The only collected survey of George Benjamin’s
piano music on record, from a Dutch pianist
who specialises in new music and has worked
closely with the composer.
Benjamin was an accomplished pianist as well
as composer from his early years, and it seems
natural in retrospect that his first published
work should be the Piano Sonata he composed
in 1977-8, as a prodigious student of Olivier
Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. Certain harmonic
touches may mark the sonata out as the work
of ‘a Messiaen pupil’ but the unsettled, leaping
gestural sense of the piece is particular to
Benjamin. So much of Benjamin’s later music is
fascinatingly prefigured here, including a sense
of timing for a gradual accumulation of tension
(‘stormy eruptions’ and ‘savage violence’ in
the composer’s words) that marks out his first
major orchestral score, Ringed by the Flat
Horizon. Underlying that sense of timing is a
feeling for dramatic gesture which has found
its natural expression in a series of operas
written during the last 20 years.
Dedicated to Loriod, Sortilèges (1981) makes
clear its French heritage in the notes as well as
the title, while the three subsequent Studies
for piano, composed over the next four years,
find Benjamin working out intricate rhythmic
problems and their solutions. Even the
Relativity Rag takes a quirky, sideways look at
its superficially familiar material. The next
piano pieces had to wait until 2001, and the
Shadowlines which Benjamin wrote for PierreLaurent Aimard. This set of six canonic preludes
takes Benjamin’s inclination to distill and pare
back to a new level, while the piano writing
itself is richer and more unselfconsciously
informed by the heritage of piano literature.
Finally, there are the Piano Figures of 2004,
written for students of the piano and
accordingly pitched at a technically lower level
than the other pieces, but no less preoccupied
with the rhythmic games and sudden swerves
of thought that are hallmarks of his most
complex music. All these pieces have been
recorded, but never by the same pianist,
making Erik Bertsch’s new collection unique,
and indispensable for any collector of new
music.

Special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. For this subscription concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker asked a long-time artistic companion to take the podium: more than 140 concerts and a multitude of celebrated recordings connect Christian Thielemann with the traditional Viennese orchestra. The live recording of his debut on the podium at the Vienna Musikverein almost 23 years ago promptly became a reference recording. On the programme then as now: Richard Strauss' monumental Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony). This work, often regarded as the final and climax of the "symphonic poem" genre, is juxtaposed with Arnold Sch�nberg's probably most famous tonal composition, the orchestral version of the string sextet Verkl�rte Nacht (Transfigured Night). Composed in 1899, this highly expressive work by the 25-year-old Sch�nberg reads, in retrospect, like a swan song to the 19th century. "Sch�nberg and Strauss rarely sound so grandiose." Kurier "A truly persuasive performance." The New York Times "The 'Alpine Symphony' under Thielemann has long been a Viennese legend." Die Presse Program: Arnold Schoenberg: Verkl�rte Nacht (Transfigured Night), op. 4 Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), op. 64

Special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. For this subscription concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker asked a long-time artistic companion to take the podium: more than 140 concerts and a multitude of celebrated recordings connect Christian Thielemann with the traditional Viennese orchestra. The live recording of his debut on the podium at the Vienna Musikverein almost 23 years ago promptly became a reference recording. On the programme then as now: Richard Strauss' monumental Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony). This work, often regarded as the final and climax of the "symphonic poem" genre, is juxtaposed with Arnold Sch�nberg's probably most famous tonal composition, the orchestral version of the string sextet Verkl�rte Nacht (Transfigured Night). Composed in 1899, this highly expressive work by the 25-year-old Sch�nberg reads, in retrospect, like a swan song to the 19th century. "Sch�nberg and Strauss rarely sound so grandiose." Kurier "A truly persuasive performance." The New York Times "The 'Alpine Symphony' under Thielemann has long been a Viennese legend." Die Presse Program: Arnold Schoenberg: Verkl�rte Nacht (Transfigured Night), op. 4 Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), op. 64

Ferruccio Busoni (Empoli 1866 – Berlin 1924) died the same year as Puccini and was born when Puccini was a child, yet he was way more than an opera composer. While he lived several years in Trieste and some time in Bologna, he mainly lived abroad and spent the second half of his life in Berlin. Way more than a composer, he was a wide-ranging artist and musician, an acclaimed concert pianist and sought-after piano teacher, a learned reviser of piano music, and the author of many and varied pieces. Busoni was also an aesthete, an intellectual, a music reformer, and author of texts on musical topics. A child prodigy, he wrote the Symphonische Suite for orchestra at the age of 17.
Nicola Bignami and Lucija Majstorovic brilliantly face the arduous task of performing the two monumental and demanding sonatas for violin and piano that the composer wrote at twenty-four (first sonata) and at thirty-two (second sonata), in which the equal and dialogical relationship between the two instruments combines with a wealth of invention with respect for the great tradition.

