Classical Music

Chaya Czernowin has developed a musical language in which space and gesture are the focus of her compositional interest: the discovery of musical changes in perspective that irritate and can sometimes be misleading. The listener never knows which musical gestures will come into focus and which will fade into the background. The compositional organization of space and time plays an important role in "HIDDEN", Chaya Czernowin’s quartet for strings and electronics. This is a work that deals with things unseen: things that are never revealed in their entirety, and can only be perceived (if they are perceived at all) as shadowy intimations. Czernowin says, " ‘HIDDEN’ is a slowly unfolding, 45-minute listening experience that permits our ears to turn into eyes. Our ears are given space and time to become accustomed to a totally unpredictable territory of sound. " As Chaya Czernowin has explained, she wanted to create an “Etude in Fragility” with her cycle of works for voice and breath.

This DVD marks the first complete recording of Xenakis' four string quartet, including the late quartet Ergma.

This first volume in a series combining Radulescu’s complete Piano Sonatas and String Quartets on Mode, performed by the superb JACK Quartet and pianist Stephen Clarke was released earlier this year on CD. It has been greeted with great critical acclaim and sales. And so, a natural starting place for Mode to reenter the LP market. In the 1970s, Horatiu Radulescu (1942-2008) began exploring and composing begun composing what he called “plasmatic music,” in which sound was conceived as an “endless ocean of vibrations,” as opposed to the traditional way in which music treats sound as a fabric of discrete scale steps. His music is linked to the “spectral music” school. Radulescu’s Fifth String Quartet is one of the key works in his output. It is in some ways the richest manifestation of the body of string techniques he had developed for his music. The Fifth Piano Sonata makes abundant use — more so than any of the other sonatas — of Romanian folk material, which is absorbed and integrated into Radulescu’s spectral language.

The JACK Quartet follow up their acclaimed, best selling release of Iannis Xenakis’ complete string quartets (mode 209) with a disc devoted to another iconoclastic European composer, Helmut Lachenmann. Lachenmann has created a unique sound world which he refers to as “instrumental musique concrete.” It is a world where the musical atom is not the note but the sound, which may be drawn from the instrument in all kinds of unusual ways. Strange as the soundscape may be, Lachenmann believes that the fundamental principles of music is about finding shape and continuity, about revealing the unexpected and touching the familiar, and that the string quartet, in particular, is about conversation. Even through all the use of extended techniques, this is still a music of gestures, phrases, even melodies. The JACK Quartet, specialists in new music, are the perfect performers for such repertoire. This recording is endorsed by the composer. Liner notes by Paul Griffiths.

Pianist Aki Takahashi follows up her acclaimed first disc of Xenakis piano works with this second volume, this time works for piano with instruments.

Classical Music

“Everything That Rises” is a uniquely beautiful and magical hour of music for string quartet, performed by the celebrated, award-winning JACK Quartet. The composer writes about the piece: “Each musician is a soloist, playing throughout. Time floats and the lines spin out, always rising, in acoustically perfect intervals that grow progressively smaller as they spiral upward…until the music dissolves into the soft noise of the bows, sighing.” “‘Everything That Rises’ is art without artifice, and its beauty transports the listener.” (New York Classical Review) “‘Everything That Rises” finds Mr. Adams exploring dissonance and just-intonation tuning, in the gentlest of ways.” (The New York Times) "JACK Quartet, superheroes of the new music world.” (Boston Globe) John Luther Adams, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music and the 2015 Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, has been described by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross as “one of the most original musical thinkers of the new century.” Adams, whose music is deeply rooted in the natural world, has worked with many prominent performers and venues.

