This recording offers the listener an interconnected view of romantic and postromantic repertoire for two pianos, much of it unknown and even unpublished, until now. The best-known work here is Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op.56b but there are other works included that deserve wider circulation and exposure. The two sets of variations by Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) are exquisite examples of 2-pianowriting and exhibit attractive traits of the Leipzig School, at times providing strong echoes of Schumann and J.S. Bach, quite overtly in his Variations on a Sarabande by J.S. Bach. Likewise, the two sets of previously unpublished works by Julius Rontgen (1855-1932), whose early works are well-rooted in that same Leipzig School, reveal a mastery of composition in the 2-piano genre, an area in which he is currently unknown. Chamber music, concerti and even symphonies, alongside the growing popularity of his solo piano music, are well known genres for Rontgen. However, this recording presents Röntgen's debut as a composer in the 2-piano medium. In our opinion, his success is as astounding as the obscurity of these works is bewildering.
This is a re-release of the Jazzhaus/SWR music bestseller 101703. Upon nearing the age of seventy, Duke Ellington was looked upon as the great historical figure of African American music, honored with academic degrees and appearing on the front pages of renowned magazines. Still, he had to and wanted to perform as much as he could and therefore toured the world with his orchestra, from Japan to North Africa to South America and Eastern Europe. During his travels, he was able to stop off in Stuttgart in March 1967 to present a colorful mixed programme made up of a few tried-and-true pieces and many lesser-known compositions. By Ellington’s standards, it was a modern concert, exuberant in mood and at times mischievous in arrangements, which allowed some shrill coloring. And it also showed that even an ultimately traditional jazz orchestra in the rocky sixties could develop enough charisma to enthrall an audience like that in the Liederhalle. The revolutions were now being made by others, but Duke Ellington remained the brilliant master of the grand musical gesture.
Three leading Russian composers (Gubaidulina, Artyomov and Suslin) formed the Astraea ensemble in 1975 to research and perform music for eastern and Transcaucasian folk and traditional instruments (wind, string and percussion). After performing works by each of the members, the group decided to abandon notation and perform freely improvised and spontaneous pieces. This, their sole album, was originally issued in Russia only and now receives its global premiere. The three members of Astraea play on the first two tracks: Instruments include the duduk, salamuri, tar, kiamancha, chonguri, kanon, mandolin, and various types of drums and bells. The third piece, which is quasi-electronic, is also an improvisation, with a very small amount of set arrangement. It was made with the participation of leading American trombonist Miles Anderson, and is based on the text of a German love poem found in the diary of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Habershon: Found In Winter / Halstead, London Primavera
Divine Art
CD · 1 disc
$19.99Jul 19, 2019
Helen Habershon’s writing is instinctive and inspired. She is passionate about ‘our incredible natural world’ and it is the main source for her music. ‘Found in Winter’ expresses the many different faces of winter with its varied moods, and the ever-present threat of climatic change both cyclic and man-made. The music has been wonderfully arranged for small orchestra (most tracks) by John Lenehan and is unashamedly light, tuneful, impressionistic and almost visual in its impact. This album follows two previous albums which were Album of the Month and Album of the Week respectively. Helen is principally a clarinetist with a distinguished international concert, radio and TV career; after a serious injury to both wrists, she turned to composition and has never looked back, though now once again able to perform – as she does on this album. The performers on the album have all established themselves as leading lights; John Anderson is one of the most recorded oboists in the world and professor of oboe at the Royal College of Music; Andrew Fuller left the RPO to follow a career in solo and chamber performances, very successfully and John Lenehan has appeared on over 70 albums including solo recordings for Sony receiving many plaudits. The London Primavera was formed in 1986 and consists of the foremost chamber musicians in Britain. It has appeared at many international festivals, has made two TV series, and several recordings. Anthony Halstead has made over 50 albums all around the world with leading ensembles and is one of Britain’s most sought-after and versatile conductors.
Bassist/Composer/Educator Jay Anderson (b. in California) is so much in demand that it is difficult to come up with any distinguished musicians who have not had Jay in their band for gigs and/or recordings.
Here on his 92nd appearance on SteepleChase the label has the pleasure of showcasing Jay Anderson as the frontline soloist/leader. Anderson with dazzling ability to create musical landscape presents 11 tracks with diversity unified by the deep resonance of a double bass superior.
“Mr. Anderson has a melodic sense that effectively shapes his solos and adds subtle touches to his accompaniments.” (John S. Wilson – New York Times)
“…a most imaginative and sympathetic bassist.” (The Observer - UK)
Beethoven performing seemingly rather trivial tasks for publishers offers a lesser known perspective on the mastermind: the businessman. Like with Joseph Haydn, there exist a multitude of folk song arrangements by Beethoven from many different language areas, besides the here portrayed Scottish, Irish and Welsh songs also Spanish, Hungarian or Swedish ones. Scottish musicians Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor and the Austrian TrioVanBeethoven (Verena Stourzh, Clemens Zeilinger, Franz Ortner) take on an exploration to the treasures of Celtic melodies. Beethoven's personal touch in these songs is not only perceivable in the pre- and postludes, but is present in all of the instrumentation - a fact that motivated the initiator George Thomson several times to request even more simple instrumental parts as accompaniment, which Beethoven rejected in his very own way: "Unfortunately, I am not able to fulfill your request. I am not accustomed to retouching my compositions."
