Arkiv's Top 5 Recordings of the Week
Einojuhani Rautavaara – Cantus Arcticus
Einojuhani Rautavaara is one of the most original and accessible composers of the second half of the 20th century. His strange and enchanting 'Cantus Arcticus', subtitled "A Concerto for birds and orchestra," features recorded Arctic birdsong, not just as background, but as the featured sounds.
John Adams – Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Marin Alsop is an outstanding conductor and a longtime collaborator with composer John Adams. If you’ve been curious about Adams’s music, here are four of Adams’s best works on one album.
Henryk Górecki – Symphony No. 3, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
The harrowing and beautiful Symphony No. 3, called the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, for solo soprano and orchestra, Op. 36 by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1976) is often mentioned as one of the most original masterpieces of 20th-century music.
Margaret Brouwer – Symphony No. 1
American composer Margaret Brouwer is renowned for her music's lyricism, imagery, and use of orchestral color. Marin Alsop conducts the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in this program of world premiere recordings including Symphony No. 1 'Lake Voices'.
Zibouklé Martinaityté – Saudade
New York-based Lithuanian composer Žibuokle Martinaityte composed all the music on this album within a span of six years. These are impressive orchestral compositions with evocative titles and beautiful orchestral textures.
Do you have a favorite piece of music by a living composer? Let us know and we will add it to the list.