In 2013, the Attacca Quartet completed a recording project of the complete works for string quartet by John Adams for Azica Records. The review in the New York Times praised this vivacious, compelling set, describing the quartet's playing as exuberant, funky and... exactingly nuanced. The Boston Globe also praised the release, stating: Few [recent recordings] are as consequential as 'Fellow Traveler'... superb performances. The album was the recipient of the 2013 Nat'l Federation of Music Clubs Centennial Chamber Music Award. The hope for our version of Haydn's Seven Last Words (a new arrangement by the Attacca Quartet's cellist Andree Yee) is that it sounds organic enough that even one who has heard the piece performed often will not consciously register anything has been done at all. It is further hoped this version retains the spirit and intimacy of a home version for string quartet, while seamlessly incorporating enough depth to deem it worthy of the concert hall.

"•Opus Two – violinist William Terwillger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock – has been hailed for its unanimity of style and spirit, exemplary balance and close rapport” as well as its commitment to expanding the violin-piano duo repertoire. • This Gershwin Project, in collaboration with soprano Ashley Brown, features a number of world-premiere recordings."

Classical Music

Emily Mitchell enjoyed a 30-year career in New York City where she was principal harpist for the incomparable Eos Orchestra working closely with many of today’s most active composers. She was an established name in the television, motion picture and recording studios performing on numerous film scores and radio and television commercials. Ms. Mitchell has toured the United States as a soloist for Columbia Artists Management. In this recording she explores the works of composer Gary Schocker, one of today's most prolific and well known composers.

Classical Music

It’s not every day that a substantial body of guitar music by a single composer seemingly emerges from out of nowhere and enriches the repertoire. But that’s the case here, adding up to about an hour’s worth of previously unknown short, accessible, instrumentally idiomatic, and musically rewarding works by Ernst Bacon (1898-1990), an unjustly neglected American composer who deserves mention alongside his better known colleagues Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Roy Harris, and Roger Sessions.

Most of these works were written for the composer’s guitarist son Joseph Bacon, and all but one existed only among the composer’s unedited manuscripts in varying states of detail. The disc opens with a reconstructed suite of four lovely pieces freely based on tunes from George Pulle Jackson’s 1952 anthology “Another Sheaf of White Spirituals”. Next is Toro, whose grand flourishes and rapid scales manage to evoke the sound world of Flamenco without falling into a single cliché. Nuka is lyrical, harmonically unpredictable, and beautifully crafted for the instrument (the ringing harmonics at the beginning, for example).

While the booklet notes characterize Coon Hollow as “a lively, Appalachian-inspired romp,” there’s more than a hint of pure, unadulterated ragtime. Imagine Kurt Weill of the 1920s reharmonizing Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal, and you’ve essentially got Bacon’s spiky take on this venerable American folk song. I especially appreciate the miniature Episode’s gently winding long lines, and how A Walk in the Hills begins with low-register baby steps, and gradually grows more voluble as it ascends to the guitar’s higher strings.

I have no doubt that many hours of preparation and research inform Bradley Colten’s technically immaculate, caring, and gorgeously engineered performances, not to mention his scholarly and well-written annotations. An enjoyable and important release, and not just for guitar fans.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

It goes without saying that almost all serious organists regard Johann Sebastian Bach's magnificent works as the foundation of their musical art. Performed on any decent instrument dating from Bach's time forward, the composer's genius and compositional facility never fail to shine through in any of his works, be they large or small. His impeccable craftsmanship, supreme sense of musical invention, intense spirituality and unmatched contrapuntal mastery make each example a memorable and uplifting experience. Christopher Houlihan says, "The past sixty or so years have seen numerous, ground-brekaing recordings of Bach's music on historic and historically informed instruments; this recording is a decidedly modern take on this repertoire. You'll hear crescendos and diminuendos as well as registration changes that are only possible on a modern organ. I do not believe this distorts Bach's genius, but rather highlights different aspects of it. It's a little like playing Bach on a piano - perhaps one doesn't play it like Liszt would have, but how much does one pretend the piano is a harpsichord?".