Mothers are powerful muses. They represent a whole spectrum of attributes, both mythic and personal: they can be forces of nature and nurturing, guidance and inspiration, patience and strength, and of course, love: profound, fierce, unconditional. This album features musical compositions that pay tribute to the diverse aspects of motherhood, from the sacred “Ave Maria” to the saucy “Mrs. Robinson,” and everything in between. Motherhood, perhaps the prototype of creation, has compelled us to utilize our full creative potentialities as arrangers and interpreters. Queens and saints, homemakers and lawmakers, scientists and artists, goddesses and mortals: the rich complexity of motherhood inspires this musical tribute. Describe as “the most dynamic duo of this generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald), “exhilarating” (Gramophone), and “the very model of complete 21st century musicians” (The Washington Post), Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe are revolutionizing the piano duo experience for the 21st century. Together they aim to make classical music a relevant and powerful force around the world through their adrenalized performances, original compositions, notorious music videos, and more.
Resonus Classics is pleased to present an exquisite album of orchestral and chamber works by the London-based contemporary composer Peter Fribbins. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Robertas Servenikas are joined by violinist Philippe Graffin and trumpeter Christopher Hart in a programme of mostly world premiere recordings including Soliloquies for Trumpet & Strings and the substantial Concerto for Violin and Orchestra titled Dances, Elegies & Epitaphs dedicated to the memory of the composer's father. Completing this portrait is Capriccio for Orchestra, based on the hymn tune ''Abide with Me'' and the wind quintet ''In Xanadu''.
Dutilleux: Music for Orchestra / Morlot, Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony Media
CD · 1 disc
$18.99Aug 12, 2016
This new release is the third volume in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s Grammy Award-winning Dutilleux cycle. Especially notable on this installment, is the inclusion of a live performance of Dutilleux’s masterpiece “Timbres, espace, mouvement.” German-born violinist Augustin Hadelich is featured on this recording of “Sur le meme accord.” He performs on the 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin, provided by the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Dutilleux: Orchestral Works / Morlot, Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony Media
CD · 3 discs
$45.99Aug 12, 2016
In honor of what would have been Henri Dutilleux’s one-hundredth birthday, this commemorative box set is being released by The Seattle Symphony. This three-volume series is a critically acclaimed overview of all of Dutilleux’s major works for orchestra. This is an essential collector’s item for any lover of 20th century French music. The individual releases included in this box set have been nominated for a number of honors, included Grammy Award nominations for Best Orchestral Performance, Best Engineered Album, Classical, and received the Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo by Augustin Hadelich.
-----
REVIEW:
The defining recording project of Ludovic Morlot’s tenure as music director in Seattle, this luscious three-disc set is a compendium of the orchestral canvases of Henri Dutilleux, whose centenary has been celebrated this year. It’s all played with considerable refinement, but there are particularly special results when the poised violinist Augustin Hadelich joins in for “L’arbre des songes” and “Sur le même accord.”
Some of the UK’s best singers come together for this album, which is the first release in a series profiling the complete songs of Gabriel Faure. Pianist Malcolm Martineau heads up this project, performing beautifully. This release follows his critically acclaimed series of The Complete Poulenc Songs. Vocalists featured on this release include Lorna Anderson, Nigel Cliffe, Ann Murray, John Chest, and more.
2016 album from the Christian vocalist. With such a demanding schedule, it's a good thing Doug Anderson doesn't just walk through life, he runs - with a smile on his face, grateful for every mile along the way. As an original founding member of the award-winning group, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Doug is happy to be singing night after night with a group that tours constantly, and is in high demand. But now Doug, with the blessing of his good friend Ernie Haase, has taken on new duties as a featured solo artist, in addition to his favorite roles as smitten husband, adoring father, and committed athlete. Doug was a nominee for Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2012 Dove Awards.
Things Are / String Quartet No. 3 / Epithalamium /
Violin Sonata No. 1 / Celebration / Fantasy
Naxos
CD · 1 disc
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Oct 09, 2015
Eleanor Cory's music is performed throughout the US and internationally and has been recognized by many awards and commissions including the Aaron Copland and Fromm Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. The shifting musical languages that give her compositions their unique vibrancy include the "modal, tonal, atonal mix" of her First Violin Sonata, as well as jazz elements. All of this and more can be found in Things Are, her memorial for composer Milton Babbitt, and in the Celebration of pianistic virtuosity. Cory's Third String Quartet expresses both "sweet melancholy" and playful dialogue. Epithalamium explores the flute's flexibility in elegantly shaped gestures, while the instrumentation of the Fantasy is light in it's mood and airy textures.
