Bermel: Intonations - Music for Clarinet & Strings / Bermel, Otto, Wijmans, JACK Quartet
Naxos
CD
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Aug 26, 2022
Twice GRAMMY-nominated composer and performer Derek Bermel studied with Henri Dutilleux, Dutch avant-gardist Louis Andriessen, and ragtime revivalist William Bolcom. In his music, seemingly antithetical qualities – classical and vernacular, comic and serious – merge and transform each other unpredictably, their inspiration ranging from theatre (Ritornello), to gestalt psychology (Figure and Ground), to meditations on cosmology (A Short History of the Universe). Thracian Sketches explores and reimagines Bulgarian folk music, while the Violin Etudes distill Bermel’s intellectual creativity into its purest form. The widely celebrated JACK Quartet has maintained an unwavering commitment to its mission of performing and commissioning new works, giving voice to underheard composers, and cultivating an ever-greater sense of openness toward contemporary classical music.
REVIEWS:
The JACK Quartet plays with great clarity and athleticism; and the group is wholly comfortable in any context, from hushed moments to driving climaxes and raucous special effects. Hijmans executes his concerto grosso with flair and virtuosity; and Otto renders the etudes with marvelous skill and artistry. As expected, Bermel contributes his superb fingers, wide dynamic range, and mind-blowing sonic manipulations that should not be possible on the clarinet.
-- American Record Guide
Part of Naxos’s esteemed ‘American Classics’ series,Intonationsis a composer-based collection with a difference: Derek Bermel not only wrote its five works, he plays on two also. His clarinet isn’t the only distinctive sound on the nearly seventy-minute release, either. Dutch electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans plays on one piece, and the renowned JACK Quartet appears too, generally as a group but with violinist Christopher Otto playing solo onViolin Etudes.Intonationsis marked by many things, including variety, and in featuring five world-premiere recordings, the release is an invaluable addition to the award-winning composer’s discography.
Intonationsspeaks flatteringly of Bermel’s gifts as a writer but also instrumentalist. To call his clarinet playing impressive hardly does it justice. He’s appeared as a soloist alongside Wynton Marsalis, has performed his clarinet concertoVoicesaround the world with dozens of orchestras, and is the founding clarinetist of Music from Copland House. His playing is so credible, Bermel could easily fill a personnel spot in an ensemble such as Oregon or The Silk Road Ensemble were the opportunity to present itself...That Bermel’s classical creations often exhibit a pronounced jazz, blues, and/or world flavour shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, given such diversity of experience.
Intonationsis an arresting portrait, not only for its kaleidoscopic range but for the sheer breadth of Bermel’s imagination and interests. That no other recording sounds quite like it is one of the better compliments one could pay to its creator. There’s nothing, it seems, he can’t do and no musical subject matter he’s incapable of tackling.
-- Textura
This showcase of music for different forms and instrument combinations is united by Bermel’s musical curiosity and creative showmanship. Elements of folk and blues permeate traditional classical forms in masterful ways, resulting in a joyous listen. Characterful.
Mauro Giuliani was a composer deeply rooted in the everyday musical life of the Vienna of his era, a city on which Mozart had recently left his mark, where Haydn's art had come to his final flowering and where Beethoven and Schubert were soon to tower above all others. Never in the history of the guitar has the instrument been so close to and so in tune with the great names of classical music. On this release, Antonio Puccio presents Giuliani's complete Rossiniane and Pot-Pourris. Giuliani arranged many nineteenth century opera themes for the guitar. His work Le Rossiniane includes numerous themes from the operas of Rossini, including Otello, L'Italienne a Alger, Cendrillon, and others. He wrote his Pot Pourri in 1811, more than a decade before his Rossiniane. These two sets of pieces have been rarely performed and recorded, and quite unfairly so. Originally recorded and released to great acclaim in 1999, this album is now available nearly twenty years later, and still just as significant.
The first volume of virtuoso guitarist Smaro Gregoriadou’s Reinventing Guitar series was hailed as “a guitar edition that changes the flow of the history of the instrument.” In Reinventing Guitar II Gregoriadou again utilizes reinvented guitars, this time to exploit the dynamic range of sound of the period in novel transcriptions of Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti. Featuring extensive reference materials and research notes, this is certain to excite the most avid guitar aficionado as well as the casual listener.
This captivating collection of liturgical music in varied styles highlights the scriptural themes of love, discipleship, healing, reconciliation, and praise. The best-selling title track, "To You Who Bow," shows us an alternative path for humanity. "Turn Around," a literal translation of the word "metanoia," announces the choice offered by Christ and echoes the Gospel call to repent and believe. "God Is Love, based on 1 Corinthians 13, expresses the concept that God's love is the connective life and energy that binds us all together. Each song in this collection invites us to follow the way of Jesus shaping a world of peace and justice. Rory Cooney has been the director of liturgy and music ministries at St. Anne Catholic Community in Barrington, Illinois, since 1994. His published compositions span a career of songwriting that began nearly 35 years ago, and continues to the present, as he tries to write to the needs of the church and the communities in which he serves. Early compositions were published by Composers' Forum for Catholic Worship and Resource Publications in the 1970's, and his works are represented in Gather and RitualSong, as well as other publications.
