This album features Christmas music for the piano in a timeless journey through the decades and centuries. These songs have been through a remarkable evolution over the course of several centuries, with the changes they have undergone reflecting the shifting musical styles and cultural influences that prevailed in various times.

Celebrating the sesquicentenary of Charles Ives’ birth, New England-based pianist and Ives scholar nonpareil Donald Berman releases a recording of the composer’s “Concord Sonata” using his own newly prepared edition which reveals fresh insights into the iconic work. Berman’s immersion into Ives’ sound world began under the tutelage of pianist John Kirkpatrick who gave the New York premiere of the “Concord Sonata” in 1939. Throughout many years of study and reflection, Berman discovered numerous notes and alterations that Ives made within the Concord’s manuscript pages, each one “a step toward realising his vision for a three-dimensional auditory experience.” Berman concluded that the first movement of the Concord, as Ives imagined it, is quite different than today’s commonly accepted version; his new edition includes two pages worth of material, masterfully recorded here for the first time.

The album opens with the elegiac “The St. Gaudens (Black March)”, referring to the eponymous sculpture in the Boston Common that depicts the Massachusetts 54th, the first Union army regiment of African American soldiers, that is known widely in its orchestral version as the first movement of Ives’ Three Places in New England.

Manuscripts Don’t Burn is a famous line in Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita – the retelling of Faust, the 20th-century cult novel of an artist surviving in a Totalitarian regime, the love story, the burlesque with giant, vodka-drinking cats, and vampiric theater administrators.

I first read the book as a kid, growing up in Soviet Odesa. I took it with me when my parents and I immigrated, as Jewish refugees running from antisemitism, through Austria and Italy, to the United States. Crossing the border, I worried that guards would discover my book, and I would be severely punished. Throughout the years, the book played a role in my life. My childhood best friend from Odesa reread the book in adulthood and decided to find me - we are now together for 20 years, with two kids. I read the book to my mother as she was dying from brain cancer.

Bulgakov’s novel weaves through my own newly published memoir, Weight in the Fingertips - A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage (Backbeat Books, October 2023). I consider this very personal recording to be something of a mirror image to my memoir, as it intertwines the literal images from Master and Margarita with more autobiographical themes and layers.

The five premieres, written for me and recorded here, are vastly different in styles and aesthetic. The understated, elegant Master and Margarita Suite by Veronika Krausas complements the wild, theatrical, brooding and extended techniques-filled “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” by Maya Miro Johnson. Mike Garson’s Psalm to Odesa, an improvisatory ballad, with bits of my own improvisation based on a well-known Odesan song, sets off “Voices” by Ljova, a piece for piano and historical recordings of Jewish cantorial and klezmer music. Both take me back to my home city, currently under vicious attack, like the rest of Ukraine. The poetry I recite, sing and hum while performing the four-movement Godai - the Four Elements - is rounded off by the propulsive bravura whirlwind of Hero. Fasil Say’s Black Earth takes the listener on a journey from Odesa across the Black Sea - a Turkish ballad and jazzy beats alternate with improvisatory melisma of a Turkish lute, played on muted strings of the piano. The rarely heard Notturno of Fanny Mendelssohn connects a gifted female voice to the others on this disc, as well as, perhaps, to the dark, impassioned character of Margarita. In Master and Margarita, “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” is spoken by Satan when he retrieves the manuscript of a novel presumed burnt – and in Clarice Assad’s “Godai”, Steve Schroeder’s poem depicts the loss of a manuscript in a fire.

The lieder of Schubert, transcribed for solo piano by Liszt, riffs on the mythical and the Faustian lore found also in Master and Margarita: Gretchen (Margarita) at the spinning wheel, a mystical love story by the sea, a monstrous Elf King and the death of a child, of innocence, of joy - one’s worst fear.

This collection of music speaks to my love of dialogue between music and words. As in my Music/Words series, where I pair poets with musical programs in the form of a recital/reading, the connections between text and sound here are not just literal but emotional, based on memory, intuition, dreams, and hopes.

- Inna Faliks

Considered one of the most influential composers inspired by the natural world, Edward Cowie's collaboration with the exceptional Kreutzer String Quartet spans nearly a decade. This partnership has resulted in the recording of Cowie's first six quartets, as well as remarkable solo and duo works showcasing the quartet's unparalleled skill. Now, Cowie presents his seventh string quartet, "Western Australia," specially crafted for the Kreutzer Quartet, accompanied by four solo portrait pieces dedicated to each member. From the ethereal heights of Clifton Harrison's viola to the intricate melodies inspired by the habits of owls for Neil Heyde's cello, Cowie's compositions reflect a profound reverence for both the human animal and the natural world.

Delving into the heart of Australia's rugged landscape, Cowie's quartet captures the awe-inspiring vastness and ancient beauty of Western Australia. Each movement paints a vivid picture of the region's diverse landscapes, from the expansive horizons of the first movement to the primal origins depicted in the second, culminating in the mysterious allure of the Pinnacles in the final movement. Through his music, Cowie masterfully evokes the ever-changing landscapes and intricate ecosystems of Western Australia, inviting listeners on a transformative journey through time and space.

Additionally, the recording features four solo portraits, each a testament to the unique talents and personalities of the Kreutzer Quartet members. From Neil Heyde's emotive exploration of owls to Mihailo Trandafilovski's evocative interpretation of evolution, Cowie's compositions showcase the quartet's versatility and virtuosity. With each note, Cowie pays homage to his collaborators, celebrating their friendship and artistic prowess while pushing the boundaries of contemporary chamber music. Experience the extraordinary fusion of nature and music in Cowie's latest masterpiece, a testament to the enduring power of creative collaboration and the boundless wonders of the natural world.

The Kreutzer Quartet has established itself as one of the most sought-after string quartets in the UK. They appear regularly at the major London venues and have made many live and studio recordings for the BBC, and major networks all over Europe. They have taken their extremely eclectic programmes to Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Serbia, Montenegro, Sardinia, the US, Spain, Cyprus, Poland, and Lithuania. Recent critical and publicly acclaimed performances have been at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, de Doelen, Rotterdam, Quartet 2000, Manchester International, and the Vilnius Philharmonic Festival.