Morton Subotnick is a living legend. A leading innovator of electronic music, he has used many important technological breakthroughs in his work as a composer. This release, originally recorded and released in the 80s on LP by Nonesuch Records, has been specially remastered for this reissue. It features The Wild Beasts, a work inspired by an exhibition of Les Fauves paintings, and After the Butterfly, a concerto-like work for trumpet, instrumental ensemble and electronics.
Missa Conceptio Tua: Medieval And Renaissance Music For Advent
Naxos
CD · 1 disc
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Oct 14, 2014
This collection of early music for the Advent season provides a glimpse into the days of anticipation and hope leading up to Christmas during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Pierre de La Rue spent his professional life serving some of the most influential rulers of that time, and the glorious polyphony of his Missa Conceptio tua celebrates the Immaculate Conception in a manner appropriate to the extravagant liturgy of the Habsburg-Burgundian court. The seven O Antiphons focus on the theme of Jesus’s imminent arrival, while the concluding English carols centre on the Virgin Mary’s birth of the Christ child. Schola Antiqua of Chicago is a professional vocal ensemble dedicated exclusively to the performance of music from before the year 1600. An ensemble that executes the pre-modern repertory with “sensitivity and style” (Early Music America), Schola Antiqua was founded in 2000 under the artistic leadership of Calvin M. Bower (University of Notre Dame). The ensemble has recorded three albums on the Discantus label (including first recordings of music by Léonin, Du Fay, Guerrero, and Lassus).
The worldwide revival of Compline, a late-night service dating from early Christian times, began with this choir and the vision of its founder, Peter Hallock. Today, hundreds of young people fill Saint Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle) every Sunday night to hear this choir, and they are joined by thousands who hear Compline over radio and the Internet.
This recording honors the musical craft of Peter Hallock and Richard Proulx, who wrote much of the music sung by this choir since its founding in the mid-1950s. - Gothic Records
Legendary contralto Marian Anderson repeatedly broke the race barrier in classical art music, most notably when she performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after being refused a concert spot at Constitution Hall. But she also loved her cat. This is Snoopycat's story, written by Frida Sarsen-Bucky and narrated and sung by Anderson.
Pink Anderson (1900-1974) spent most of his life working as a roving entertainer in the small medicine shows that traveled throughout the South. His stage repertoire included blues, comedic songs, country ballads, and minstrel show tunes. Pink's songs were first recorded in 1950 by the folk singer Paul Clayton. Folklorist Kenneth S. Goldstein heard the material, and asked the music historian Samuel Charters to find Pink and document his song repertoire. Charters subsequently featured Pink in his documentary the Blues. After a film session at his home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the summer of 1962, Pink felt like singing, so Charters continued recording. Many of the songs on this album come from those tapes, which include Pink's friend, blues guitarist Baby Tate.
Honest-to-goodness, real-life jazz singing is almost as rare these days as a nickel cup of coffee. There are far too few remaining practitioners of the honorable art of singing good songs with the lift and the swing but Ernestine Anderson is one of those rare beings. Years of singing and living have shaped a vocalist who can make your heart cry one moment and dance the next. Poignant ballads, sassy swing, and down-home blues-Ernestine Anderson is master of them all. Recorded live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in NYC. Features Houston Person on the tenor saxophone.
RICHARD STRAUSS: June Anderson; Roberta Sacca; Scott Mac Allister; Daniel Lewis Williams; Birgit Remmer; Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia/Stefan Anton Reck; Paul Curran, director; NTSC All Region; DTS 5.1; PCM Stereo 2.0; Color; 16:9; 114 mins; Subtitled in Ita RICHARD STRAUSS: Daphne.
Chicago tenor saxophone legend and proprietor of the longest standing and most adventurous avant garde jazz club in Chicago, Fred Anderson celebrated his 80th birthday this past March and Delmark was there to capture it. All three of Fred's earlier Delmark albums were live at the Velvet but the excitement level here is unmatched as the show was sold out weeks in advance. Fred is joined by Kidd Jordan - tenor saxophone, Jeff Parker - guitar, Harrison Bankhead - bass, Chad Taylor - drums. Also available: On the Run (DMK 534), Back at the Velvet Lounge (DMK 549), Timeless (DMK 568, DVD 1568).
Marty Haugen and Marc Anderson unite their talents in this new collection of songs grounded in faith-based earth keeping, replete with ethnic rhythms, singable melodies, and evocative lyrics. Each song text is filled with images of a rich and beautiful earth tended and respected by a harmonious people of God. A point of interest is the “green” packaging of this CD. It is an integral part of this project. A minimal amount of resources are used. There is no booklet or plastic jewel case—only a cardboard envelope. A PDF of the lyrics is embedded into the CD for download. Haugen and Anderson hope that those who hear this collection will be moved to work together to find a solution to the increasing environmental challenges we face. Let the music of Tree of Life inspire you toward better and wiser stewardship of our earth.
