In this thoughtful collection of chamber music, Ian Stephens' work reveals a rare balance of melodic clarity and inventive disruption, qualities that have drawn artists like Cate Le Bon, Ian Broudie, and OMD to his arranging talents. Here, Stephens' signature rhythmic vigour, theatrical subtlety, and knack for weaving unexpected moments define each piece, creating a body of work that intrigues as much as it soothes. Celtic Elegy for clarinet and cello sets the tone with a gentle homage to Celtic traditions. Initially inspired by the Irish air She Moved Through the Fair, the piece unfolds it's own melody through understated layers, mirroring the drones and ornamentation of Scottish bagpipes. This composition showcases Stephens' sensitivity to the soul of folk music while remaining efficient in form. Springhead Echoes and the Clarinet Quintet, two works linked by memory and place, extend Stephens' nuanced approach to melody and rhythm. Commissioned in memory of Rosalind and Brian Richards, they explore themes rooted in friendship and place. Springhead Echoes for string quartet channels Brahms with themes that emerge in delicate counterpoint, invoking the charm of Rosalind's lifelong connection to her home in Dorset. Meanwhile, the Clarinet Quintet subtly references Beethoven's opera Fidelio, blending nostalgic elements with Stephens' penchant for inventive structure. In North Country for string quartet, Stephens deftly reinterprets the folk tune The Oak and the Ash, transforming it across three movements: Lilting, Heartfelt, and With Abandon. The tune surfaces and recedes, guiding listeners through a series of evolving textures. From the reflective openness of the first movement to the vibrant, Latin-inspired rhythms of the finale, Stephens showcases his ability to shift seamlessly between tradition and innovation. Finally, the Oboe Quintet offers a poignant tribute to two amateur musicians of the Liverpool music scene. Here, Stephens emphasizes the oboe's natural expressiveness through long phrases and joyful rhythmic interjections, balancing lyrical intimacy with structured dance-like sequences. The Passacaglia, inspired by Bach, builds through symmetrical chords and shifting time signatures, adding depth to the piece's intricate framework. These chamber works not only illustrate Ian Stephens' gift for melody and recontextualization but also his acute attention to instrumental character. Each piece encourages reflection, embodying both the intellect and spontaneity that mark Stephens as a contemporary voice with a profound respect for musical lineage. Ian Stephens, composer: Raised in Devon as a cellist and singer, Stephens studied at the University of Bristol and later worked with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He now teaches at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. His works, including Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella and Pinocchio, demonstrate his skill in elevating melody with strong rhythmic profiles and theatrical clarity. His Celtic Elegy showcases his ability to blend soul and efficiency, earning him work as an arranger for artists like Cate Le Bon and Ian Broudie.
Diary of the Bee - A Masterpiece Recorded at Historic Marchmont House, Scotland Composer Helen Leach, known for her enchanting compositions that evoke rich landscapes and deep emotions, releases her album titled "Diary of the Bee." This new collection features a series of rich, tonally traditional compositions. With all tracks being world premiere recordings, the album showcases Leach's remarkable ability to blend lyrical melodies with profound storytelling. "Diary of the Bee" marks a significant addition to the classical repertoire, offering listeners an absorbing journey through Leach's musical landscapes. Each piece on the album unveils a unique narrative, beautifully performed by leading instrumental soloists alongside the esteemed Victoria String Quartet. Reflecting on the inspiration behind her compositions, Leach shares, "Every piece in this album holds a special place in my heart, drawing from personal experiences and the beauty of nature that surrounds me." Indeed, each composition in "Diary of the Bee" tells a story, from the evocative tribute to Prince Philip in "An Edinburgh Farewell" to the introspective musings captured in "Letters from the Owl House." Among the highlights of the album is "Cup of Kindness," a poignant ode to the universal warmth and blessings symbolised by Robert Burns' iconic line, "we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet." With it's tender melodies and thoughtful arrangements, the piece resonates with a sense of harmony and peace. Another standout track, "Tenera Caritate," showcases Leach's mastery in crafting expressive rhapsodies, as she explores themes of love, hope, and healing through the emotive interplay of clarinet and string quartet. Listeners will also be enchanted by "Where Hope Was Sown," a commissioned piece dedicated to Mr. Oliver Burge, of Marchmont Farms, which beautifully captures the essence of the Lapwing bird and it's pastoral habitat through delicate musical motifs. From the haunting melodies of "The Black Rood of Scotland" to the elegant conversations of "A Song Without Words," "Diary of the Bee" offers a tapestry of sound that is instantly appealing. Recorded at the historic Marchmont House in Scotland, where Leach is Composer-in-Residence, "Diary of the Bee" not only captures the essence of Leach's compositions but also the timeless beauty of it's surroundings. With it's richly layered compositions and superb performances, "Diary of the Bee" stands as a testament to Helen Leach's extraordinary talent and her ability to weave intricate musical narratives.
