I am writing these words while the Middle East, my place of birth, my roots, is bleeding. There are no words that can describe the pain, loss and suffering I see in the land and it's people on a daily basis. Like me, my friends, family, and neighbors who live on the other side of these fences that were built to divide us, carry an excruciating pain that grows deeper as the wars continue - pain that will live in hearts and souls for generations to come. I wanted this project to bring people together through music. My grandfather, born in Syria and shaped by hardship, believed in peace until his last day. Because of him, I believe in peace, and I hope this is one belief I will never have to grieve. The sonic landscape of conflict-the sudden silence after chaos, the irregular heartbeat of distant artillery, that unnatural quiet following destruction-has inevitably found it's way into my musical language. These experiences of personal loss, collective grief, and enduring hope became the foundation for the music in this album, each piece exploring different sides and shades of mourning. Shades of Mourning This album began, unknowingly, at my grandmother's deathbed. I didn't realize then that the piece I wrote while she was taking her last breaths would grow into an album, nor did I yet know I was a composer. The room was dark and hushed, air hanging motionless as though time itself had paused. Outside, the world continued it's rhythms, but in that space, existence narrowed to the shallow rise and fall of her chest. "Shades of Mourning, " which opened this collection of compositions centered around the process of grief, is a passacaglia - a farewell to a woman who shaped my life in ways I'm still uncovering. It opened a door to composing as a form of grief, reflection, and memory-and became the foundation of this entire work. Roots While grieving my personal loss, I found myself reflecting on my family's history and how it shaped both my identity and my music. When composing "Roots, " I wanted to create something that contrasted with the first piece - something wild, unexpected, unapologetic. I wanted to capture that visceral feeling of blood connecting to soil, of heritage running deep in our ground. Each note seemed to carry the weight of stories passed down through generations, a lineage both heard and felt, resonant as ancient memory. I asked myself: what do our roots mean to us, and to others? How much of our history lives in our cells, and how much is rewritten with each generation? Intermezzo A few months after my grandmother's death, I found myself at an artist residency in the Catskills. After being so close to her in her final moments, I experienced a privilege that many don't get to experience - breathing fresh air amid some of the world's most beautiful scenery. The garden welcomed me with meticulous care, an explosion of green against the blue sky. Flowers nodded in gentle breezes, while the sunlight warmed my skin. My ears filled with nature's music - birdsong trilling above the steady, the murmur of the Hudson River flowing past. There, surrounded by life's persistent beauty, I found a stark contrast between loss and renewal. It was here that I met Purcell Palmer, the founder of the residency, who became a dear friend. She passed away just months later. I wish she knew how profoundly she and her home affected me, how much healing I found in the sanctuary she created. I dedicate "Intermezzo" to her memory. And Maybe You Never Used to Be As time passed, grief evolved beyond my personal loss to become a central theme in my life, as it has for so many others around the world. I found myself processing not just the death of loved ones, but the loss of friendships, ideas, ideologies, and deeply held values. Inspired by Philip Glass's minimalist works, I created this four-movement string trio to explore these different dimensions of loss. "And maybe you never used to be" - my first chamber music work - opens the collection with a question: what happens when the things we thought were certain begin to shatter? My Clouds of Grief During grieving, there comes a stage when you wake each day under a dark, inescapable cloud. It follows you-pressing down on your chest, shadowing every breath. The weight settles into your bones, as if colors drain from the world around you; food loses it's taste, becoming nothing but texture. Even laughter from passing strangers sounds distant and hollow, as though filtered through thick glass. I wanted the music to envelope listeners in this heaviness, to let them experience how it feels when grief becomes your constant companion, surrounding you in it's seemingly infinite darkness. The End of Times Perhaps the most delicate and lush movement of this collection. Through the subtle effects of mutes, I explored the strings' capacity to create delicate colors and textures, searching for sounds that could capture an existential question: What does the end of times feel like? At a certain point, it felt as though I was living through such an ending. In this movement, I grapple with uncertainty - will we find relief in our final moments, or will pain be our lasting legacy? The music whispers these questions through veiled tones and gentle dissonances. Imaginary World While wars, conflicts, and unthinkable violence continue to plague our world, I find myself seeking refuge in imagination. Grief, pain, and sorrow are collective human