Born in Maryland in 1954, John Stamp - universally known as 'Jack' - is a well-known figure, both as conductor and composer, in the symphonic wind-band movement that flourishes in US universities. But the sound of the brass band familiar in the UK has long been an enthusiasm, and his involvement with brass bands on both sides of the Atlantic - particularly the Minneapolis-based Lake Wobegon Brass Band, which takes it's name from Garrison Keillor's fictional Minnesota town - has generated a number of works which bring elements of the British brass tradition to audiences in the US Mid-West, imbuing them with a catchy rhythmic swing.
Friedrich Lux (1820–95) was one of those musicians who formed the fabric of musical life in nineteenth-century Germany: though he worked away from the major cities, as conductor, teacher, organist, organiser and composer, he was an indispensable element of the communities in which he worked. His large body of organ music, as good as unknown before now, brings together elements of the musical language of Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann, in works that range from the intimate to the grandiose. This second volume brings some of his many transcriptions to the fore.
New York City-based, Puerto Rican-born composer, guitarist, and visual artist Gabriel Vicens releases his fourth studio album Mural, a recording devoted to his chamber works. Vicens continues his musical journey by releasing a record of contemporary classical music including pieces for piano trio, wind quintet, Pierrot ensemble and more; featuring some of today's finest performers of the New York City classical scene. The immersive and mood-inducing music on this record spans a four-year period of creativity and is the first recording to feature concert works by this wonderful artist. Mural explores modern and contemporary trends such as 12-tone serialism, experimentalism, and minimalism and, at the same time, depicts Vicens' individuality as a composer with a distinctive voice that has been constantly expanding throughout the years of his career. "I see the music of this album as both a continuation of all my previous works and something completely different. Though we could classify this repertoire in a different genre and following different traditions, practices, and influences to my previous records, for me it is all connected. My goals are the same when composing any piece of music, which is to create something interesting, beautiful and profound that works as a whole and evokes some kind of emotional, mental, and/or physical response in the listener," says Vicens, a Doctoral graduate from Stony Brook University. Mural is released on the celebrated Milan-based record label, Stradivarius, which specializes in publishing some of today's best recordings of early music and contemporary classical music. The album comprises seven pieces for different types of ensembles recorded at the renowned Bunker Studio in New York City. The first track of the album and title piece, Mural (2021) for clarinet, violin, and piano is performed by clarinetist Raissa Fahlman, violinist Joenne Dumitrascu, and pianist Corinne Penner. Followed by Suenos Ligados (2020) for piano trio, featuring violinist Adrianne Munden-Dixon, cellist Rocio Diaz de Cossio, and pianist Mayumi Tsuchida. The third track of the album, El Matorral (2022) for Pierrot ensemble is performed by Roberta Michel on flute, Raissa Fahlman on clarinet, Joenne Dumitrascu on violin, Wick Simmons on cello, Corinne Penner on piano, John Ling on vibraphone, and conducted by David Bloom. The recording continues with Una Superficie Sin Rostro (2020) for solo piano, featuring Corinne Penner. Adrianne Munden-Dixon returns with Mayumi Tsuchida on the fifth track of the album, Carnal (2019) for violin and piano. The ensemble Nu Quintet appears on the sixth track, Ficcion (2021) for woodwind quintet. The album concludes with La Esfera (2021) for cello and piano performed by cellist Julia Henderson and pianist Mikael Darmanie. Vicens is interested in how his approach to music and painting correlate with each other, in particular, his attentiveness to the two-dimensional flatness of the canvas and how that translates into music. "I create musical compositions with melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, and register, and every instrument and part of the composition is equally important to me. Everything needs to work together. The same principle applies to my paintings, but with color, form, line, and texture instead of musical elements. I see my paintings as an extension of my music and vice versa. The conceptual processes are incredibly alike," says Vicens. The compositions included in Mural are characterized by their embracement of dissonance, pointillistic textures, large intervallic leaps, gestural complexity, prolonged silences, great dynamic