The critically acclaimed Jack Quartet perform four new works by the Áltavoz Composers, a group of Latin American composers who have emigrated to the U.S. and Europe. Felipe Lara, Jose-Luis Hurtado, Mauricio Pauly and Jorge Villavicencio Grossman are all dynamic compositional voices working in the modernist tradition; their works are heard here in the context of one of the most challenging and revered trajectories of the classical canon, the string quartet repertoire. "explosive virtuosity." (Boston Globe) "viscerally exciting." (New York Times) "thrillingly vital." (New Yorker)

Twice GRAMMY-nominated composer and performer Derek Bermel studied with Henri Dutilleux, Dutch avant-gardist Louis Andriessen, and ragtime revivalist William Bolcom. In his music, seemingly antithetical qualities – classical and vernacular, comic and serious – merge and transform each other unpredictably, their inspiration ranging from theatre (Ritornello), to gestalt psychology (Figure and Ground), to meditations on cosmology (A Short History of the Universe). Thracian Sketches explores and reimagines Bulgarian folk music, while the Violin Etudes distill Bermel’s intellectual creativity into its purest form. The widely celebrated JACK Quartet has maintained an unwavering commitment to its mission of performing and commissioning new works, giving voice to underheard composers, and cultivating an ever-greater sense of openness toward contemporary classical music.

REVIEWS:

The JACK Quartet plays with great clarity and athleticism; and the group is wholly comfortable in any context, from hushed moments to driving climaxes and raucous special effects. Hijmans executes his concerto grosso with flair and virtuosity; and Otto renders the etudes with marvelous skill and artistry. As expected, Bermel contributes his superb fingers, wide dynamic range, and mind-blowing sonic manipulations that should not be possible on the clarinet.

-- American Record Guide

Part of Naxos’s esteemed ‘American Classics’ series, Intonations is a composer-based collection with a difference: Derek Bermel not only wrote its five works, he plays on two also. His clarinet isn’t the only distinctive sound on the nearly seventy-minute release, either. Dutch electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans plays on one piece, and the renowned JACK Quartet appears too, generally as a group but with violinist Christopher Otto playing solo on Violin Etudes. Intonations is marked by many things, including variety, and in featuring five world-premiere recordings, the release is an invaluable addition to the award-winning composer’s discography.

Intonations speaks flatteringly of Bermel’s gifts as a writer but also instrumentalist. To call his clarinet playing impressive hardly does it justice. He’s appeared as a soloist alongside Wynton Marsalis, has performed his clarinet concerto Voices around the world with dozens of orchestras, and is the founding clarinetist of Music from Copland House. His playing is so credible, Bermel could easily fill a personnel spot in an ensemble such as Oregon or The Silk Road Ensemble were the opportunity to present itself...That Bermel’s classical creations often exhibit a pronounced jazz, blues, and/or world flavour shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, given such diversity of experience.

Intonations is an arresting portrait, not only for its kaleidoscopic range but for the sheer breadth of Bermel’s imagination and interests. That no other recording sounds quite like it is one of the better compliments one could pay to its creator. There’s nothing, it seems, he can’t do and no musical subject matter he’s incapable of tackling.

-- Textura

This showcase of music for different forms and instrument combinations is united by Bermel’s musical curiosity and creative showmanship. Elements of folk and blues permeate traditional classical forms in masterful ways, resulting in a joyous listen. Characterful.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Critically acclaimed composer John Luther Adams, who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music, offers the first recordings of three of his recent string works: two string quartets, featuring the much-lauded JACK Quartet, and a four-movement work for a choir of 48 cellos. This is stunning, beautiful, sometimes monolithic, sometimes intimate music that is in a state of constant, subtle motion.

A 2021 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Small Ensemble/Chamber Music Performance!

“Lines Made by Walking” is a uniquely beautiful and magical recording of two string quartets—"Lines Made by Walking” and “untouched”—by influential, critically celebrated composer John Luther Adams, performed by the renowned JACK Quartet. Both works reflect Adams’ passion for nature’s elemental forces. The release of this recording coincides with Farrar, Straus & Giroux’s publication of Adams’ autobiography, “Silences So Deep.” John Luther Adams’ music has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award and has been performed by such prominent ensembles as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Seattle Symphony, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Cold Blue Music has released seven recordings devoted to his work, including “Everything That Rises” and “The Wind in High Places.” Deemed “superheroes of the new music world” by the Boston Globe and chosen as Musical America’s 2018 Ensemble of the Year, JACK Quartet is “the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity.” (Washington Post) The award-winning JACK tours and performs to critical acclaim throughout the world.