The Promises of Darkness marks the next chapter in the visionary collaboration between Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds and conductor/producer Mathias Reumert. Released by Ekkozone, this landmark album showcases world premiere recordings of four major works, tracing four decades of Reynolds's trailblazing contributions to contemporary music. The title work, The Promises of Darkness (1975), pays homage to Reynolds's mentor Roberto Gerhardt. Scored for an ensemble of 11 players, this piece masterfully conjures vivid colors and an almost cinematic sense of dread, revealing Reynolds as a composer unafraid to probe the edges of musical and emotional experience. From 1985 comes Mistral, for strings, brass, and amplified harpsichord. Although inspired by an encounter with the forceful Mediterranean wind, the piece is "neither illustrative nor programmatic," according to the composer. Mistral has previously been released in a lo-fi live recording, but the highly refined score - with it's crystalline articulate harpsichord - is finally brought to life in this new version, which Reynolds himself has hailed as "a triumph." A relentless exploration of the interplay between two harmonic strata, Dionysus (1990) involves "a blend of metaphor and pragmatics" and is captured in a breathtakingly precise performance, with expressive solos from flutist Helene Navasse and trumpeter Laszlo Molnar. Closing the album is the electroacoustic Positings (2013), where the Mathias Reumert Group is joined by computer musician and Reynolds collaborator Paul Hembree. Seamlessly blending live performance with electronic textures, Positings embodies Reynolds's innovative spirit, pushing the boundaries of sound and structure. This release follows the critically acclaimed Wind Concertos, the first in the Reynolds/Reumert series, which earned Album of the Year (The Five Best) from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in 2024. With The Promises of Darkness, Ekkozone solidifies it's reputation as a home for groundbreaking contemporary music, curated with Reumert's exacting vision.
New recordings of early-Romantic quintets by the supreme clarinet virtuoso of his day, an inspiration to Weber and Mendelssohn but also an accomplished composer in his own right.
Heinrich Baermann's career took off once he met Carl Maria von Weber in 1811. Weber was immediately taken with the French-accented brilliance and German richness of tone which Baermann drew from his instrument, and began to write a series of works – including two concertos and a concertino – which still rank among his most inspired instrumental pieces, as well as defining a new sound and reach for the clarinet as a solo instrument The clarinet, now thanks to Baermann, could take on multiple roles, as leader, jester, and magus-like figure to complement the likes of Paganini on the violin and Giuliani on the guitar.
Weber pushed Baermann’s technique to new heights of facility and eloquence, which in return inflected Baermann’s own works for his instrument with comparable ambition. He wrote three quintets for clarinet and string ensemble, the first of them more concerto-like in character, the latter two full-scale chamber works. They have been recorded complete only once before, making this new album from a fine team of Dutch musicians all the more welcome.
Especially impressive are the slow movements of the quintets, cast as arias without words in order to capitalize on the fluid legato of Baermann’s playing, but formed with an economy of means which leaves their themes lingering in the mind’s ear. The Adagio of the Op. 23 Quintet was misattributed to Richard Wagner for many years, which speaks for Baermann’s craftsmanship, even if its harmonic language evidently belongs to a generation or two after Mozart. Now restored to its rightful place, the Adagio is the crown jewel, but there are treasures in store throughout Baermann’s clarinet quintets.