In this recording, the Neave Trio celebrates Piazzolla’s rich legacy through arrangements, by one of Piazzolla’s long time colleagues and by a younger protégé. “All three of us wear many musical hats, emulating other sounds and instruments. Sometimes we provide percussion.” Anna Williams states that, “at times we were inspired by the sounds of bandoneón, accordion, guitar, viola, and double bass.” Within the supposed confines of a traditional piano trio, this performance evokes a larger, more diverse family of instruments. Since forming in 2010, Neave Trio – violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura – has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting­edge performances. WQXR explains, "'Neave' is actually a Gaelic name meaning 'bright' and 'radiant', both of which certainly apply to this trio's music making." The Boston Musical Intelligencer included Neave in its “Best of 2014” and “Best of 2016” roundups, writing, “it is inconceivable that they will not soon be among the busiest chamber ensembles going,” and “their unanimity, communication, variety of touch, and expressive sensibility rate first tier.”

BRAHMS String Quartets: Nos. 1–3. String Quintet No. 2 in G 1 • Chiara Str Qrt; 1 Roger Tapping (va) • AZICA 71289 (2 CDs: 139:03)


I’ve called attention to the highly complex, often counterintuitive nature of Brahms’s rhythmic procedures on so many occasions that I’m sure the reader has grown tired of hearing about it. But it’s worth mentioning once again in light of this new recording of Brahms’s string quartets because some of the rhythmic counterpointing between the voices in this music can be so mathematically abstruse as to be near to impossible to realize exactly as written, and it’s not altogether uncommon for even the best players to fudge certain passages as best they can. Not so the Chiara String Quartet—more on that anon—an ensemble I’m encountering here for the first time.


The group is not new to the scene. Rebecca Fischer, Hyeyung Julie Yoon, Jonah Sirota, and Gregory Beaver have been playing together for 14 years, so I can only explain the cause for my not having encountered them before being the fact that all but one of their six previous albums have been devoted to the type of Modernist contemporary composers I’m inclined to avoid. Raymond Tuttle reviewed one of those albums in 29:2, a 25-minute single containing a string quartet by Robert Sirota (a relative, I assume, of the ensemble’s violist Jonah?). I notice, however, that one of the Chiara’s albums prior to this one is a recording of the Mozart and Brahms clarinet quintets with clarinetist Håkan Rosengren, which, as far as I can tell, has not been reviewed in Fanfare.


Now, back to the point about rhythm. The title of this new release is Brahms by Heart , so named because the Chiara’s players have adopted the practice of memorizing their parts and playing without the music in front of them. Of the practice, the ensemble’s cellist Gregory Beaver says, “The act of performing from memory has been challenging for us. Each member must find a way to know the music inside and out. But the payback for each of us is equally rewarding, bringing us that much closer together in our music-making.” After spending countless hours working towards playing their repertoire from memory, they now feel that the sheet music is a distraction to the performance, instead of an aid. And this, I believe, is Chiara’s secret to a rhythmic accuracy in Brahms the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever heard before.


Take bars 59 and 60 in the first movement of the C-Minor First Quartet. It’s not the most rhythmically convoluted passage in these works by a long shot, but it’s tricky enough because the pattern in the two violins is exactly the reverse of the pattern in the viola and cello, so that when the two upper voices have a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note, the two lower voices have an eighth note followed by a dotted quarter-note. No matter which line you’re playing, it’s really hard not to get pulled gravitationally into the line doing the polar opposite. But listen to the Chiara play these measures, and you’ll hear not just how they fit together, but how they produce a sort of oscillating or undulating effect. Brahms knew what he was doing after all.


Greater complications arise in the Adagio of the G-Major String Quintet. Now Brahms has five voices to play with instead of four. Try to figure out bar 49. We’re in a very slow 2/4. The cello’s first beat is essentially a sextuplet, though it’s written as two conjoined 16th-note triplets, while the second beat is taken up by a dotted eighth note followed by a 16th. Meanwhile, against that the four upper voices all have exactly the same rhythm for the first half of the bar, but it’s nasty. If you deconstruct it, the first beat is made up of four notes, kind of like the three eighth notes in a triplet, except that there’s one extra note in it, and they’re conjoined by a single ligature in which there’s a 16th note followed by an eighth note with a superscript 3 over it, and an eighth note followed by a 16th note with a superscript 3 over it. So those four notes have to be played in one beat in a kind of notes inégales fashion over the cello’s six-note sextuplet, also played in one beat.