Globe Music is a new record label from Shakespeare’s Globe that sets out to capture the intimacy of the candlelit concerts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. A 17th century-style jewel box theatre, one of the great revelations of the space when it opened in 2014 was the crystalline acoustic that has quickly established it a world class chamber music venue. The ambition for Globe Music is to bring together some of the world’s finest musicians in special, unexpected collaborations, to bottle a unique environment where music and the theatrical meet. The label's first release, Songs From Our Ancestors, features two of today’s most imaginative artists; tenor Ian Bostridge and guitarist Xuefei Yang. Their eclectic journey traces a poetic path through history and place that is both global and personal; from Shakespeare’s contemporary John Dowland, through Schubert, Britten and Chinese folk music, to contemporary composers.
As winner of the 2016 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, the 2013 Guitar Foundation of America Competition and more than 20 other prestigious contests around the globe, Russian guitarist Anton Baranov has established himself as one of the leading guitarists of our day. His performances in a number of distinguished halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Palau de Musica in Valencia, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and Hakuju Hall in Tokyo have been described by critics as “pure magic” (Cleveland Classical), and among his list of recordings, this release on Fleur de Son Classics is part of his First Prize package of the 2016 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition.
This new release is the soundtrack from the motion picture, Bach in Brazil. The story is inspired by true events, and follows retired German music teacher Marten Brueckling as he travels to Brazil to collect a sheet of original Bach manuscript, but ends up teaching music to children in a juvenile detention center. The tracks on this release are enchanting arrangements of Bach’s best loved melodies, mixed with Brazilian flair. “Our aim in Bach in Brazil is to bring Bach’s melodies to life with Brazilian rhythms and instrumentations, rather like Marten Brueckling in the film gaining a new perspective on his life from the children and the Brazilian feeling for life.”
Multi-award winner Anabel Montesinos returns to the Naxos label with the ‘graceful flexibility’ and ‘flawless technique’ (MusicWeb International) of her earlier acclaimed recital (8.557294). She has since become 1st Prize Winner at the prestigious 2010 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition in Alessandria. This programme is emblematic of the ‘Spanish guitar’, ranging from Pujol’s and Rodrigo’s respective Tres piezas españolas which descend from traditional folk styles, to Fernando Sor’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart, a showpiece which turns the guitar into a ‘miniature orchestra’.
Antonio Ruiz-Pipó became an essentially Parisian artist, but his music always retained the historical roots and warmth of expression of his Spanish origins. Volume 1 of this edition (8.573971) focused on chamber music with guitar, and this programme presents four solo cycles. As with many of Ruiz-Pipó’s works, the Otoñales are dedicated to and inspired by figures amongst his own circle of friends and colleagues. The deeply expressive and vibrant Canciónes y danzas are a homage to Mompou, and representative of a composer steeped in the music of Albéniz and Falla but with a rigorous individuality that makes his voice unique, evocative and varied. A specialist in Spanish and South-American contemporary guitar music, internationally acclaimed virtuoso Wolfgang Wiegel has recorded for Naxos and other labels, and duringa long and distinguished career has presented a vast repertoire of eminent composers and their works for guitar, as a soloist, and in co-operation with numerous orchestras and chamber music groups.
Over several years and several decades, Domenico Scarlatti composed a new sonata for his royal piano pupil practically each week. And so something gradually evolved that can justifiably be described as his life's work. But what does a life's work mean for us today? An immense number of sonatas, 555 in total. Their grandiose diversity and originality are only actually unlocked when, instead of consuming them ne masse, you listen to just one a week. However you should then listen to this one sonata every day, just as Scarlatti originally intended. And in one fell swoop, your life is over! Can we really do them justice today? In view of this, mine and Christoph Ullrich's undertaking to stretch the production over 17 years seems appropriate. Besides this, at the same time, Christoph Ullrich is still working on other lifelong projects, such as his large-scale children's project Laterna Musica (formerly Earworm). And so with our altered perception of time, we're battling to revive the past whilst remaining modern and curious in order ot meet today's demands. But the battle is worth it! What an adventure! Because who knows what'll come out of it after 17 years? What will the fingers and ears end up doing? Will there still be music at the end of it all? In all of his playfulness, craziness and childishness, in his cacophony of hand-crossing and sensuality, this cycle can also offer something very special compared to so many others: the realization that doing more and more and doing it faster doesn't actually help. Composer in the face of the fact tha tour existence is finite.
Regondi's guitar compositions reflect not only his gentle nature but also the high romanticism of his period. The discovery by Matanya Ophee of 10 Etudes, previously thought to be lost, compelled a revaluation of Regondi's contribution. The two Airs Variés, Op.22, and Op.23, can only reinforce the new respect that ensued. Each begins with a slow introduction, followed by an Andante theme, slightly operatic in character, after which come a number of variations (four in Op.22, five in Op.23) that show off the resources of the instrument: brilliant passages of demisemiquavers (32nd notes), a minor-key tremolo, consecutive ninths and triplets.