Daniel Ottensamer presents Brahms' two legendary clarinet sonatas, reworked for clarinet and orchestra by Stephan Koncz, who also conducts the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin on this recording. Koncz' orchestrations bring these masterful pieces out of the limited space of chamber music, presenting them in a new symphonic light. The idea to create this very personal album has accompanied them both since their student days, and now the time to turn this vision into reality has finally come. Brahms' well-known works are accompanied by a hidden gem, Walter Rabl's clarinet quartet, which won first prize in a prestigious competition, of which Brahms himself served as the head of jury. Pianist Christoph Traxler and Berlin Philharmonic's first concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley join Ottensamer in this performance, while Koncz exchanges his baton for the cello. Combining Brahms and Rabl gives the listener a fascinating view on the rich musical landscape of late nineteenth-century Vienna. Daniel Ottensamer has been hailed as one of the prominent clarinettists of today and is enjoying a multi-faceted career as soloist, chamber musician and principal clarinettist of the Vienna Philharmonic. Stephan Koncz is a cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and divides his time between composing/arranging, conducting, and various chamber music groups, often together with Ottensamer, pianist Traxler, violinist Bendix-Balgley and their Vienna Berlin Music Club - namely "Philharmonix". The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) emanates into the world from renowned Berliner Philharmonie, while remaining societally relevant at all times, close to people and keeping pace with the times. All performers make their PENTATONE debut.
Composer-pianist Bruce Wolosoff describes the essence of his new album, Blue Mantra, as an engagement in multiple dialogues - between music and visual art, between the blues and chamber music, and between various moments in his creative life. The title track was inspired by a painting of the same name by his artist-wife Margaret Garrett. Similarly, Matisse Fantasies arose from seeing a charcoal drawing by the celebrated French impressionist. Blues for the New Millennium, commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to commemorate the turn of the century, expresses a "before" and "after", and marked a turning point in Bruce's compositional style as he embraced a more directly lyrical, melodic compositional voice. All three works are scored for clarinet, piano and varied strings, and revel in bluesy lyricism alongside Bruce's formidable pianism and the virtuosity of his collaborators: clarinettist Narek Arutyunian, violinists Deborah Buck and Michelle Ross, and cellist Clarice Jensen.
Papandopulo: The Complete String Quartets; Guitar Quartet; C
CPO
CD
$32.99Jan 03, 2025
The Croatian composer Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991) has had a home in our catalog for a number of years. Until now, it was mainly concertante works and chamber music involving the piano that allowed us to hear an astonishingly idiosyncratic personality, even in his (relatively rare) use of modern compositional techniques. Now cpo is enriching the multifaceted profile of this striking artist with the release of the string quartets, which reflect practically the entire creative life span of the man from Zagreb: Folkloristic influences, the inevitabilities of the socialist-realist doctrine, the experiments with the compositional achievements of the West - all this combines to form a great musical "documentary film", in which the extremely expressive Clarinet Quintet, composed during wartime, and the concise, playful Guitar Quartet also play no insignificant role.
Songs and Chamber Music brings together two powerful musical voices separated by generations yet united by emotional depth and lyrical intensity. Roman Ryterband's rarely heard works trace a life marked by exile, loss, and cultural memory-from intimate Hebrew songs and elegiac chamber pieces to German Lieder and American-inspired songs shaped by war, displacement, and longing. His music blends late-Romantic richness with Jewish musical echoes, revealing a composer of striking melodic invention and human sensitivity. Alongside Ryterband's rediscovered legacy, Wojciech Stepien offers contemporary reflections on solitude, love, and memory. Drawn from his opera A Single Man and song cycles inspired by James Joyce, Stepien's works evoke California landscapes, inner monologues, and haunting emotional shadows. Together, these recordings form a moving dialogue between past and present-music that speaks quietly, intensely, and with enduring relevance.