experiences that touch every aspect of our lives, appearing in different shades and meanings, leaving lasting imprints on our souls. In my imaginary world, no living creature suffers. We exist side by side, caring for each other despite our disagreements and painful histories, working together to leave this world better than we found it. Inspired by the Mishima Quartet, whose music offered me solace during dark times, I created this movement. May it bring you the same joy and comfort that this music brought me. Prelude & In My Blue How do we conclude this journey through love, loss and grief? "Prelude" opens the path to the final track "In My Blue." "In My Blue, " based on the theme of it's Prelude, travels through harmonic changes and rhythms, much like the way grief transforms over time. The music creates a sensation of gentle vertigo, as if the room slowly revolves around you-a melancholy dance in darkened space where shadows become partners and notes hang in the air like suspended memories. During my darkest moments, I found unexpected solace in music - not just in creating or practicing it, but in letting it become my sanctuary. Inspired by Chet Baker's 'Almost Blue' and referring to the gentle sway of Bossa Nova, I imagined a love story between people who know deep pain intimately, yet still find the courage to dance together. I wanted to end this album not in sorrow, but with the same quiet hope that music has always given me - the possibility that even after profound loss, we can still move forward. Together. Tamar Sagiv is a cellist and composer whose musical language bridges classical tradition with contemporary expression. Her work explores themes of memory, identity, and emotional resonance, often drawing on personal experiences to create sound worlds that feel both intimate and universal. Her original composition Roots-a reflection on heritage and belonging-was premiered at her Carnegie Hall debut in May 2023, and performed alongside her mentor, acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz, at the Cello Biennale Festival in Amsterdam. Originally from Northern Israel, Sagiv began her musical training at the Kfar Blum Music Center with Uri Chen and continued at the Israeli Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem with Prof. Hillel Zori. She earned her Bachelor's Degree from the Buchmann Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, and completed both her Master's and Professional Diploma (PDPL) at the Mannes School of Music in New York City under Prof. Haimovitz's guidance. As a performer, she has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Israel and Germany, and played at venues including Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, National Bohemian Hall, and the New York Public Library. Her music has been broadcast on Israeli National Radio since she was 16. Sagiv has participated in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, Ralph Kirshbaum, Gary Hoffman, and Frans Helmerson, and attended festivals across Israel, Europe, and the U.S. Her achievements have been recognized by awards from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation, and a Certificate of Honor from Maestro Zubin Mehta. In 2022, she performed the music of composer James Simon-who perished in Auschwitz-at Carnegie Hall. Her debut album on Sono Luminus highlights her distinctive compositional voice and virtuosic playing, establishing her as a powerful new voice in contemporary classical music. Acknowledgements I extend my deepest gratitude to my husband, my mom and family for their unwavering belief and support throughout my musical journey, especially during moments when I struggled to believe in myself. I am profoundly thankful to my teachers who have shaped me as a cellist and musician: Matt Haimovitz, Felix Nemirovsky, Justus Grimm, Chagit Glaser, Hillel Zori, and Uri Chen. They opened my heart and ears, teaching me how to truly listen and nurturing my artistic growth. Special thanks to Leerone Hakami and Ella Bukszpan for their beautiful playing, artistic contributions, and cherished friendship throughout this project. To Michael Winger, whose guidance is invaluable to my development. To Noam Rappaport, my trusted confidant with whom I could share my mind and inner musical world-your friendship and insights have been immeasurable. I am grateful to Michael Lahr and Gregoij von Leitis from Elysium - Between Two Continents for their cherished friendship and support and for the Catwalk Institute for providing me with the creative space needed to compose these works. My sincere appreciation goes to Yaffa Ronen and the Ronen Foundation for their continued support of my career and artistic development. Special thanks to Sono Luminus for believing in this project, and to Simone Dinnerstein, Paola Prestini, and Pavlina Dokovska for their inspiration, guidance and encouragement through the years. Recording, Editing, & Mixing Engineer: Wei Wang Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores Producer: Tamar Sagiv Recorded at Skillman Music - Brooklyn, NY 11211 January 31 - February 13, 2024 Tamar Sagiv - Cello, Composition Leerone Hakami - Violin (Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7) (left) Ella Bukszpan - Viola (Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7) (right) Photo credits: Zan Wang & Apar Pokharel Liner Notes: Tamar Sagiv Layout: Joshua Frey Executive Producer: Collin J. Rae