contrasts, and quiet sustained tones. On many occasions it's possible to encounter a ritualistic and mysterious aspect in his music that is distinguished by the way he uses repetition over melodic fragments and harmonic patterns. The influences of Webern and Feldman are perceivable in Vicens' works. Commenting on the evocative repertoire brought together in this album, Tim Rutherford-Johnson remarks in the CD's liner notes, "... although his music is often quite flat in it's surface relations, in it's unfolding over time it admits cracks into that surface, and slow transitions from one color to another." The title of this recording came from Vicens' passion for Roman and Egyptian mural paintings. "I'm fascinated by how Roman and Egyptian frescoes have decayed slowly for centuries and how the cracks and layers of colors have become part of the current stage of the work, creating a complex and atmospheric character. "Music is a reflection of life; it comes from our experiences. We go through cycles and evolve as the years pass. Over time, we get our cracks and layers of colors, just like the frescoes, and from those experiences, we get the energy and the inspiration to write music that communicates something abstractly. Mural is what I have to say at this point of my life; my future cracks and layers will slowly tell what's next." The seven works offered in Mural display Vicens' unique vision and voice as a composer and conveys a pivotal point that stylistically breaks his career free from the confines of a single genre description. The addition of this album to his discography expresses his immense creativity and wide range of skills, displaying how he shapeshifts magnificently across various musical terrains. Finally, the record reveals an idiosyncratic approach that captures his innovative ideas with brilliance and excitement. The album includes a photo-illustrated, 28-page booklet with liner notes by Tim Rutherford-Johnson.
The Karol Rathaus Ensemble, carrying out its mission to bring this outstanding Polish composer back to the concert life, once again reached for the rarely performed music of its patron. 2021 saw the world recording premiere of two chamber works by Karol Rathaus, i.e. the Trio, Op. 53 from 1943 and the Trio Serenade, Op. 69 from 1953 (DUX 1712). Now the ensemble decided to record more compositions; what is important, some of them have also been recorded for the first time. The repertoire of the album has been selected in such a way as to give the listener the opportunity to get to know both Rathaus’ new works and his new face: not only did he create chamber music, but also songs, so the album also features ‘guest’ performers. Expanding the circle of artists ready to take the risk of discovering the above work is of great importance, since the music of 20th-century Polish exile composers is still marginalized both in musicological research and in the concert repertoire. Its absence in the domestic culture resulted from the fact that for several decades the communist authorities did not allow information about the art created outside Poland: emigrants were to plunge into oblivion. Nowadays, we are witnessing a gradual renaissance of their music, and the names of such eminent artists as Jerzy Fitelberg, the Łabuński brothers, Karol Rathaus, Szymon Laks, Roman Maciejewski, or even Roman Palester and Andrzej Panufnik are slowly enter-ing the collective consciousness.
Society of Composers, Inc. presents 10 works from boundary-defying composers on TRANSITION AND APOTHEOSIS, the 35th installment of their celebrated Composers’ Series.
"Carnyx" by Chris Arrell employs the carnyx, the ceremonial and battle trumpet used by Iron Age Celts, to conjure the terror of an army encroaching through the morning mist.
Jiyoun Chung’s "Scissors" is a fantasia-toccata for solo piano inspired by the traditional Korean Scissors dance.
"24/7" by Yunfei Li honors the healthcare professionals who served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Transition and Apotheosis" from Mike McFerron is a multichannel fixed media piece that maps Danish composer Per Nørgård’s “infinity sequence” to sound elements.
Paul Lombardi’s "Unwoven" incorporates the fractal-like technique used in his past pieces to startling new effects.
Robert McClure’s "struggling in excess" decries the vast amounts of waste humans produce on a daily basis.
"glass, evaporate[d]" from to?-dr?-'ki is a hauntingly beautiful reimagining of 2019’s "lips evaporate".
William Price’s "Sans Titre VII (B)" is a modified variation-rondo that explores the wide range, technical agility, and unique extended techniques offered by the saxophone.
"Der Saus und Braus" by Joseph Klein is the sixteenth in a series of short works for solo instruments based on characters in Elias Canetti’s "Der Ohrenzeuge: Fünfzig Charaktere" (Earwitness: Fifty Characters).