The second half of the measure is even worse. Now instead of all four upper voices having the same rhythm, the two violins play what amounts to the sextuplet the cello had on the first beat, except that it’s weirdly fractionalized as a 16th note followed by a rest and another 16th—that’s the first half of the sextuplet—which is tied to three more 16ths for the second half of the sextuplet. Against that the two violas play what appears to be more or less the opposite of what the two violins are playing, with their three 16ths coming first followed by an eighth and a 16th with a superscript 3 over it. On this second beat of the bar, the cello has it easy, a simple dotted-eighth tied to a 16th.


To even begin to sort this out while playing it, the movement really needs to be counted in four, a common technique in slow movements where notes of small values and fractionalizing of the beat makes it easier to mentally double the note values, so you count each eighth note as one beat instead of a half, effectively making the meter 4/4 instead of 2/4. But even at that, this is just damn hard, and it’s one of those measures that many ensembles do a good job of fudging the arithmetic so that it comes out sounding pretty close to what Brahms wrote, but it’s still not exact.


Fortunately, the Chiara takes the movement in a very slow four—and the recording is very transparent—so you can really hear each voice in detail, and it’s absolutely amazing, not just how accurately the players put this bar together when they get to it, but the same interlocking rocking effect noted in the passage in the string quartet cited above.


I don’t mean for this entire review to be about the Chiara’s astonishing rhythmic acuity, for this is no Johnny-One-Note ensemble. This is music-making of incandescent tonal beauty and penetrating communicative expression. Brahms’s string quartets are seldom singled out for being the composer’s most loveable works; yet the Chiara Quartet finds a rare inner radiance in them that speaks with deep resonance and understanding. I can honestly say that I’ve never heard these works played so exquisitely, whether in the intense urgency of the C-Minor Quartet, the Gypsy-inflected passion of the A-Minor Quartet, or the jaunty jocularity and easefulness of the B?-Major Quartet.


The tapping of celebrated violist Roger Tapping to join the Chiara in Brahms’s G-Major Quintet was a masterstroke that further increases the value of this set already worth its weight in gold. Tapping was for many years violist in the Takács Quartet and, as of 2013, he became only the third violist to hold that chair in the Juilliard Quartet.


Can we look forward to a follow-up set containing Brahms’s F-Major Quintet and the two string sextets? Meanwhile, if you never thought Brahms’s string quartets were worth a second listen, I implore you to hear them played by this awesome American foursome calling itself the Chiara String Quartet. The outstanding sound, by the way, is explained by the fact that the recordings were made in the nearly acoustically perfect Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, New York.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No. 5. SCHUBERT Adagio in B?, “Notturno.” SCHUMANN Piano Trio No. 3 • Atos Tr • AZICA 71251 (63:57)


I’ve heard positive buzz concerning the Atos Trio, a young German ensemble that is quickly making a mark for itself just as the chamber-music world mourns the loss of the Beaux Arts Trio after an astonishing half century of concertizing and recording. The field is far more crowded now than when Menahem Pressler assembled his fabled threesome in 1955, and in the past 30 years their principal competition (at least in North America) has been the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. This latter ensemble also sponsors the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award (KLRITA) competition, and after garnering several other prizes, the Atos Trio took top honors in this prestigious contest in 2007. This new disc on Azica is fruit of that milestone.


In fact, this is their third recording, on the heels of one featuring trios by Heinrich von Herzogenberg on cpo and another with Brahms, Beethoven (Trio No. 1), and Kirchner on Ars Musici. The trios on this new disc by Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann are described by annotator Laurie Shulman as “less familiar music,” a conclusion I take issue with, although she is certainly correct that there are other trios by these composers that have a stronger presence on the concert stage.


If Beaux Arts excelled in elegant interpretations of classical fare and KLR blossomed in full-throated, virtuosic readings of Romantic repertoire (an oversimplification to be sure), Atos steps easily between these poles as the music dictates. There are absolutely no technical obstacles they don’t easily vanquish, and their range of timbre and articulation are as complete as that of any chamber musicians working today. Listen to the pointed, almost pizzicato-like crispness of Stefan Heinemeyer’s cello in the first movement of Beethoven’s Trio No. 5, matched with exquisite unanimity later by the bow of violinist Annette von Hehn, then blended with the florid, rapid-fire passagework from pianist Thomas Hoppe, all combining for a fleet and nimble, yet stylish and graceful reading. There is an abundance of Haydnesque elegance in their traversal, but when more weight is called for (as in the main body of the opening movement), they have plenty of decibels in reserve. There is a reticent tenderness to their tone in the opening bars of the work, but they pull out all stops in the finale, which bustles with robust sound and unbridled virtuosity. Still, they often turn on a dime as the mood changes, a trait that seems to be a notable hallmark of their style.


