Chasing Light and Sound: The Tuba Music of Elizabeth Raum presents the works written for the tuba in a solo role between 1991 and 2002 by Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum. The works on this recording were all written for and commissioned by the late Canadian tuba virtuoso John Griffiths. These works include pieces originally written solo for tuba and large ensemble: Legend of Heimdall, T for Tuba, Pershing’s Concerto, and Concerto Del Garda, as well as one work for unaccompanied tuba, Sweet Dances. These works are all presented here with the accompaniment as piano reductions. These pieces have become standards in the solo tuba repertoire, are frequently required as solo competition pieces world-wide, and are included in the standard recital repertoire.
Elizabeth Raum is arguably the most prolific composer for the tuba in a solo role. Tubist Tom McCaslin is currently the Principal Tuba in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and is the instructor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Calgary. Described by Fanfare Magazine as "one of the contemporary tuba virtuosos", he has performed as a soloist in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Portugal, Finland, New Zealand and Australia. He has released solo recordings on Crystal Records: “Inside Out” (2009) and on Potenza Records “One More Dance” (2011). He was a student of the famed Canadian tubist John Griffiths during the period that all the pieces presented here were composed. He is joined on this recording by pianist Akiko Tominaga.
Even among innovative geniuses, Russian physicist Leon Theremin is a giant. His work in electromagnetic fields and radio frequency lead him to invent his namesake instrument, the theremin, in 1920 and thereby usher a new era in electronic musical instruments. A century later, this album presents new works for theremin and piano by Canadian composer Aleks Schürmer. These works contain elements of 18th and 19th century forms and performance practices, popular music tropes and post-20th century tonalism, and while they are often harmonically challenging, the music can still feel comfortable and familiar to the uninitiated listener. Many of the album's works reflect on the optimism of the early 20th century's imagined utopic future and where we've ended up a hundred years later. Aleks Schürmer is a Canadian composer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and artist who merges disparate genres, historical periods and cultural interests in his work, exploring the underlying sameness of all things. An Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Aleks holds a Masters degree in Historical Performance from the Schulich School of Music at McGill and studied modern flute with Patrick Gallois. His compositions have been called "major discoveries" (Stephen Ritter, American Record Guide) and he has been called "particularly brilliant" (Claude Gingras, La Presse), and a "young visionary" (Marilis Cardinal, Nightlife Magazine). Grégoire Blanc is an emerging French musician among the few virtuosos of the theremin today. Following engineering studies at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, Grégoire completed his Masters degree in Sciences and Technologie for Music at the Institut de Recherchre et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) and his ongoing artistic research centers around expressiveness in electronic music, with classical music as a starting point.
Canadian songstress Sarah Slean first joined forces with Symphony Nova Scotia in April 2012, in an electrifying, groundbreaking collaboration that earned rave reviews and three standing ovations, and was broadcast nationwide by CBC. One of the highlights of the performance was "Lamento", a new work by Canadian star composer Christos Hatzis that was praised as “marvelously colorful and dramatic” (Chronicle Herald, Halifax). In 2018, Symphony Nova Scotia jumped at the chance to work with Sarah again, this time as part of Bernhard Gueller’s "Bucket List”, celebrating his final season as Symphony Nova Scotia’s Music Director (2002-2018). For this new collaboration, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Thunder Bay Symphony co-commissioned another work for Sarah from Christos Hatzis – this time titled "Ecstasy", a counterpoint to "Lamento". Audience reviews called the project “magical” and “a match made in heaven.” Now, Symphony Nova Scotia, Bernhard Gueller, Sarah Slean, Christos Hatzis, and producer Jeff Reilly are proud to release both recordings on one album.
John Burge (b. 1961, Dryden, Ontario) is a Canadian composer who has been teaching at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario since 1987. He has written a large body of vocal, chamber, and orchestral compositions, and received the 2009 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year. Some critics have likened his compositional style to that of Benjamin Britten and Maxwell Davies. Philip Chiu is acclaimed for his brilliant pianism, sensitive listening, and a stage presence that eschews the hermit-pianist image in favour of openness, authenticity, and connection with audiences. Inaugural winner of the Mecenat Musica Prix Goyer, Chiu has become one of Canada's leading musicians through his infectious love of music and his passion for creation and communication. Given the number of precedents in the world of Classical music, it is fair to state that there is a long traditional of composing a set of Twenty-Four Preludes for solo piano. John Burge's preludes draw their primary influence from Chopin's Opus 28 set in that Burge also composes one prelude in each major and minor key, employing the exact same ordering of keys used by Chopin. While Chopin was writing music in the highly chromaticized harmonic language of the early 19th century, in 2015, the year that Burge completed his set, the concept of tonality has undergone so many developments since Chopin's time that there are now whole schools of musical techniques that produce music that is quite atonal. As an all-governing principle for his set of preludes though, Burge made it a personal requirement that each prelude had to embrace it's tonic key in a decisively audible fashion.