Vagn Holmboe (1909-96) stands as one of the greatest 20th-century composers of string quartets, with a monumental series of 21 quartets demonstrating his distinctive metamorphosis method. Holmboe's vibrant and organic quartet works are profoundly rooted in a Buddhist inspired perspective on life, an outlook which, though he kept it private, led him to view all manifestations of life as part of a cosmic whole. Equally essential is the influence from folk music. This third volume of the acclaimed Nightingale String Quartet series captures Holmboe at the peak of his creativity, with his musical metamorphosis practice fully flourishing.

1. A Pierre. Dell'azzurro silenzio, inquietum (1985) for contrabass ?ute in G, contrabass clarinet in B ?at and live electronics 2. Das atmende Klarsein, fragmente (1980/87) for bass flute, magnetic tape and live electronics 3. Musiche per Manz� (1969) for magnetic tape (acousmatic version) 4. Roberto Fabbriciani: A "Omaggio a Luigi Nono" (2006) for piccolo, tape and live electronics Roberto Fabbriciani, flutes, piccolo (1, 2, 4) Ulrich Krieger, double-bass clarinet (1) Alvise Vidolin, live electronics, sound direction Alessandro Fiordelmondo, live electronics assistant Luigi Nono (1924 -1990) was a great innovator in the use of spatialization of sound and experimentation with performance space, non-linear time and the collapsing between sound and silence. Beginning in 1959, he distanced himself from serial orthodoxy and the Ferienkurse compositional scene. His new works reflected a concern in political and cultural events and introduced the use of tape and electroacoustic technology. His compositional process was increasingly involved with specific performers, whom he chose for their tone and expressive characteristics. This trust reflects on Nono's interest in collaboration, developing the idea that traditional musical notation is limited and cannot reproduce the complexity of performance he reached with every performer. This recording represents one of Nono's most fruitful collaborations, the one he developed with flutist Roberto Fabbriciani during the 1980s. The track list presented here - selected by Fabbriciani and Alvise Vidolin - explores Nono's music as it is defined by space (and/or the acoustic space) rather than time - the auditory impression of a labyrinthine acoustic environment in which the works seem to ?oat on the threshold of sound and silence and seem to fluctuate from one place to another. The creative process of A Pierre. Dell'azzurro silenzio, inquietum (1985) took place during rehearsals for the ?rst performance of Prometeo. Tragedia dell'ascolto (Venice, 1984). Fabbriciani recalls suggesting to Nono that he should write a work, based on section VIII of Io, frammento dal Prometeo because he felt that the live electronic potential explored in that work had not been completely exploited. The interplay between flute, clarinet and live electronics and their timbral fusion or a continuum of timbre, are at the core of the compositional process. Once the live electronic manipulation of sound moves above the threshold of silence, the listener should no longer be able to detect whether a given sound heard was produced by one of the two performers or reproduced by electronic/digital equipment. Das Atmende Klarsein, fragmente is a reduced version of Nono's work for small choir, bass flute soloist and live electronics. It is the first composition of the 1980s which led to Prometeo and the first outcome of the intense collaboration between Fabbriciani and Nono. In the original piece, Nono composed two distinct worlds, one of choir, the other of bass flute. As they never perform together, the bass flute part later became a solo piece after undergoing changes, cuts and transformations with the various performances by Fabbriciani (this is typical of Nono's work in progress). Musiche per Manz�, for magnetic tape (1969), was created for a short documentary that shows the work that Italian sculptor Giacomo Manz� did to realize the bronze doors of St. Francis church in Rotterdam. Space and spatialization are only illusory in the original version of the work, which antedates Nono's live electronics research. But space is so deliberate here that this piece is suitable to live electronics interpretations. Alvise Vidolin re-interprets Musiche per Manz� using the original mono version published by Ricordi, with a multichannel 5.1 surround sound system. A "Omaggio a Luigi Nono"is Fabbriciani's tribute to his collaboration and friendship with Luigi Nono. The tape part has been recorded by Fabbriciani at the Experimental Studio of the Heinrich-Strobel Stiftung in Freiburg, the same studio where he worked with Nono in his important sound research for a decade. It contains the natural acoustic sounds of the piccolo. It explores this instrument and reflects Fabbriciani's research on extended yet simple sounds. A "Omaggio a Luigi Nono"is also an homage to the last years of their friendship, which culminated in the piece Post-praeludium n. 3 "BAAB-ARR". "We got as far as the Post-praeludium n. 3 "BAAB-ARR", structured on a single note with all it's possible universes. After the performance in the Kammersaal of the Berlin Philharmonie on 4th September 1988 Gigi [Luigi] smiled and said to me, "the next time I'll write less!" (Fabbriciani, 1999). The score is so non-existent and deprived of any meaningful indications to any flutists but Fabbriciani that the Committee for the Edition of the Works of Luigi Nono set up by Casa Ricordi has decided to withdraw it from the catalogue. A "Omaggio a Luigi Nono"by Fabbriciani reflects both his own research on extended techniques, and Nono's reduction to the essential nature of sound and music. The acoustic part interacts with the tape part made with prerecorded piccolo sounds. The assembling, mixing and spatialization of the recorded sounds is conceived by Alvise Vidolin. Liner notes by Laura Zattra.