Schubert’s single-movement Adagio in E?, D 897 (“Notturno”), was probably intended as the original slow movement of the Trio in B?, but it would be wrong to imagine it a simple, song-like intermezzo. Atos plays it with appropriate weight, conjuring a nearly symphonic creation that seems designed for larger forces (many have noticed its resemblance to the slow movement of the composer’s String Quintet in C). Again, the range of color and dynamics produced by the threesome is breathtaking. This may be the finest version of the work on disc.


Their sound and flow is utterly different in the Schumann, reflective of the moody impulsiveness that courses through much of the music. Yet they frequently switch gears, leavening the prevailing texture when called for. In general, they take a lighter hand with Schumann than the KLR Trio, but the virtuosic flair is there in reserve. The finest Schumann performances are tinged with moments of hair-trigger abandon that this threesome doesn’t quite attain, but their sense of the idiom is nonetheless fully convincing. Tonal sheen and discreet balance are never sacrificed on the altar of spontaneity, a posture that will please some and perhaps disappoint others.


In short, this trio has the goods to stand with the finest chamber groups on the planet, but their raw talent isn’t displayed simply as a way to prove their mettle. Their understanding of these touchstones of the repertoire is deep and vital, and they should, despite their tender ages, be counted among the very best.


I have mixed feelings about the sound, recorded at Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University. Generally it is clean, well balanced, and tonally accurate, but also somewhat dry, clinical, and close. Balance is often a serious issue for piano trios, as the cello can be easily buried by the left hand of the piano, a pitfall mercifully lacking here. Naturally, the recording process can correct ills of this sort, but my gut tells me that they have solved this festering problem of trio performance, owing no doubt to Hoppe’s sensitivity and Heinemeyer’s full-blooded tone. If this disc is an accurate guide, Atos Trio deserves a major label contract and the engineering expertise that usually follows.


FANFARE: Michael Cameron

The Chiara Quartet is now in their sixteenth season performing together, and for this release are continuing to move forward by taking a cue from the past. The ensemble, for this release, explores the centuries old tradition of performing without printed sheet music. For almost all of the ensemble’s concerts this season, the musicians will be performing the works from memory. The purpose of this practice is to rely solely on hours of practice, rather than the distraction of the sheet music. Chiara’s cellist, Gregory Beaver, says of this practice: “The act of performing from memory has been challenging for us. Each member must find a way to know the music inside and out. But the payback for each of us is equally rewarding, bringing us that much closer together in our music making.”

Zuill Bailey is a distinguished soloist, recitalist, artistic director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry, and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought-after cellists today. Joined by, according to American Record Guide "Among the finest guitarists of all time," David Leisner is an extraordinarily versaitle musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performing artist, distinguished composer and master teacher. Together, they are incredibly expressive in this beautiful repertoire.

ANTHEIL Violin Sonatas: No. 1; No. 2; No. 4. Solo Violin Sonata (unfinished) • Mark Fewer (vn); John Novacek (pn) • AZICA 17263 (64:25)


George Antheil has been characterized as a bad boy, and in his violin sonatas, he employed musical resources more flippantly, if not more audaciously, than did others. Mark Fewer and John Novacek’s collection begins with the Second Sonata’s Allegro from 1923 (Antheil dedicated it to his friend Ezra Pound). Mauro Picanini’s notes relate that Antheil later renounced the work and threw movements from it and his Third Sonata together into what he designated as Violin Sonata No. 4 (2). The Allegro pays rather explicit homage to Igor Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat without actually quoting it, but it doesn’t stay with any idea, reminiscence, or influence very long. A section of tone clusters gives way to ragtime gives way to ... well, whatever it gives way to. By the end, after a rollicking section of pounding on the piano, pianist Novacek takes up timpani (which, he explains in the interview included in the booklet, they tuned to fifths because they had to tune them somehow).


