The music of the American composer David Felder (*1953) is often related to esoteric, mystical, spiritual or philosophical themes. These are particularly evident in his more recent works. The Arditti Quartet enjoys a world-wide reputation for their spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary and earlier 20th century music. Many hundreds of string quartets and other chamber works have been written for the ensemble since it's foundation by first violinist Irvine Arditti in 1974. Many of these works have left a permanent mark on 20th century repertoire and have given the Arditti Quartet a firm place in music history. World premieres of quartets by composers such as Abrahamsen, Ades, Andriessen, Aperghis, Birtwistle, Britten, Cage, Stockhausen, Xenakis and hundreds more show the wide range of music in the Arditti Quartet's repertoire.

Also available on DVD. Violin and viola players whisper over their instruments. A guitarist waits with the closest attention for the moment to make a gesture we might easily have missed. The tuba player rises to go over to the open piano, there to send sounds echoing into its interior. Two cellists, bowing with heavy pressure down near the tailpiece, produce an urgent rasping. From the timpanist comes the sudden fortissimo that seems to shock the music to a standstill... Renowned German composer Helmut Lachenmann’s music is expressive in extraordinary ways, requiring the performers to play their instruments via unusual techniques, making for both compelling listening and viewing. Lachenmann performs in and supervises these recordings with Ensemble Signal, one of America’s leading New Music ensembles. In addition to performing as narrator in "...Zwei Gefühle...“. Lachemann also is the soloist for three of his piano works. These studio recordings followed an intensive four-concert tour of this programme. Lachenmann taught each musician of Ensemble Signal individually on his language of techniques for this project. Liner notes by Paul Griffiths. First in a series of Lachenmann on Mode Records.

Shelter is the result of an unusual collaboration among Bang on a Can's founding composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe. Scored for three sopranos and a 17-piece ensemble, the project explores what "shelter" means in different cultures. Ensemble Signal's debut recording, under music director Brad Lubman and producer Michael Riesman, was originally commissioned for the Next Wave Festival by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and premiered with Trio Mediaeval in Cologne, Germany in 2005.