He took up the lute when he was young and became such a virtuoso that he was unrivalled in France or Italy. Music historian Gottfried Johann Dlabac�'s testimony describes the lutenist and composer, Count Jan Antonin Losy of Losinthal, whose family came from Lombardy. He was born in Bohemia, where he spent most of his life, but his fame spread throughout Europe. After he died, he was honoured by his younger colleague, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, who memorialised him with his famous Tombeau. Nowadays, the name of the Count and virtuoso musician (besides the lute, he played the harpsichord and violin superbly) is known especially to lute players. However, even they may be surprised to learn that this album contains compositions with harpsichord, flute and violin. In fact, Losy's oeuvre is far more varied. According to period sources, many of his compositions were played by chamber ensembles including instruments, such as the violin and a bowed bass instrument. The main performer, Jan Ci�mar, reconstructed some of them, using manuscripts scattered all over Europe, and invited his colleagues from the Polish ensemble, Orkiestra historyczna, to take part in the recording. The result is a revealing album that presents Losy's lute pieces in an unusual sound version for the first time. Count Losy - a Prince among lutenists

This release brings together ALL of Morton Feldman’s compositions for cello and piano, including unpublished works and a first recording.

Together, these works tell the story of Feldman’s music. They span 35 years — over half his lifetime — from when he was searching for his voice as a student to when he was opening new doors in the last years of his life.

The album is bookended by two realizations of the graphic score “Durations 2” (1960), giving an opportunity to hear what the flexibility of graphic notation can bring.

The “Sonatina” (1946) is the earliest work here, and a first recording. Displaying the influence of Béla Bartók, Feldman wrote for the cello sound he loved without fully understanding the realities of playing the instrument. The resulting solo part is naively virtuosic and often even impossible to play. For this recording, Stephen Marotto keeps as close as possible to the written score, aiming to fulfill what Feldman heard in his mind’s ear.

By 1948, Feldman had been studying privately with the composer Stefan Wolpe for several years. The unpublished “Two Pieces,” from that year is a fluctuating music held together not by logic, but through its carefully poised gestures — what Wolpe called “shape.” While the emotional drama of this and other early works would soon disappear from Feldman’s music, it was above all the idea of “shape” that remained with him for the rest of his life.

In 1950, Feldman met John Cage, who shepherded him into the world of the New York avant-garde. The unpublished, compact “Composition for cello and piano” (1951) is a sudden breakthrough, yet it already contains the DNA of his very last works in its minimal material and blurred memories of sounds.

“For Stockhausen, Cage, Stravinsky, and Mary Sprinson” (1972) is an ephemeral, unpublished piece, a shard of music broken off from the main body of work Feldman was producing at the time. It consists of just two musical moments separated by silence — the same chord expressed in two different ways.

At almost 1 hour and 29 minutes, “Patterns in a Chromatic Field” (1981) is one of Feldman’s late, long-duration works, and it is perhaps the best known of the works recorded here.

Liner notes by Samuel Clay Birmaher.