The First Sonata, also from 1923, and dedicated to violinist Olga Rudge, whose playing captivated Antheil and who apparently captivated Pound in other ways, begins with an Allegro moderato. Picanini’s notes relate that Antheil especially admired Rudge’s tone in the lower registers, but all kinds of things emerge from various regions of the violin in this movement (and throughout the sonata): Stravinsky-like rhythmic cells, arabesques, effects of almost every possible kind ( sul ponticello or sul everything). Again, the notes suggest that Bartók may have served as a model, and it’s easy to hear insistent Bartókian rhythms and dissonances, especially near the beginning of the movement’s last third before the return to a sort of parody of L’Histoire du Soldat . But none of this may rile even the most conservative listeners, who should quickly figure out that while Antheil may not exactly be pulling their legs, he’s not dourly rubbing their noses in unrelieved dissonance, either. For example, the second movement, an Andante moderato, begins with whistling sounds in the high registers over a simple accompaniment; but, as with everything else, it doesn’t last long. On occasion, something begins, finds itself interrupted, and gives way again, after a pause that hardly misses a beat, to the earlier pattern. Here’s an effect that sounds almost cinematically comic, and many listeners would be hard-pressed to find its parallel in Bartók’s violin sonatas—or even in the works of Charles Ives. The third movement, Funebre , explores a similarly wide range of expression, despite insistent Satie-like repetitions of quiet sonorities, and the brief finale shifts chameleon-like between gestures of many kinds, including thrusts and perpetual motions.


The Sonata No. 4 comes from a much later date, 1947–48, when Antheil, according to the notes, had returned to the United States, specifically to Hollywood, where he composed music for movies. With its more centered harmonies, the late sonata sounds, in its opening, like the lighthearted banter and shifting harmonies characteristic of so many works by Francis Poulenc—or, as the notes explicitly suggest, Serge Prokofiev’s ironic twists set to motoric rhythms. This Scherzo remains elfin throughout (an almost paradigmatic Allegro giocoso ). The second movement, a Passacaglia, recalls in its form, if not in its content, similar movements in Dmitri Shostakovich’s works (as in the Russian composer’s First Violin Concerto). The variations reach into more distant expressive regions, however, including a rhythmic march-like one. The finale relieves its bright chatter with various familiar songs (Antheil’s description, which the notes reproduce, labels it a toccata-like rondo).


Antheil wrote his Solo Violin Sonata (only the first movement and the incomplete second appear here) for Rudge; according to the notes, it resides in the stacks of Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and has never until now been performed. After a meditative beginning, the first movement wanders further into manners and modes of expression, yet nothing in the work ends up sounding so forbidding as any dozen-or-so measures of Bartók’s contribution to the solo violin literature.


Do Fewer and Novacek play these works well? The jewel case’s cover features a drawing of a violin by Antheil accompanied by a drawing of a saw, identified as the thing that should play it. That’s not the way either Fewer or Novacek make this music sound. The booklet’s interview suggests that their explorations might have been a lot of fun, and that’s just the way the sonatas sound in their performances. Recordings of the works (without the Solo Sonata, of which Fewer’s reading, as mentioned, purports to be the premiere) have come and gone over the years (including an early one from 1948 by Israel Baker and Yaltah Menuhin), largely flying beneath Fanfare ’s radar. Violinists and intrepid explorers should be very happy to have the sonatas available once again, and the Bad Boy ensconced—without a dunce cap, of course (if not of curse)—in a readily approachable corner. Zestfully (not jestfully) recommended.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Chickasaw Composer Jerod Impichchaachahaa' Tate's first major composition is released here. It was commissioned for a ballet of American Indian legends and stories. Every American Indian tribe has its own stories. Some are serious, historical narratives. Others are bedtime stories for children, usually carrying a moral. Still others are simply fun tales. Whatever the story or occasion, traditionally, they are told under the “Winter Moons.” Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, is a classical composer, citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma and is dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. His Washington Post review states that “Tate is rare as an American Indian composer of classical music. Rarer still is his ability to effectively infuse classical music with American Indian nationalism.”

Palaver Strings’ debut album Ready or Not celebrates the work of female composers from the Renaissance to the present day. In selecting the pieces for this album, the ensemble looked both within and beyond the classical tradition and string orchestra medium for diverse voices, compelling stories, and music that speaks to the rich palette of human emotions. These selections represent just the tip of the iceberg: women’s creative visions have always been here, whether the concert hall was ready or not.

Palaver Strings is a musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. Our mission is to strengthen and inspire community through music. In our musician-led model, Palaver’s musicians share artistic and administrative leadership, guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Equally committed to performance and education, Palaver presents a full season of live performances and serves over 325 students each year through the Palaver Music Center in Portland.