Duality as essence The fullness of an almost empty space within which only two presences distil their separated essences; the completeness of only two subjects representing all the rest; the awareness in subordinating oneself to the magnetism of the subtracted and the missing; the consistency of silence, immobility and timelessness; the essential value of otherness. Each of the titles of these duets, all of a single word, carries semantic potentialities inherent in duality, a contradiction resolved in the ideal of recomposing dualism into unity. Ali (Wings), equivalent laterality as duality, which divides in two and equally holds together; Diade (Dyad), couple, duality, and in biology the chromosome of germ cells formed by two homologous chromatids united, maternal and paternal; Talea (Cutting), in botany the birth of a life through another that mutilates and grafts itself; Appulso (Appulse), in astronomy the apparent approach of a star to a planet, so that the star seems to touch it; Giano (Janus), the twoheaded god, who can look at the two entities future and past but not at the present, in charge of thresholds, of passages, who presides over all beginnings; Specchio (Mirror), the reflecting "other", in the mutual comparison of every couple or duo; Cenere (Ash), matter inclusive of the original fullness - simulacrum of what it was - and of it's dissipation, emblem of the invisibility to come; Gemina (Twin), that which is double, an adjective declined here, in Italian, in the feminine, leaving open the interpretation (double musical expression?, a double union of performers?... ), and in genetics the "bivalent pair" of chromosomes, which merges and then splits; Stati (States), in addition to being a noun - the word that in Italian in one of it's meanings is related to staticity, from the Latin status, "that which stands still" -, is also a past participle that makes the subjects exist in the same time for how they are now and for what they have "been", "stati" (thinking of this piece, divided into three parts, in the sequence stasismotionstasis: «You alone knew that motion is not different from stasis.» Eugenio Montale, from Satura); Stigma (Stigma), explicit imprint of an implicit owner of it, but also, in botany, the part of the pistil destined to receive and germinate; Etra (Air), a kind of air that, here, makes physical wind and metaphysical wind copresent, which mix in a haunted vortex... Osvaldo Coluccino
Hodkinson: Chamber Works / Benda Quartet, Jupiter Quartet
Navona
CD
$16.99Feb 10, 2023
Throughout his lifetime, composer Sydney Hodkinson wrote over 250 works, covering a wide array of genres including educational literature, chamber arrangements, and large-scale orchestral pieces. SYDNEY HODKINSON: CHAMBER WORKS from Navona Records brings four live recordings of the late composer’s string quartets and a trio, Rogatio Gravis, to life with performances from the Benda Quartet and the Jupiter Quartet. With works written in dedication to family members, loved ones, and friends, this posthumous release serves as a perfect parting gift from Hodkinson — a musical display of his compositional prowess and kindness.
Three Vienna-born composers and four elective Viennese performers come together in four challenging and deeply layered compositions that span 120 years of Viennese musical history. The significance and impact of the works, however, radiate far beyond Vienna itself. At the same time, the live recording also reflects a moment in contemporary history, as the concert, originally planned to take place before a live audience, eventually took place on 17 May, 2021 solely as a streaming event at Vienna's Arnold Schoenberg Center, due to the restrictions enforced by the COVID 19 pandemic. The title of this recording, Viennese Transfigurations, is ambiguous. Three pieces are arrangements of earlier compositions for a quartet with the rather unusual line-up of violin, piano, clarinet and double bass, while the other was written for a trio of clarinet, violin and piano. Two arrangements are by the composers themselves, and two are by violinist Maxim Brilinsky. Each of the works has the facility to arouse the curiosity of the listeners right from the beginning, and all end softly.
Nine years after it's initial release, Arabella Steinbacher's acclaimed interpretation of two of the greatest concertos ever written for the violin is presented in an attractively priced Stereo re-issue. Steinbacher joins forces with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the baton of Charles Dutoit, one of the most eminent conductors of our age. Both the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Arabella Steinbacher, a multiple award-winner, have an extensive Pentatone discography spanning more than a decade.