Finally, Ania Vu’s "Tik-Tak" sets the composer’s Polish poem to remind us of the relentless flow of time.
SCI renews its decades-long mission to promote and disseminate contemporary music in this Navona Records release.
Horn Trios from Mozart to Piazzolla and Beyond, Vol. 2
Affetto Records
CD
$18.99$24.99Save 25%Sep 05, 2025
HORN TRIOS from MOZART to PIAZZOLLA and beyond (Volume 2) is the second installment of a compendium of horn trios from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries - an amazing "anthology" of original and arranged repertoire for the trio ensemble of horn, violin and piano. This is not the kind of recording project consisting of the "obligatory" Brahms Horn Trio in the company of 2 or 3 other much-recorded works. While the Brahms Trio is included (in Volume 1), the concept is a lot more ambitious. Presenting a 4-centuries, 2-volume collection where each album encompasses a double-disc compilation, the artists explore a strikingly-interesting array of diverse styles and genres, where even the sheer number of different nationalities of the composers (representing 12 different countries in Vol. 1 and 11 countries in Vol. 2) brings instant awe. In Volume 1 we heard trios by composers from the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Austria, France, Liechtenstein, Argentina, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Morocco, while Volume 2 presents music by composers from the US, UK, Australia, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Argentina and Czechia. Among the 15 works in Vol. 1 we heard 8 world-premiere recordings, while Vol. 2 is literally brimming with world-premieres: among the 13 works in Volume 2, there are 11 world-premiere recordings. The three artists offer breathtaking interpretations. Hornist Howard Wall, whose storied career includes not just his legendary reputation as a long-time member of two of America's most prestigious orchestras - the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra, but also an impressive discography of chamber and solo discs, brings a symphonic dimension to his own transcriptions of music by Piazzolla, Stravinsky, Bach and John Coltrane. Violinist Elmira Darvarova is equally "at home" in Mozart (as a former concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera, where she accompanied the world's greatest singers in a multitude of Mozart operas) and in Piazzolla (having attained a Grammy nomination for one of her many Piazzolla albums), as well as everywhere else (including world music, with her album based on Indian Ragas debuting as No. 3 on Billboard) and she possesses not just an incredibly strong and full tone, but also a magnificent level of sensitivity which fascinates with the limitless range of dynamics and sophisticated phrasing. Pianist Thomas Weaver, whose own horn trios (one in each volume) mesmerize with atmospheric moods, and whose translucently-textured playing has been hailed for his recent album of Hungarian composers (recorded together with Elmira Darvarova), shines in each piece with sublime virtuosity and fierce artistic commitment. This is a "not to be missed" album release, which has been eagerly anticipated in the "horn universe" and elsewhere, leaving open the possibility of a future Volume 3 as a conclusion to this terrific project.
Pál Hermann, born in Budapest in 1902, was not only one of the leading cellists of his generation; he was also an important composer, one of the major figures in Hungarian music in the generation after his teachers Bartók and Kodály. But since only two of his works were published before his early death – in 1944, at the hands of the Nazis – and many more of them were lost, he has not had the esteem that he deserves. The works on this second volume of his surviving compositions – mostly chamber works for strings, several in their first recordings – have the wiry humour, sprung and spiky rhythms and Hungarian melos that mark him out as a worthy successor to Bartók – and hints at how much was lost with his murder.