Three works by three women composers from three different countries, each piece with it's own original idiom, are performed here by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra under the direction of it's dynamic conductor and artistic director Malin Broman. Three works that assuredly deserve a wider audience! The Sea Sketches by Welsh composer Grace Williams open the programme. Inspired by the beaches of Glamorganshire and by it's seascape, this five-movement work seems in constant motion and evolution. One can practically taste the salt spray and feel the power of the waves. The second work is Grazyna Bacewicz's Fourth String Quartet, played here in an arrangement for string orchestra. Bacewicz was an important figure on the Polish music scene in the mid-20th century, and her quartet is an approachable work - something that has undoubtedly contributed to making it her best-known composition - with influences of folk music and passages which, according to Malin Broman, can only be described as heavenly. Vienna-born Johanna Muller-Hermann's String Quartet, also in an arrangement for string orchestra, concludes the programme. Exciting, beautiful and powerful, this work with it's post-romantic language is a testimony to the golden age of Vienna, when the music of Mahler, Strauss and her teacher Zemlinsky reigned supreme.

Creative collaboration is central to American composer Joel Puckett's career, a spirit that unites the three works on this recording. Each work represents a partnership between Puckett's vibrant creative imagination and a particular musician, or group of musicians. Puckett's new Trumpet Concerto (2024), his second for the instrument, was written for the distinguished jazz trumpeter Sean Jones. It's a homage of sorts to another American classic conceived for a great jazz musician, Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto, which was commissioned and premiered by Benny Goodman. The work is a personal response to Jones's artistry, showcasing his dazzling high register and individual articulations and inflections that are unique to his playing. The orchestral song cycle There Was a Child Went Forth was created for Grammy Award winning tenor Nicholas Phan. The music is accessible and inward, much like the verses by Walt Whitman. It's a work of celebration, composed in 2023 for the 225th anniversary of the United States President's Own Marine Band. Inspiration came from Phan's love of Whitman, and synergy from Whitman's written reviews of the Marine Band.' The album's title track Short Stories is a string quartet concerto, which has been widely performed since it's 2013 premiere. Principal players of the London Symphony Orchestra shine as the soloists, at times playing as individuals, at others as a unit with their orchestral colleagues providing a resplendent accompaniment.

Hailed by The Daily Telegraph as 'a voice of real distinction', Nicky Spence possesses unique skills as a singing actor and a rare honesty of musicianship, all of which has earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Admired in particular for his interpretation of the music of Jan�cek, he has appeared worldwide in the composer's operas. Performing here with the outstanding pianist Dylan Perez, he presents a varied programme of Czech and Slovak art song. Bela Bartok found his lifelong enthusiasm for folk music sparked whilst on holiday in Slovakia in 1904, when he heard a nursemaid singing. Village Scenes sets five folksongs from a large Slovakian collection published in 1915, and depicts various aspects of a country wedding. Jaroslav Kricka became a central figure in Czech musical life, occupying the posts of chorus master of the Czech Philharmonic and professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory, amongst others. His Three Fables are settings of traditional fairy tales. Vitezslava Kapr�lov� was a composer of great promise who died of TB in 1940, aged just twenty-five. She studied conducting with V�clav Talich and composition with Vitezslav Nov�k before moving to Paris where she was taught by Bohuslav Martinu. Her song cycle Sparks from Ashes deals with themes of love - found, flourishing, and lost - as do the eighteen numbers of Dvor�k's song cycle Cypresses. Written by Kapr�lov� four years later, the haunting Waving Farwell was inspired by having to leave Prague for her new life in Paris.

Florence Price had an abiding love of literature, setting poets affiliated with the Harlem Renaissance as well as Byron and Robert Frost, among others. Her largest choral work is Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, which sets a poem published in 1914 imagining Lincoln surveying the modern world with dismay. It's chorale-like passages and fugal finale, allied to her use of spirituals, gives the cantata a thoughtful, sometimes introspective grandeur. Song of Hope, which uses Price's own text, is an emotionally intense supplication that also draws on spirituals. Charming smaller settings devoted to the natural world, and two sacred numbers, complete the album.