This release documents Roger Reynolds’ most recent string quartets in composer supervised first recordings by the acclaimed JACK Quartet. “FLiGHT”, commissioned by JACK Quartet, arose from a collaborative process lasting almost five years. Its four movements reflect upon the stages of humanity’s aspirations for flight: IMAGINING, PREPARING, EXPERIENCING, and PERSPECTIVE. Of “not forgotten” Reynolds writes: “As the years pass, one notices that certain elements in one’s days have unusual persistence in the mind. Such elements may involve individuals encountered, sometimes places experienced, or momentary intersections that are unexpectedly luminous. The point is that they not only don’t go away, they play roles as one’s own life evolves. … Three composers with whom I had extensive and formative interactions were Elliott Carter, Toru Takemitsu and Iannis Xenakis. Geographic parallels include Ryoanji in Kyoto, Monet’s sumptuous Giverny gardens, and the glitteringly patterned surface of the Aegean.” These experiences form the movements to “not forgotten.” The outer movements, “Giverny” and “Now,” are fixed, while the inner movements may be played in whatever order the quartet chooses. Each movement begins with a solo by one of the quartet’s members. The unique liner notes take the form of a communication between the composer and members of the JACK Quartet. This is the first of a projected two volume set celebrating Reynolds’ 85th birthday and his recent music, to be released on Mode.

The JACK Quartet performs two works by Turkish born experimental composer Cenk Ergün on this EP release. Ergun's immersion in the worlds of electronic music and improvisation shape material that is intense in character, whether it is exploring vigorous or static textures. Hailed by The New York Times as the “nation’s most important quartet”, the JACK Quartet is one of the most acclaimed, renowned, and respected groups performing today. JACK has maintained an unwavering commitment to their mission of performing and commissioning new works, giving voice to underheard composers, and cultivating an ever-greater sense of openness toward contemporary classical music. Over the past season, they have been selected as Musical America’s 2018 “Ensemble of the Year”, named to WQXR’s “19 for 19 Artists to Watch”, and awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Composer Hannah Lash writes music that is informed in equal measure by historical precedents, such as the Baroque inspired "Suite: Remembered and Imagined," as it is by a modernist examination of instrumental phenomenon, such as the dual meaning of the word "Pulse" as it pertains to bow changes as well as beatings in closely spaced sonorities. A virtuoso harpist in her own right, she joins the acclaimed JACK Quartet for "Filigree in Texture," a work integrating aspects of Middle Ages tapestry with early contrapuntal practice. Hailed by The New York Times as the "nation's most important quartet", the JACK Quartet is one of the most acclaimed, renowned, and respected groups performing today. JACK has maintained an unwavering commitment to their mission of performing and commissioning new works, giving voice to underheard composers, and cultivating an ever-greater sense of openness toward contemporary classical music. Over the past season, they have been selected as Musical America's 2018 "Ensemble of the Year", named to WQXR's "19 for 19 Artists to Watch", and awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

String Works As a teenager, I studied violin privately for about a year. Despite my best efforts, I never truly learned to play-couldn't even manage a simple melody. Yet the raw, untamed sounds of the violin-the fleeting, wild noises it could produce-captivated me. Even now, though I still can't play a tune, I remain enchanted by it's voice: the subtle, mournful cries and the bright, shimmering whispers. String instruments have long been my silent idols, their voices resonating with a deep, almost mystical beauty. Since I began composing, I've been drawn again and again to their warmth, vibrancy, and the intensity of their impassioned screams. Over the years, I've written many works for strings-each one an attempt to enter, and perhaps never fully master, their enigmatic world. String Works gathers pieces I've written for strings across the past decade. Creating them has been my joy, my privilege, and my constant fascination: an unfolding journey into a soundworld as elusive, strange, and beautiful as the strings themselves.