Horn Trios from Mozart to Piazzolla & Beyond, Vol. 1
Affetto Records
CD
$24.99Aug 30, 2024
HORN TRIOS from MOZART to PIAZZOLLA and beyond (Volume 1) is the first installment of a 2-volume compendium of horn trios from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries - an amazing "anthology" of original and arranged repertoire for the trio ensemble of horn, violin and piano. This is not the kind of recording project consisting of the obligatory Brahms Trio Op. 40 in the company of two or three other much-recorded works. Presenting a 4-centuries double-disc album with just this First Volume, the artists explore a strikingly-interesting collection of diverse styles and genres, where even the sheer number of different nationalities of the composers (from 12 different countries) brings instant awe. Yes, the Brahms Horn Trio is included, as well as works by Mozart and Piazzolla (as the album's title proclaims), but we also hear trios by composers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Morocco. Presenting no less than 8 world-premiere recordings in just this Volume 1, the album brims with rarities and contrasts, showcasing many works written specifically for these artists. Hornist Howard Wall, whose storied career includes not just his legendary reputation as a long-time member of two of America's most prestigious orchestras - The New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra, but has also produced an impressive discography of chamber and solo discs, brings a symphonic dimension to his own arrangement of Piazzolla's "Oblivion", and an excitingly speedy rendition of the Brahms Trio, as well as breathtaking interpretations of all other works. Violinist Elmira Darvarova is equally "at home" in Mozart (as a former concertmaster of The Metropolitan Opera, where she accompanied the world's greatest singers in a multitude of Mozart operas) and in Piazzolla (having attained a Grammy nomination for one of her many Piazzolla albums), as well as everywhere else, possessing not just an incredibly strong and full tone, but also a magnificent level of sensitivity which fascinates with the limitless range of dynamics and sophisticated phrasing. Pianist Thomas Weaver, whose own horn trio mesmerizes with atmospheric moods (and is narrated by himself, reading Edgar Allan Poe's Stanzas) and whose translucently textured playing has been hailed for his recent album of Hungarian composers recorded together with Elmira Darvarova), shines in each piece with sublime virtuosity and fierce artistic commitment. This is a "not to be missed" album release, anticipating the upcoming Volume 2 which will conclude this terrific project.
Banks: Vocal & Chamber Music / Duck-Chong, Böhn, Herscovitch et al.
Toccata
CD
$10.49$20.99Save 50%Jul 01, 2022
During his short life Don Banks (1923–80) enjoyed a reputation as the leading modernist among Australian composers. Studies with Mátyás Seiber, Milton Babbitt and, especially, Luigi Dallapiccola helped refine his serial technique, but his music never retreated into academic abstraction, as this recital of chamber and vocal works demonstrates: it retained a keen sense of drama, an ear for atmosphere, a rather angular lyricism and, occasionally, a touch of humor. The works are performed by Ole Bohn, Robert Johnson, Geoffrey Gartner, Rowan Phemister, Daniel Herscovitch, Francesco Celata, Jenny Duck-Chong, Alison Pratt, Daryl Pratt, and Joshua Hill.
Instrumental concertos 1938-1940 After numerous large-scale symphonic productions Karl Böhm and the Sächsische Staatskapelle opened up a new genre in the fall of 1938 a new genre. From now on, more and more renowned instrumental instrumental soloists were brought to Dresden for recordings - an illustrious mix of world stars, some of whom who were guests in symphony concerts of the Sächsische Staatskapelle on several occasions, such as the pianists Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer and Walter Gieseking, from newcomers such as the young violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan and many more
Wright & Barton: Orchestral Music / Watkins, Andrews, Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Toccata
CD
$20.99May 06, 2022
This album brings together music by two English composers who are also good friends –and both born in East Anglia: Nicholas Barton in Norfolk in 1950 and Christopher Wright in Suffolk in 1954. Moreover, they share a similar musical language: largely tonal, if loosely so, rhythmically alert, transparently but dramatically scored and with a natural feeling for symphonic argument and growth, and a powerful sense of scale. “Mark Forkgen and his versatile chamber choir Canticum are obviously fully committed to Wright’s music and have done him proud.” --Choir and Organ
Messiaen: Des canyons aux etoiles... ("From the Canyons to t
Seattle Symphony Media
CD
$18.99Nov 17, 2023
The Seattle Symphony releases live performances of Olivier Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles... ("From the Canyons to the Stars..."), which takes inspiration from the rock spires, birdsong and night sky of Utah's national parks. With Judith Fong Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot on the podium and guest Steven Osborne on piano, the Symphony presents Messiaen's starry-eyed journey through nature and the divine, recorded before a live audience in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall alongside video projections of inspiring national parks and monuments.