When the bassist Mike Richmond utters the magic line “Spot on!” at the ending of the recording of track 5 of this album, the album title was decided. You can actually hear it on the disc. This is Andy LaVerne’s 36th outing as leader on this label. Our collaboration goes back to 1977 when he was touring Europe with Stan Getz. Since then he has been presenting uniquely creative albums. This new release starts with a homage to McCoy and ends with one to Chick both of whom passed away last year.

The double bass is the instrument through which I express myself in it's purest form. I feel that creating this album is my way of expressing gratitude to it. It is essential for me that everything has meaning. By taking the sonata form as the guiding thread for the album, I have meticulously assembled the pieces, as if they were a puzzle. Each of the works holds great significance for me, representing an important part of my relationship with music. The sonata is the structural form that has been widely used in European classical music since the mid-eighteenth century. Therefore, given that Johannes Brahms, especially his sonatas for violin and piano, has had the most significant impact on my musical life, I wanted to pay him a small tribute.

In this, the final volume of his landmark survey of the piano works of Elisabeth Lutyens, pianist Martin Jones presents further world premiere recordings from this undeservedly neglected composer. Featuring works from across the span of Lutyen’s career, the earliest works to be included on this album are the short pieces Overture, Berceuse, Barcarolle and Dance Souvenance from 1944. The unpublished Holiday Diary from 1949, Helix from 1967, and Three Books of Bagatelles from 1979 complete the set.

This is an album of first-rate contemporary American works for violin piano, with superb performances by Pia Liptak, violin, and Yi-Wen Chang, piano. Pia Liptak: Fantasy; Charles Ives: Second Sonata for Violin and Piano; Pia Liptak: Four Haiku; David Liptak: Sonata for Violin and Piano; Baljinder Sekhon: Three Little Lights

Spanish percussionist Noè Rodrigo is one of the most talented musicians of his generation. Having performed all over Europe and the US at most major concert halls and festivals, he has premiered more than 50 pieces by composers of over 20 nationalities. His interpretations of the percussion “classics” have been described by critics and audiences as highly virtuosic, technically impeccable and musically complex while featuring a large palette of colours. With PARAULES, (Words) Rodrigo brings to life seven works by essential composers of the XXth Century: Xenakis, Sciarrino, Mantovani, Denisov, Spanish music never before recorded (Torres and Vallejo) alongside more recent pieces (Borzelli). Seventy minutes where the young artist is able to show a stunning versatility, embracing every aesthetic with intelligence and accuracy, aiming for unique interpretations. If in the beginning music was a verb, like singing, shortly after it became percussion: initially, doubling the prosody of the voice; later, introducing a growing range of rhythms and colours that have made it the most heterogeneous, surprising and multicultural of all the instrumental families. In Sciarrino’s words (PARAULES): 'a wooden percussion instrument can hardly sing, but at the same time I wonder if it cannot speak, shout, moan or murmur’.

This 1998 recording of Paul Bley is here as 180g audiophile LP for the first time. It wholly dedicated to the music of Ornette Coleman, with whom Paul was the major participant of that exciting musical experimentation some 60 years ago. “…here is an intriguing and most stimulating date that does full justice to the writing of Ornette while showcasing the vitality and virtuosity of the creative Paul Bley in full flow with two top notch companions with him all the way…” (Mark Gardner) “…anyone who has ever enjoyed the pianist should seek out Notes on Ornette. Bley still enjoys throwing seemingly unrelated bits of improvised melody together, but here he often goes to the other extreme, spinning out lines that seem endless in which a few simple ideas continually transmogrify.” (Baker, D. – JazzTimes) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

One of Gubaidulina's special merits is that at the end of the 1970s she discovered the sound characteristics and expressive possibilities of the bayan, a button accordion that had previously only been popular as a folk music instrument in Russia, and established it as an instrument of contemporary music through numerous inspired compositions. She was supported and accompanied in this endeavour by bayan performers such as Friedrich Lips in Moscow and the Swiss Elsbeth Moser, who taught in Hanover. The creation of the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and bayan can be traced back to a suggestion by Elsbeth Moser. For the five movements of the duo composition Rejoice! For violin and cello (1981), Gubaidulina chose various quotations from the writings of the Ukrainian 'travelling philosopher' Grigori Skoworoda (1722-1794), who called for poverty and self-deepening as a prerequisite for finding God. The composer explained: "The theme of my work is the metaphorical representation of the transition to another reality, expressed through the juxtaposition of normal sound and harmonics." Due to the unmistakable religious references it was not possible to premiere the work until 1988 and the premiere took place in Finland.