Radio With/Out Voice�is a provocative new album which reanimates John Cage's enduring fascination with the medium of radio. Performed by Clare and David Lesser-two of contemporary music's most versatile interpreters-this recording explores Cage's radiophonic works through performance, composition, and critical engagement. Far from being a nostalgic reconstruction, the Lessers' approach is both scholarly and boldly creative, situating Cage's use of radio not merely as a historical curiosity, but as a radical act of decentralisation: of authorship, temporality, and musical expectation. This is Cage as theorist of transmission and static, prophet of sonic ephemerality, and architect of what Mark Fisher called "a time out of joint." Spanning works such as�Radio Music�and�One�to the rarely heard�Sculptures Musicales, this album presents the radio not only as a sonic instrument but as a philosophical site-an invisible architecture in which Cage staged his most audacious dismantling of musical norms. Static and fragmentation become expressive forces in themselves, mediated by the performers' acute sense of form and freedom. Drawing on deep knowledge of Cage's methods, including his application of the I Ching and his subversive use of silence and structure, Clare and David Lesser illuminate the vibrancy of Cage's late and lesser-known works. These performances embrace the medium's inherent unpredictability-it's "crackle" and drift-and in doing so, reaffirm Cage's commitment to sound as process, possibility, and play. This is an album for critics, scholars, and listeners attuned to the intersections of philosophy, sonic experimentation, and media archaeology. It speaks to the ever-shifting boundary between sound and signal, listening and hearing.

This album presents three large and undoubtedly genuine compositions. In addition, it presents some of Bach's doubtful and spurious works, which were already attributed to him in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By using an original organ (Mueller, 1734, in the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam) and a performance asesthetic based on historically informed choices of registration, touch, articulation and ornamentation - all magical details of Bach's music shine through.

We begin with one of Shostakovich's earliest chamber works, the Cello Sonata, originally premiered by cellist Viktor Kubatsky with the composer at the piano. Kubatsky later transcribed the cello part for the viola with Shostakovich's approval. His version, along with subsequent transcriptions by Evgeny Strakov and Annette Bartholdy, adapted certain passages to suit the viola. For this recording, I chose to remain as faithful as possible to the original cello version, raising some passages by an octave to accommodate the viola's range. This is followed by Shostakovich's Impromptu, a brief but captivating piece discovered in 2017. The album concludes with Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, which stands as one of the cornerstones of the viola repertoire. Not only is it his final composition, but it's also one of his most profound. In this work, Shostakovich seems to bid a poignant farewell, weaving in quotations from his earlier pieces and even paying tribute to Beethoven in the final movement.

Ei paesi di lingua tedesca, la musica per flauto solo ha una lunghissima tradizione, che ha il suo capostipite nella celeberrima Partita in La minore BWV 1013 di Johann Sebastian Bach, capolavoro inarrivabile e, in un certo senso, mai pi� eguagliato. All'epoca in cui Bach scriveva la sua Partita in La minore, intorno al 1720, il flauto traversiere (che gli inglesi all'epoca chiamavano anche German Flute) era praticamente all'inizio della sua travolgente carriera, che ne avrebbe fatto, nel volgere di poco tempo, uno degli strumenti pi� popolari al mondo. Era fatto quasi esclusivamente di legno, ed era uno strumento molto diverso da quello odierno, costruito in metallo prezioso (argento o, meglio ancora, oro), Relativamente facile da suonare, il flauto traverso si e arricchito nel tempo di una copiosa letteratura e ha avuto i suoi eccellenti virtuosi che ne hanno incrementato la popolarit� (nel secondo Novecento, per citare solo alcuni dei pi� noti, Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Galway e, in Italia, Severino Gazzelloni) e hanno direttamente o indirettamente sollecitato gli autori a scrivere per loro. La letteratura per flauto e effettivamente sterminata. Il nostro album ci offre una scelta di sei composizioni per flauto solo, scritte da cinque autori diversi, appartenenti in larga maggioranza all'area musicale di lingua tedesca; la sola eccezione e costituita dall'olandese Rudolf Escher, mentre Willy Burkhard era svizzero-tedesco. Gli altri tre, Karg-Elert, Paul Hindemith e Gunter Raphael, erano tedeschi.