Pianist Helen Davies is the daughter of a Bohemian mother and Anglo-German father and her family has always been acutely aware of their European heritage. Connections was conceived during the COVID-19 UK lockdown in March 2020. Much of the music on this recording was created by German composers, hence the decision to focus on that link, recording music which they felt connected them back to some of their familial roots. Music is an international language, unaffected by boundaries and this is celebrated in this recording. The inclusion of the little Rondo by the British composer Arnold Cooke embodies this continental link: Cooke studied composition with the German composer Paul Hindemith who had a strong influence on his style and whose musical language can be clearly heard in Cooke's short composition. In keeping with the connections theme, Laurence Davies uses a German horn, an Alexander model 103 made in Mainz for this recording.
Trotta: Intimations of Immortality / Packwood, Mississippi State University Singers
GIA
CD
$18.99Jan 06, 2023
This recording includes a five-movement work by Michael John Trotta along with three a cappella traditional works. Intimations of Immortality is based on Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In these poems, Wordsworth presents a fully developed, yet morally flexible, picture of the relationship between human beings and the natural world. The work was dedicated to the Mississippi State University State Singers for the opening of the new Music Building. However, because of the global pandemic, COVID-19, the debut performance has been on hold, until now.
Throughout history, the open landscapes and mythical cultures of the Nordic countries have triggered the imagination of artists. Finnish horn player Markus Maskuniitty and pianist Martin Sturfalt perform works which, although separated in time by more than a century, all draw their inspiration from from these areas of interest. The compositions gathered here approach these Nordic themes from different angles, blending traditional folk influences with contemporary classical techniques whilst exploring the horn's lyrical and dramatic capabilities and it's rich sound palette. Recent compositions by Piers Hellawell, Tryggvi M. Baldvinsson, Albert Schnelzer and Benjamin Staern are mixed with older works by Carl Nielsen, Hugo Alfven and Julius Rontgen, including the latter's Aus Jotunheim, a suite characterized by an irresistible Norwegian flavour throughout it's five movements, quoting everything from cattle calls to lullabies with plenty of rustic folk dancing in between. This imaginative program designed by Maskuniity and Sturfalt puts a spotlight on the unique character of the Nordic musical identity.
A transformation During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world shut down and many lives were lost or changed forever, I experienced a serious transformation. A commitment to sobriety unleashed new creative forces. The world's new normal of quiet and introspection led me to return to a more formal branch of my musical upbringing: fully-inked acoustic music. Untethered from the backbeats and lead sheets of my career in jazz and pop music, I once again immersed myself in scores and music literature. An exciting new sense of freedom filled me with inspiration. I discovered a wellspring of patience and subsequent understanding and became obsessed with form. Hyper-focussed and pencil in hand, I wrote tirelessly from dawn until dusk. When I spoke about this newfound passion with one of the biggest supporters of my lifetime, my Dad, he told me it sounded like I had "seen the light" - a remarkable turn of events during an otherwise difficult time for us all. About the music... String Quartet No. 1 "The Orphans" (2023) The idea of writing a string quartet began to haunt me as this hallowed format can be intimidating. After what initially seemed like fruitless labor, I sidelined this ambition to work on some other music. Then one day while walking in a forest preserve in Chicago, a tune popped into my head which later developed into a promising base movement for a string quartet. Despite a failed attempt at a second movement, my confidence grew, and again inspired by nature, movements I, II and III were written with the base movement now as IV. Just when I thought the whole piece was done, the inspiration for another, shorter, livelier, and more cohesive movement came to me, and outdoors no less! Following my intuition I completely abandoned the germ of it all, the mother of this string quartet, for four of her offspring. It was an unpredictable process. Three Poe Excerpts (2022) While writing my first opera, The Bells of Fortunato, adapted from Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado, I became transfixed by Poe's writing. I discovered more stories of his with moments full of life and beauty that seemed to be wonderful opportunities for songs. I ended up taking a break from Fortunato to work on the songs that became Three Poe Excerpts. "Even as it Was" came first followed by "A Feeling for Which I Have No Name." These both came fairly easily and with much joy, but I wasn't satisfied with just the two. Although initially skeptical