One does not have to be religious to appreciate the depth, inspiration, and melodiousness of PSALMS, Eloise Hynes Stowe's new album from Navona Records. Scored for voice and piano, and occasionally supplemented by flute and violin, these psalms and hymns immediately demonstrate the literary and emotional grasp of the biblical texts and ecclesiastical interpretations. Stowe effortlessly manages to clothe the scripture into a tonal tapestry which is equal parts tender and listenable, in an appealing style which wouldn't be out of place in a Christian musical. Exuberant and optimistic, they are a testament not only to the church’s teachings, but also to the intuitive power of music.

CAGE – SA TIE – FELDMAN – TAKAHASHI sums up the focus of this album. All of these works by Cage are influenced by Satie. Cage’s friend and colleague Morton Feldman made an arrangement of Cage’s solo piano “Cheap Imitation” for a trio of piano, flutes/piccolo and glockenspiel. Feldman’s admiration for the pianist Aki Takahashi caused him to gift this arrangement to her. And, full circle, we have the repertoire of this album. The major discovery is Feldman’s arrangement of Cheap Imitation for this very Feldmanesque instrumental ensemble. It is unknown why Feldman made this arrangement in 1980. Knowing of Takahashi’s reputation as a pianist specializing in new music, Feldman had invited her to be an artist in residence at the university where he taught. When she was leaving, Feldman gave a musical score to Takahashi as a gift. It was a copy of John Cage’s solo piano piece Cheap Imitation with annotations by Feldman. He told her that this was an instrumental version of this piece: flute, piano, and glockenspiel.

This album of 20th-century masterpieces for flute and guitar features works composed especially for this combination of instruments plus arrangements of works by Bartók and Ravi Shankar. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonatine for Flute and Guitar is considered to be one of the finest compositions for this combination of instruments, contrasting joyfulness with poignant melodies. The warm sound of the alto flute is given expressive range in Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea, while Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango takes us on a journey from the form’s beginnings in the brothels of Buenos Aires, to its acceptance as one of the most loved musical art forms of the 20th century.

Often lauded as one of the leading figures of the Czech jazz scene, David Doružka has been active as a professional musician from the age of 14, having played concerts all over the world, collaborated with many of today’s leading musicians, and having spent extensive periods in the cities of New York and Paris. After recent collaborations with jazz icons Lizz Wright, Jeff Ballard or Hilmar Jensson, Doružka teamed up with flutist Robert Fischmann and drummer Martin Novák to explore a sound which is less jazz-centered and more world-oriented. The core of this unusually sounding ensemble is the legacy of Jewish music with its many facets that have evolved on various continents over the centuries.

However the trio takes great liberties in incorporating all of these elements and so it easily happens that traditional Chassidic chants are followed by metalcore passages and melodies from Medieval Spain are heard next to sounds inspired by the contemporary New York downtown scene. Their present debut album is entitled Gilgul, meaning "cycle" in Hebrew. Jewish music is nothing new to members of the band as they have previously collaborated with Israeli musician Yair Dalal and American multi-instrumentalist Alan Bern among others and Doružka’s earlier CD Autumn Tales (2016, Animal Music) awarded the Czech Music Academy Angel Award for the best jazz album of the year bears influences of both Ashkenazi and Middle-Eastern music.

Ideas about lightness and shadow have inspired countless artists throughout the years as expressions of beauty and mystery, sources of comfort and harbingers of doom, and representations of divinity and chaos. Each in their own way, the works on this release engage with images of light and shadow, reflecting the breadth of emotions wrapped up in this basic dichotomy that shapes all of our experiences. The University of Kansas Wind Ensemble has been described as “one of America’s most esteemed concert bands.” (New York Times) After the group’s Carnegie Hall debut in 2013, New York Times described the ensemble as “performing with polish, assurance and copious spirit, eliciting a rousing ovation.” Pieces by leading contemporary wind band composers are featured on this new release, including Steven Bryant, Aaron Perrine, James Barnes, Joel Puckett, John Mackey, and Joni Greene.

In this second album in his French series, pianist Mark Bebbington is joined by baritone Roderick Williams and flautist Emer McDonough alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Jan Latham-Koening in a further program of music by Francis Poulenc. Featuring some of Poulenc’s most characteristic works, the program begins with his 1929 piano concerto Aubade originally written with a choreographed ballet element for a private fancy-dress party. The following year saw the composer set Surrealist poems by his friend Max Jacob in his work Le Bal Masqué, which Poulenc described as a ‘secular cantata’. Written in 1956 the Flute Sonata was described by the composer himself as being ‘simple but subtle’, while completing the album is the 1931 Sextet for piano and wind quintet.

2023 marks 25 years since the death of British composer Paul Reade. He is remembered for his delightful Victorian Kitchen Garden music (Ivor Novello Award) and television themes such as Antiques Road-show. However, he also wrote a huge range of equally wonderful but less well-known pieces, full of melodic invention, wit and fabulous energy. They are previously unpublished and unrecorded works that deserve to be heard.

These are premiere recordings (except for the Chants du Roussillon) and show Paul’s music at its best: tender, poignant, humorous and uplifting, full of wonderful melodic and dramatic invention. Philippa Davies has been hailed as a ‘first-rate virtuoso’, with ’winning charm’, ’exceptional eloquence’ and an ‘almost electrical response to technique’. Since her celebrated performance of Mozart’s Concerto in D major at the BBC Proms in 1988, she has gained an international reputation as one of the finest flautists currently performing.

Navona Live is proud to announce the release of INDIANA COLLECTANEA, which celebrates and preserves composer Michael G. Cunningham’s residency at Indiana University School of Music from 1969-1973. This live recording of Cunningham’s work comes on the heels of his acclaimed album ECUMENICAL SPIRIT from Navona Live earlier this year. This latest release captures a significant moment in time, when Cunningham’s work helped channel the talents of 30 burgeoning musicians. In INDIANA COLLECTANEA, Cunningham expands his palette beyond traditional tonality, painting with chromatic, timbral, and rhythmic nuances. The work opens with Prisms, a four-movement piece in which dense tone clusters shift and refract among the strings like a kaleidoscope. This is followed by Polyphonies, a wild-eyed percussion piece that manipulates instrumental timbres to an exhilarating effect. As the album progresses, each piece is a surprise to the listener’s ears, with its unique assortments of instruments and sounds jolting the audience into new appreciation. The frenetic horns at the start of Concertant are further evidence of this. The penultimate track, Scenario, is particularly inventive, opening with a prelude of ethereal bells. Each musician is assigned to multiple instruments, showcasing both their own skills and that of their composer. Lastly, the album ends with the dramatic Noetical Rounds, which concludes with a soft, descending glissando into oblivion. Despite the decades that have passed since the performances on INDIANA COLLECTANEA, each piece is as startlingly fresh as it was the day of its performance. Listen to hear this collection of talented musicians pushed to their utmost by the challenging and thoughtful compositions of Michael G. Cunningham.

Composer and Latin Grammy-winning flautist Nestor Torres has inspired a generation of composers to write music that has made vivid contributions to the instrument’s repertoire. This album represents his first foray into classical recording and his own unique fusion of Caribbean virtuosity and classical training can be savored in his own composition, “Marta y Maria.” Tania Leon’s “del Caribe, soy!” encapsulates the pulsing rhythms, vibrant color and improvisatory elements that represent the key features of the album and contrasts beautifully with the seductive allure and expressive depth of Miguel del Aguila’s “Miami Flute Suite.”