically systemic but serve a purpose that is much more than merely ornamental, cadential silences, and -- what for lack of a more readily comprehensible term could be described as -- 'temporary ostinatos': single notes or chords that repeat incessantly for a period of time but then unexpectedly veer off into something else. Most of Duykers's pieces also exhibit a high degree of playfulness and exuberant joy. It is telling that Duykers concludes the program notes for several of them with an admonition to the players to 'have fun' or 'enjoy'. Duykers's music combines intellectual rigor with sheer physical pleasure as well as metaphysical transcendence. It is music that is deeply conscious of all the music that has come before it, but is very clearly music of our time while also offering some intriguing suggestions about where the music of the future might beckon."
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