of the music that became "To the Right and Left," something told me to stay the course, and I am happy with the result. I thought the three songs could use some sort of set up, and the image of a hand opening an oversized book like in the beginning of old fairytale movies came to mind. This inspired the foreword and afterword. The Thousand Injuries (2023) A section of one of my prior works, a fantasie called Outside Motion in Stillness, gave me the idea to try my hand at an opera. I read through many plays, poems, and stories until landing on the right one. I believe there have been at least a couple of operas based on The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, but that didn't stop me from writing my own adaptation, The Bells of Fortunato. The Carnival scene was the perfect fit for the music I had brewing. Poe's writing is wonderfully succinct and illustrative, and I found myself so intrigued that the rest of the music came without much hesitation. After a musical introduction which includes a chorus singing "nemo me impune lacesset" ("no one attacks me with impunity"), we meet our protagonist Montresor, played by a soprano, who sings the only aria from the opera. "The Thousand Injuries" informs us of her contempt for the entitled Fortunato. The musicians and the studio... I can't speak highly enough of the musicians on this album. The dedication to great performance from each individual is heard in every moment. I am truly honored to have made this with you all. I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to Doyle for assembling this dream of a string quartet to help bring "The Orphans" to life with such finesse and conviction. Thanks to Steve of SHIRK studios for the hard work, perpetual coolness, and professional atmosphere that is consistently provided. Special thanks to Matt Reed, Stu Mindeman, Margaret Casey, and Tom Palmer. All my love to Al and Ray. In memory of Tom Doherty. Rest easy Thos.
As pianist, conductor and composer, Ole Schmidt was one of the great polymaths of the Nordic musical world. His music was influenced by Bartók, Stravinsky and the French school and is underpinned by a certain Nordic clarity. It combines rhythmic energy, high concentration, elemental expressivity and deadpan humor. Schmidt's experience on the podium gave him an inside track on the working of the orchestra, and his pragmatism and refinement are evident in his larger scores, including the three momentous concertos on this album. In his Pièce Concertante, Schmidt places a trumpet and a trombone in the foreground. The piece has a bustling concerto grosso atmosphere and a consistent good humor. The album also presents his Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra, which explore the full expressive capabilities of the tuba, and the Concerto for Horn and Chamber Orchestra consisting of two contrasting movements: the first serious and dreaming, the second fast and playfully light.
This album came to me in a fit of stillness. I had been moving so much and for so long that I forgot that my favorite thing to do is to just sit. Sitting in stillness involves watching, waiting, listening, and observing. It involves becoming aware of the edges of things - in my case, where my body ends and the chair begins, where a bird call starts and a melody has always existed, where a cloud has always been a storm and the storm is me. When I wrote these songs, I was sitting still and looking at the sea. Yes, the actual sea, but also the sea of my childhood and the sea of my recurring dreams. In the process of writing, I've learned that if I look long enough, rooms that I didn't previously have access to emerge, floating in front of me like hard working tugboats, pulling behind them all the postcards that I've written to myself. I've learned that if I listen long enough, a vine will always grow out my head and become a phone cord, connecting me to all the times I've wanted to tell you I love you and have held it back. - Alex Sopp
Hornist Felix Klieser presents two concertos for Horn and Orchestra by Kurt Atterberg and Rolf Martinsson. After the big success of his Mozart Horn Concertos album with the Camerata Salzburg, he is now accompanied by the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken and English conductor Jamie Phillips, who is leading the recording. The Horn concerto "Soundscape" by Rolf Martinsson was comissioned for Felix Klieser and is the composers third solo concerto for brass instruments and premiered in 2022 in Saarbrucken.
J. & M. Haydn: Horn Concertos / Klieser, Württemberg CO Heilbronn
Berlin Classics
Vinyl
$37.99Jan 05, 2024
The popular album"Horn Concertos" by Felix Klieser is being released as a 180g Vinyl Reissue. The talented and unique horn player masters the technically demanding Horn Concertos by Joseph Haydn and his lesser known brother Michael Haydn. He is accomapnied by the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn under the baton of Ruben Gazarian. Together, they display these innovative compositions and their masterful orchestration with brilliance and unrivaled brilliance. The reconstructed 'Horn Concerto No. 0' by W. A. Mozart offers glimpses into the maestro's early Viennese years.