Canadian Amber / Strombergs, Ninth Latvian Song Festival Orchestra
Centrediscs CMC
CD · 1 disc
$18.99Jul 19, 2019
The Toronto Latvian Concert Association is pleased to offer this recording as a tribute to the significant contribution made by Canadians of Latvian heritage to music and culture in Canada. All three composers represented here found a welcoming refuge in this country after the Second World War and, in the process of rebuilding their lives and careers, left a lasting legacy, not just as creators & composers, but also as educators and mentors. While Latvians proudly think of themselves as being part of mainstream European culture, fifty plus years of soviet occupation left the country on the edge of obscurity. The TLCA worked hard to engage a broader audience to help counter that perception, offering a unique concert experience to all who are culturally aware and musically curious, wishing to hear what Latvia’s finest cultural ambassadors are doing. No longer just a concert presenter, the TLCA has recently broadened its mandate to include the commissioning of new works by Latvian Canadian composers and supporting legacy projects that will highlight the contribution made by artists of Latvian heritage to the cultural fabric of Canada.
This recording of a performance of the complete Suites Hebraiques gives us a particularly intimate view of the creative life of Srul Irving Glick (1934-2002), one of Canada's most prolific composers. His musical depictions of Jewish life in his Suites Hebraiques are particularly vivid examples of his chamber music. Born in 1934, Glick grew up in Toronto where, from an early age, he was immersed in music. Glick received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in composition and theory at the University of Toronto. He continued his studies in Aspen and then in Paris with such masters as Darius Milhaud, Louis Saguer and Max Deutsch. During his career he would go on to win the Yuval Award, and a Governor General’s medal. He was also appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Each of the featured instrumentalists on this release are well-respected in their field, and bring excitement and verve to these pieces.
This album, The Privacy of Domestic Life, explores thresholds between temporal stability and instability, human- and electronically produced sounds, and popular and contemporary musical idioms. There is something here for listeners of all persuasions: Adam Basanta exploits the interaction between human and machine performers, Taylor Brook alchemizes a kaleidoscope of metallic sounds, and Beavan Flanagan finds sonic harmony between drummers playing at different speeds. ARCHITEK PERCUSSION is a Montreal-based quartet specializing in the performance of experimental, minimalist, multi-disciplinary, crossover, and electroacoustic chamber music. Founded in early 2012, the quartet has quickly established itself as a dynamic force in Canada's vibrant new music community; equally comfortable in performing classic repertoire and exploring new terrain through commissions and premieres. Architek's diverse regular repertoire is at once engaging and challenging for audiences, and is presented in a manner inspired by the quartet's belief that given proper context, no audience member should feel alienated by the nature of a performance of contemporary art music.
The MUSIC4EYES+EARS CD/Blu-Ray project presents new solo piano + electronics + video works written especially for Megumi Masaki. These works are designed to explore diverse concepts, performance techniques and technologies in live piano and multimedia performance. Central to this project is how the interaction of image, movement, text and sound can create new expressive potentials as a whole. This exciting multimedia project features the music of Canadian composers Brent Lee, Keith Hamel, T. Patrick Carrabre, and Nicole Lizee. Award-winning pianist Megumi Masaki’s innovation and breadth of her artistic activity, dynamic temperament and “riveting and mind-expanding” performances have earned her a reputation as a leading interpreter of contemporary music. She specializes in exploring how sound, image, text and movement can be integrated in live performances of multimedia works.
Vincent Ho’s music is wild and fanciful, and takes us to the limits of sonic energy, but it is also intimate and tender, for he is not afraid to reveal his truly lyrical soul. THE SHAMAN is a work that sets an atmosphere of magical stillness, with the soloist evoking unearthly sounds - wolf calls, shimmering colours, and the lightest of orchestral textures. It is powerful work that merges the spiritual indigenous world with the modern classical world to create a compelling musical journey. ARCTIC SYMPHONY was inspired by the composer’s first-hand experience of the Arctic Ocean with a scientific research team aboard a Canadian Coast Guard ship. Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest conductors, orchestras, and artists. She fondly recalls having played the first percussion concerto in the history of The Proms at the Albert Hall in 1992, which paved the way for orchestras round the world to feature percussion concerti. Vincent Ho is a multi-award winning composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and theatre music. His many awards have included Harvard University’s Fromm Music Commission, The Canada Council for the Arts Robert Fleming Prize, ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Award, four SOCAN Young Composers Awards, and CBC Radio’s Audience Choice Award (2009 Young Composers Competition).
From Sea to Sea' is an a cappella song cycle made up of thirteen musical settings of celebrated Canadian poems. In composing this work, I have selected one poem per province/territory of Canada - each poem written by a writer native to the region - and have set this text to music. Featured poets include such highly regarded and award-winning poets as Gwendolyn MacEwen, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Robert Service, and Shane Koyczan. I have received permission and endorsement from all poets and/or their legal estates. These pieces explore the range and versatility of the human voice and cover a wide range of musical genres ranging from contemporary classical choral, to lively folk melodies - from driving bebop vocalese, to minimalistic soundscapes.
The audience at the wildly successful New Music Festival in Winnipeg has embraced the music of composer T. Patrick Carrabre for well over a decade. The works on this disc offer an in-depth sound portrait of the creative partnership between composer, musicians and audience that ranges from hipsters to veteran symphony lovers.
This Disc is devoted completely to the music of Vancouver composer Owen Underhill comprised of 4 major works composed between 1998 and 2011 featuring Montreal's Quator Bozzini. Underhill is winner of the 2007 Most Outstanding Composer in Western Canadian Music Awards and is considered Robert-Everett-Green of the Globe and Mail says Underhill is 'one of the most thoughtful and effective of West Coast composers'.