Preserved in three different libraries, the Marciana in Venice, the Library of the Naples Conservatory, and the State and University Library in Hamburg, the six cantatas that make up this world-premiere recording were composed by Benedetto Marcello in the early 18th century. These are thus youthful works, quite interesting for the originality of their writing, which helps us understand why their author was so highly regarded during his lifetime - even called the "prince of music" - and also by posterity, as he managed to blend his personal sensibility with lessons drawn from tradition and the influences of a life rich in cultural encounters. The compositional structure of these works - less known than his concertos and theatrical works - follows the traditional format of alternating recitatives and arias. However, this does not prevent the author from experimenting with innovative solutions, particularly in the treatment of the voice. Typical of Marcello's style is a certain inclination toward the bizarre, with the use of harmonies that can sound "estranging," sudden modulations, chromaticism, augmented sixth chords, and the melodic interval of the diminished fourth. In some passages, he even seems to anticipate the models of the "sublime" style theorized in the mid-to late 18th century.

Music, for all of us, is intimately connected to our lives and the sounds we love and grew up with, and that we discovered on our journeys through our world. We all remember the music we heard as children, and certainly we remember the songs that bound us together with our friends as teens. As we grow older, we are exposed to music from all over the world that we experience through visits, shows, and media. -Craig Madden Morris

The album "Present Reflections" offers an anthology of Amy Beach's piano works, showcasing her remarkable compositional talent and stylistic range-from expressive virtuosity to deep interpretative intimacy. This distinctive quality is due not only to her extraordinary gift but also to several factors: the profound cultural shifts she experienced between the late 19th and early 20th centuries-bridging late Romanticism, the emergence of the avant-garde, and the advent of jazz-and her unmistakable emotional expressiveness. Despite the strict, self-imposed discipline of her compositional process (she was entirely self-taught), her style remains deeply personal and authentic in every work. Looking back in time, beginning with her later compositions, one can observe a radical evolution in her writing. These works are not only a significant contribution to American piano literature but also a testament to the transformation of an era-one that slips away from the present to become almost immediately part of the past. In this way, Present Reflections becomes a mirror of today's world, reflecting the epochal changes of which we are all a part. Mrs. Beach's incredible talent, which enabled her to emerge as one of the greatest composers of her time, tells the story of both women and men-transcending the limitations imposed by society and leaving behind a musical legacy that deserves not only rediscovery but celebration. Katia Spluga

Two metaphors intertwine in the Roseti del mare (Rose gardens of the sea). The rose garden is the shared place, the multifaceted, multicoloured, thorny and delicate project that well embodies the evolutionary drive of the young performers of Polimnia. The enigmatic vastness of the sea provides the setting in the consolidated repertoire of many great composers. It's presence is manifest in Robert Schumann's Romanzen fur Frauenstimmen (Meerfey, Der Wassermann, In Meeres Mitten), and it recurs in the choices of numerous French composers (for example, in C. Debussy's La Mer), a trait that clearly re-sonates in the fluid and elegant writing of Gabriel Faure featured here. Across it's surface, the sea incarnates the spontaneity, luminosity, and immediacy of Faure's invention, while in it's depths resides the Schumannian style, introspective and severe, directing it's gaze towards Reflection and the layering of Thought. With the Polimnia vocal ensemble, I chose to work on a challenging project, far removed from easy transcriptions or more straightforward choral adaptations. For all of us, it was like going out into the open sea, with no footholds or furrows of well-trodden routes. A treacherous journey, devoid of certainties yet full of opportunities for a totally shared research into the meanings and sounds expressed by the young performers already rich in their own time, ranging from 17 to 25 years of age. The fact that young is not an adjective to be equated with superficial is the conviction I have matured in my long experience as director of the children's choir from which the Polimnia Ensemble almost entirely originates. The result we have achieved is the impetus that moves us towards new challenges, new future projects. Claudio Fenoglio

Inspired by the spirit of Bach, Karl-Andreas Kolly explores traces of Bach in Mendelssohn's piano works and discovers Mendelssohn's deep connection with Bach in his Organ Sonatas, which through Kolly's transcriptions of astonishingly pianistic effect show the great composer in a completely new light.

Today, his work "has no significant presence in recordings or concert life," states the boundless internet for those seeking information on the life and work of composer, pianist, and priest Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel (1750-1817). This perception, however, will have to change in the foreseeable future, for what has recently resurfaced from the legacy of this versatile Wurzburg-born musician awakens a curiosity that deepens with each encounter and is rewarded with ever-surprising creations. Now, alongside the three highly acclaimed chamber works released by cpo in November (555 499-2), two of his once widely performed symphonies join the spotlight, as well as one of the six piano concertos he composed - pieces that served both to showcase his classically refined, virtuosic eloquence and to bring universal delight in his presence.