Clarinettist Peter Cigleris is adding another gem to the SOMM catalogue less than a year after the release of his Clarinet Concertos (with symphonic band) [SOMMCD 0705, October 2025], which featured two world-premiere recordings and was roundly praised by Gramophone's Guy Rickards: "Cigleris is possessed of a beautifully mellifluous tone. A hugely varied, enjoyable programme, then, superbly played and recorded; enjoy!" For this release, Cigleris again offers concertante works, and again two first-ever recordings, but here the tutti forces, rather than winds, are the luminous strings of the London Mozart Players led by John Andrews. The trio of composers is British, and along with Gerald Finzi, whose Clarinet Concerto is justly beloved, come two others keenly deserving of the light this recording sheds on their music. The three works, all composed in the late 40s, are bound together by the common thread of the eminent English clarinettist Frederick Thurston (1901-1953). Denis ApIvor (1916-2004), born in Ireland to Welsh parents, was a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford and then at Hereford Cathedral, where he also studied clarinet, piano and organ. As a teenaged medical student he heard the English premiere of Wozzeck under Sir Adrian Boult and his musical inspiration was renewed, leading to private composition lessons with Patrick Hadley and Alan Rawsthorne. While there is a later version of his Concertante for clarinet orchestrated for an ensemble featuring full strings, harp and celesta, Peter Cigleris opens this album with ApIvor's original chamber version for piano and two percussionists (one on timpani). This early work was conceived during the composer's wartime posting to India, and the premiere (with Frederick Thurston) was given in London after two years of peace, a repeat performance going out live on the BBC Third Programme on 27 January 1948. This recording, the work's first, shows an already impressive thread of musical argument and masterly writing from a 30-year old ApIvor, who would reach the peak of his success some eight years later with his score for the Royal Ballet's Lorca-inspired Blood Wedding. Many who know the name Freda Swain (1902-1985) will think of pedagogical piano solos and be surprised to learn of the Portsmouth native's catalogue of 450 or so serious works including large-scale operatic, orchestral and concertante music as well as varied chamber pieces, all regrettably neglected for too long. Presented here in it's premiere recording, Swain's "Lumine naturi" Concertino for Clarinet is an expressive work in language that draws on tonality yet is highly individual and sweepingly melodic. The genre-title's Italian diminutive belies concerto-worthy length (24 mins) and thematic substance. Each movement bears an epigraph by Algernon Blackwood evoking an ultra-vivid natural scene, hence the Latin epithet: "By the Light of Nature". Though Swain never published the work, it is likely that the tutti of string orchestra anchored by a lone horn accompanies a clarinet part intended for Frederick Thurston, a frequent collaborator and the dedicatee of her Rhapsody for clarinet and piano. Thurston did play the premiere of Gerald Finzi's (1901-1956) Concerto for Clarinet and Strings at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival on 9 September 1949, and the masterpiece has deservedly become the composer's most frequently heard concert work.
Anders Hillborg (b. 1954) is one of those "texture guys" who throws everything but the kitchen sink into a piece in somewhat Schnittkean fashion, and seems to have great fun doing it. There's a certain anonymity to this style of composition--it's almost what musicologists would call a "common practice", but there's also no denying the fact that Hillborg practices his craft very well and that these smashingly performed and vibrantly recorded pieces present him in the best possible light.
The Clarinet Concerto is a very ambitious work that sustains its 28-minute length with ease. It does just about everything you can do with a woodwind instrument, and probably a few things that you shouldn't attempt at home, covering a huge range of expression and even allowing a surprising touch of humor (note the quotation from Tosca near the beginning and the bits of pseudo-pop music throughout). Hillborg's "al fresco" style of orchestration works particularly well in both this and the violin concerto, where he finds any number of fascinating and voluptuous instrumental textures to act as musical "frames" within which his soloist cavorts about with abandon. Freely dissonant but with strong tonal leanings, both concertos are just plain fun, especially when played as well as they are here by Martin Fröst (clarinet) and Anna Lindal (violin).
Liquid Marble is rather less interesting: evidently the composer had lava and magma in mind when writing it, but what he actually achieved comes off sounding like so much chromatic sludge. It rises to a nicely violent climax, but there doesn't seem to be much substance to what obviously is intended to be both brilliant and terrifying at the same time. Still, it's only 10 minutes long, and others may enjoy it more than I did. There's no denying the excellence of the performance under Esa-Pekka Salonen, nor does this single caveat in any way diminish the appeal of this very well recorded disc as a fine way to make the acquaintance of a talented and very enjoyable composer.
