The compositions included on this CD are from a selection of Mkhitar’s favorite Armenian piano compositions. In the near future, he will seek out more sheet music to feature even more of Armenian music. Armenian classical piano music originated from folk melodies brought to life by the Armenian people thousands of years ago. Composers such as Komitas Vardapet, Robert Andreasyan, Georgy Saradjyan, Aram Chatsjatoerjan, Arno Babajanyan and others have used these ancient folk melodies in their compositions and thus the style “Armenian Classical Piano Music” was born. The music is about the history of the Armenian people, about the joy and about the pain of a true Armenian. It is about the culture, about our traditions, about Armenian landscapes, the mountains and nature and about the Armenia of every day.

The music tells its own story differently to each listener. However, here’s the backdrop: “Blue KAT Moves” is a Funk-jazz suite, composed of contrasting parts.

Award-winning South African musicians, clarinetist Danrè Strydom and pianist Grethe Nöthling collaborated to provide global audiences with exhilarating performances of not only well-known and loved repertoire, but also of more obscure repertoire. During their collaboration period, they were motivated to perform newly composed as well as underplayed South African compositions for clarinet and piano. This recording aims to introduce a selection of the quite vast amount of South African compositions for the duo combination.

With Spectrum, the Colori Ensemble presents its third album for Aliud Records in close collaboration with the Frisian Music Archive. Earlier releases were Colori Miti (2015) and Evasio (2019). The ensemble's name derives from the composition Colori by the composer Wim van Ligtenberg, written in 2012. Since then, various composers have dedicated their compositions to the ensemble. Apart from new, contemporary repertoire, the ensemble performs their own arrangements of classical masterpieces. The members of the ensemble are Rianne Jongsma (flute), Wilma Jongsma (oboe), Arjan Jongsma (marimba) and Frans Douwe Slot (piano). They performed in numerous venues and at various festivals, among which the International Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog, the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Radio performances were broadcasted by Radio 4 in programmes like Passaggio, De Klassieken, Podium, Spiegelzaal and Muziekwijzer.

Hans Leenders writes of this new release: “In 2003 I wrote my first mass as music director of the Basilica of our Lady in Maastricht on the occasion of the 200 year anniversary of the Basilica choir. My inspiration never dried up since then. Many new compositions for choir followed, especially for the aforementioned Basilica choir, but also for my professional chamber choir Studium Chorale. Specific composition assignments enlarged my horizon, and this album is the sounding result of it.”

Thomas Hampson considers Richard Hageman as “an American composer of the highest caliber [and] an important contributor to the arts in America” and yet VOICES is the first album ever to be dedicated solely to Hageman’s songs. Born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on July 9, 1881, Hageman moved to Hollywood in 1938, quickly establishing himself as an A-list composer. Six of his film scores were nominated for an Academy Award, later known as an Oscar, winning with John Ford’s western, Stagecoach (1939).

The word “tango,” some say, is derived from the Latin word “tangere,” which means “to touch.” In its early days, tango was the cultural expression of immigrants and societal outcasts in slums and the bordellos of Buenos Aires. This first generation of tango players from Buenos Aires was called “Guardia Vieja” (the Old Guard). It took time to move into wider circles, however, in the 1920’s, tango had become popular among the city’s larger society, moving to the barrios or middle-class neighborhoods and then to the Argentine upper class. Over the years, tango has undergone a long stylistic journey from its roots to the Golden Age of the 1930’s and 40’s and through to Tango Nuevo championed by Astor Piazzolla in the 1950’s and 60’s. Today tango boasts a number of new styles that fuse elements of jazz and electronics while the tradition remains.

This album, featuring three of today’s best-known proponents of the style, Horacio Romo, Pablo Agri and Emiliano Messiez, is a trio recording presenting a format that is somewhat unconventional in the tango world. The most famous setting for tango music is, of course, the “Orquestas Típicas” often including over a dozen performers however, smaller formats featuring four to six players are also popular. The typical trio format found in tango music consists of piano, bandoneon and double bass. Speaking about the line-up of this trio, pianist Emiliano Messiez said “It’s not that common to find a trio setting with piano, bandoneon and violin. When we first started to talk about this project, we were worried that the bass sound would be missing, however once we started playing, we realized that this is not really an issue.”

The easiest way to make music is by singing songs, especially if you have the tune in your head. People in the past had to make do with the city’s carillon, annual visits to fairs, the church organ and the city musicians. There were songs for every occasion. They resounded around the family dinner table, at school, in the streets, in church, outdoors with a lover, at country people’s festivities, at weddings, on journeys, on board ships or passenger barges, at work or in the theatre. This type of song provides the basis for this Top 40 project, which starts from the 40 most commonly used melodies of the period 1535-1750.

“The love of nature and Sufi poetry are the threads running through the production of this album. I’ve been looking for a way to connect these two themes to music for a long time. At the age of thirteen, my first guitar teacher, Leo van Rutte, introduced me to the music of the composer Agustin Barrios. I found his music to be mesmerizingly beautiful and I was so inspired by this composer that at the time I was determined to devote my life to the classical guitar. Barrios was not only inspired by Western European romanticists, but also by indigenous music, nature, and religion. His composition Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios (An Alm for the Love of God) is a clear example of this. In addition, I’ve included music by the composer Johann Kaspar Mertz.

"I find that his compositions display a great beauty and are reminiscent of Barrios’s compositions. Mertz was also inspired by Western European romanticists and indigenous folk music. The Old Lime Tree by Sergei Rudnev not only has a fitting title, but struck me by its special atmosphere, depth, and eloquence, making it a good fit with aforementioned themes. I feel a deep connection to the thirteenth-century Sufi poets Rumiand Hafiz. Rumi spent most of his life in Konya, Turkey. Domeniconi’s beautiful variations, inspired by an Anatolian folk song, reflect an atmosphere of poetic stillness and contemplation that is often found in Sufi poems.” (Rob Nijboer)

This album came to be due to the huge respect that Eddy Vanoosthuyse has for both Roeselaarse composers. He came to know them throughout different time periods of his career: He met Raymond Ducancq at a young age as a conductor and composer and immediately they developed a strong mutual respect for each other. Raymond dedicated a number of pieces to him and conducted a number of his works for Harmony Orchestra’s both at home and abroad. It’s via this connection that he recorded ‘Nostalgia’ with the Presidential Orchestra of Lithuania (Orchestra of the Lithuanian Armed Forces) in the period that he was chief guest conductor. Vanoosthuyse has has a great deal of respect for this humble conductor. Vanoosthuyse came in contact with Willy Soenen through a common friend (Guido Six). It goes without saying that the two developed great respect for each other. Vanoosthuyse conducted a number of pieces for clarinet choir and harmony orchestra composed by Soenen. Willy dedicated ‘Concertino for Eddy’ to him after which he created ‘Midwest Clinic’ in Chicago.