Turkish born composer Eren Gümrükçüoglu's "Pareidolia" presents seven of his kinesthetic works for chamber ensembles, with and without electronics, as well as fixed media. Featuring performances by Conrad Tao, JACK Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Suono Giallo, and Deviant Septet, Gümrükçüoglu's music merges a rich harmonic palette with charged rhythmic gestures and a sensitivity to the interaction between acoustic and electronic elements, reflecting his background as a jazz guitarist and his electro-acoustic focused research.

"Waves and Particles" is Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams’s beautifully shimmery, virtuosic string quartet, performed by the incredible, illustrious JACK Quartet. Adams’s music has been performed by such prominent ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. JACK Quartet has been deemed “superheroes of the new music world” (Boston Globe) and “the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity” (The Washington Post).

Pressed between bodies heaving to the pulse. The room inside the drum: each of us within it's envelope. Sent elsewhere. Stamped to distant locales but together in this resonating box. My wrists were broken. My mind screwed on tight.�I wake next to a reflecting pool. An inlet. The water here is cool, shaded by trees that lean in to listen, swaying lightly with the gentle breeze, the hairs on my neck alive. I start my own religion here.�But I ask of the sea: long to see it's waves crashing. As I approach, the blue-green colors of my oasis dull to a metallic blur. The wind a knife's edge into my bleared eyes. From below the surface, shafts of artificial light emerge. Power indicators of unseen machines from another time, rising endlessly... narrow spotlights pushing into the sky. My heart quickens. These climbing pixels build a hard-edged latticework of digital snow, blinding me. I try to tune it. I look for the one of one. No wiser, I exhale and step into a clearing among the trees: an orderly garden path. I pace slowly among the carefully selected native plants... am I yet awake? Each turn reveals that these rows lead into a deep forest. The roots intertwine with a soil rich in jumbled wiring, broken monitors, cables to outdated devices. The path opens suddenly onto an outcropping above the sea. From this new vantage, each square of color in the water pollutes it's surface with 8-bit splendor. I spin back into the forest, the roots and limbs now formed of telephone cords, drive thru bank tubes, and strings of LED lights. They whirl me into a dance: a rite of doubt and self-abdication. Awakening from the depths of this wood: a giant stone head. Looming. Impassive. It's face in a half-smile of cool knowing. It's surface like a freshly cut tree trunk, brindled with geological age and the scars of it's removal from the earth. I am lifted up and held against it: a familiar texture, it's rough beard streaked with aquamarine moss. A deep calm comes over me: of the kind one feels when giving in to the weight of a midday slumber or a powerful drug. A kept beast that loves it's strict, heavy-handed trainer. Below this effigy, an entry to the junkyard earth. I walk myself dutifully down the mossy stairs to my resting place, each step echoing with a memory of an imagined golden age. "Activity involving in a single process the many, turning them, even though some seem to be opposites, towards oneness, contributes to a good way of life." - John Cage

Acclaimed by the New York Times as "an alluring, mystical new work" when it premiered outdoors at the city's Lincoln Center in July 2014, John Luther Adams' Sila: the Breath of the World is so carefully orchestrated that the recording itself pushes the limits of how to capture multiple ensembles of musicians in one setting. Thanks to modern technology and the magic of multi-tracking (with producers Doug Perkins and Nathaniel Reichman at the controls), Sila maintains the composer's vision as a grand invitation to the listener "to stop and listen more deeply." Put simply, like Inuksuit (2009), widely known as Adams' large ensemble piece for percussion, no two performances of Sila are ever the same, due in part to the freedom that is given to the musicians, each of whom plays or sings a unique part at his or her own pace. But on a macro level, Sila can also be described as an intelligent entity all its own — a living, breathing organism that takes on the collective intent of its performers, and its composer, to transcend the forces of nature and become, in a sense, a "breath of the world."