“A sound guide to the Frogs and Toads of Western Europe, by Jean C. Roche. The first part of this CD contains recordings of the voices of 35 species of European Frogs and Toads: painted frogs, coloured-bellied toads, midwife toads, spadefeet, parsely frog, toads, “brown” and “green” frogs, bullfrog, tree frogs. The second part contains amphibian concerts recorded in different parts of France and Europe. The listener will discoverstrange sounds as well as some very musical sound atmospheres.” Patrick Fremeaux

"Although the Paris conurbation has a very high population density there are still many areas of special natural habitats within the capitals boundaries and on its outskirts, full of unique natural mixes of sounds. Their distinct sounds are due to the different bird species that make up the music of these natural concerts. The natural sound recorders, Francois Charron and Pierre Huguet, have put together four real concerts of the natural world, followed by an identification guide to the principal, commoner species." Patrick Fremeaux

(Booklet in French) the recordings presented on this disc were made in 1995, during a stay organized for Bernard Fort by Montreal University's Faculty of Music. The recordings presented on this record were made during a stay organized for Bernard Fort by Montreal University. This representation of Canadian soundscapes on seven sound tracks allows the listener to discover the pure beauty of these vast territories during spring and summer in a 70 minute long ecological symphony.

Westminster Choir 100th Anniversary Recording

Music has the ability to illuminate aspects of the human condition in ways that only sound married to texts can achieve. One of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century, William Sloan Coffin, often remarked that music in most cases was more powerful than the spoken word. This recording represents just that. All the music on this recording reflects, in sound, that serenity (and, yes, beauty) is within all of us if we choose to go there. This recording celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Westminster Choir in 1920 by John Finley Williamson, albeit a bit later.

The music of composer Milica Djordjevic, born in Belgrade in 1984, is based on an exuberant and imaginative use of sound. She has full command of the entire arsenal of contemporary sound and performance techniques, which never cease to surprise. She began her composition studies in her native city of Belgrade, where she was already working with electronic music, then went on to Strasbourg and IRCAM in Paris before completing her studies from 2011-2013 in Berlin with Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler. Her already extensive oeuvre, which is performed by leading international soloists and ensembles, includes pieces for solo instruments, chamber music works in a wide variety of formations, vocal works, and large-scale orchestral compositions. The diversity of her work highlights her versatility and technical virtuosity. Djordjevic has received numerous prestigious prizes and awards for her compositions, including the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music (2015), the Composition Prize of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (2016) and the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize of the Berlin Philharmonic (2020). In Milica Djordjevic's short orchestral work Mali svitac, žestoko ozaren i prestravljen nesnosljivom lepotom (Little firefly, brightly lit and shocked by unbearable beauty), commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2023, the composer is concerned with "the immense energy it takes to make things glow". Her extended orchestral work Quicksilver was commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk and premiered on December 16, 2016 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Rundel in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. It is precisely the strict limitation of the melodic movement to very few, narrow interval steps that makes it "all the richer and more colourful on the inside". Cvor (Knot) for winds, piano and percussion, a work commissioned for the Donaueschingen Music Festival, briefly but very intensively describes a knot that squeezes and twists and finally bursts. The fourth work on this BR-KLASSIK CD - Mit o ptici (Myth of the Bird) for choir and orchestra - was commissioned by musica viva in 2020 and premiered on October 28, 2022 with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra under the direction

"The birds of France are either sedentary or migrant. The climate comprises a variety of soundscapes fashioned with a great diversity of bird songs. This sound guide features recordings compiled by Jean C. Roche and enables the listener to identify the various common species in France. Its 24-page booklet (with both French and English notes) presents all of the 99 species. To fully appreciate nature one must listen to it." Patrick Fremeaux

(2-CD Set) A double CD including the common calls and songs of 79 familiar bird species of towns, villages and the countryside. Classed in four categories, from simple, repeated notes to varied, unpredictable songs; the CDs are a real learning tool. The simpler calls and songs are on CD1; the more complex on CD2. The species name is announced at the start of each track, making for easy use especially for the poorly-sighted.

“A CD allowing the listener to recognise the songs of Europe’s garden birds. A 70 minute sound guide recorded by Jean C. Roche indexed in a 20 page French/English booklet that gives the common and Latin names of the 99 species on this CD.” Patrick Fremeaux

Costa Rica, a small country in Central America, is a paradise for the naturalist. Its rich mixture of different climates and habitats is marvellously well protected by an extensive network of national parks and reserves. No less than 850 species of birds occur, as well as 210 species of mammals and 350 reptiles and amphibians (nearly ten times as many as in Europe). The material of this CD was recorded during the rainy season by Eloisa Matheu, assisted by Francesc Llimona and local experts. Jean C. Roche has had the task of mixing the recordings, to recreate atmospheres unique to each habitat. Patrick FReMEAUX

(2-CD set) Fremeaux presents, for the first time ever, under the direction of the well-known bio acoustician ornithologist Jean-Claude Roche, a sound guide allowing the listener to recognize 198 species of common west European birds from their voices. Songs and common calls are inclued for each species in a 2-CD set box with 198 tracks.

Stereo and digital recording. This record captures Europe's unique virgin oak forest (the Bialowieza range) where fabulous chorus of birds can be heard (blackbirds, song thrushes, robins, cuckoos, wood warblers, chiff-chaffs, black woodpeckers, gold-crested wrens...).

“This CD of a new kind allows the listener to listen to the Voices of the Ocean. On the 58 minutes of this CD you will hear the songs and calls – indeed, the “language” – of 5 species of Cetacea. Jean C. Roche realized this recording thank to the Marine Mammal Fund in San Francisco and its director, Mr Stan Minasian, who supplied him with rare and beautiful sounds.” Patrick Fremeaux English version