One of the most original musicians of our time pianist Paul Bley passed away in 2016 at the age of 83. He left immeasurable influence on the generations of piano players behind him. He was married to Swedish-American pianist/composer Carla Bley in the 50s. Carla’s compositions occupied larger part of his repertoire then. “ …(This CD) features ten pieces by Carla Bley, his former wife, that he has been playing for thirty years but he’s still finding new things in them. Some of these tunes are surprisingly frisky given Bley’s austere reputation…this is another 180g Audiophile Vinyl

M�tier presents a landmark 4-disc box set from pianist Ian Pace in commanding performances of music by composer Michael Finnissy (b. 1946). Finnissy is widely regarded as one of Britain's most important living composers. Pace, one of the leading interpreters of Finnissy's work, presents an album focused around Finnissy's epic cycle for piano, The Verdi Transcriptions, alongside the second complete recording (after the composer's own) of the iconic English Country-Tunes, and works inspired by music of the late-18th and 19th centuries. The result is a broad view of Finnissy's extensive output of piano music in relation to Romantic aesthetics. The album is released in anticipation of the M�tier label's upcoming celebrations of Michael Finnissy's 80th birthday in 2026. Finnissy's four-book cycle of Verdi Transcriptions reimagines Verdi's operas through a modern lens. As Finnissy states in his liner notes: "Transcribing sound into a written form (notation) involves making significant choices. The choices can color the ongoing exploration of that sound as 'composition.'" The result of those choices is a monumental, late-Romantic epic. Finnissy's English Country-Tunes has long been considered one of his signature and most technically demanding cycles. There is a similar line of composition through transcription as The Verdi Transcriptions, only in these works the source material is English folk music. Written in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, the work can also be seen as a commentary on the spirit of British patriotism at the time. Ian Pace's readings reflect decades of study: he first performed English Country-Tunes in the 1990s and has played Finnissy's complete piano oeuvre in cycles (1996 and 2016). The set includes extensive liner notes by both Pace and Finnissy, offering rare insight into the compositional ideas and performance choices behind these demanding works. In Pace's recording of Michael Finnissy's other epic piano cycle, The History of Photography in Sound (MSV 77501), BBC Music raved: "Pace's intimate acquaintance with the totality of History is apparent in his commanding performance... this is a magnificent achievement for both composer and performer," and Gramophone hailed Pace as "Finnissy's David Bailey, each note shaded to perfection, structures translucently and sharply lit, defining sonic images of our time." Incomparable virtuoso, called the Paganini of the harp, F�lix Godefroid was also a composer and teacher. This recording, performed by Sophie Hallynck, highlights the composer's studies in high virtuosity. Designed for his own use and that of professionals, they partake of both "absolute music" - as with the deservedly famous �tude in B-Flat Minor, Op. 193 - and the character piece, picturesque or sentimental. These musical miniatures are pieces overflowing with musicality in a refined style, but they express a pedagogical program first and foremost. Godefroid conceived of his �tudes as a true school for harpists. Each technical problem becomes the medium for a musical expression - an approach that gives these �tudes exceptional richness and relevance. Often based on one of those melodies for which Godefroid had such a knack, each one is set apart by a strongly marked expressive character, ranging from laughter to tears, as well as by it's structure, rhythm, novel sonorities, and harmonic surprises not lacking in audacity. Sophie Hallynck has risen to the technical challenges specific to each �tude while staying faithful to the spirit of the era, with the aspiration to achieve a subtle balance between virtuosity and expression. Her essential objective has always been to make technique live through music, without ever obscuring that emotion that emanates from it. Shostakovich composed music for film throughout his life, from his teenage years as a pianist accompanying silent films in Leningrad until the early 1970s. New Babylon provoked a political and artistic storm upon it's release in 1929 but remains one of Shostakovich's finest film scores, performed here complete and uncut. Popular favorites The Gadfly and Hamlet are heard in premiere recordings of the complete scores. Also included is the music for Alone, The Girlfriends, Love and Hate, and The Fall of Berlin in premiere recordings that have garnered international critical acclaim. "This composer of the New Complexity movement admires avant-jazz. He also digs 19th-century classics. So, when adapting Verdi, he does it via the spirit of Cecil Taylor. Near the midpoint of Finnissy's "La Traviata" potpourri, you'll find dense fireworks as well as tenderness deriving from a motif Verdi once assigned to Violetta." - Seth Colter Walls, NYT

12 years after his album entitled ‘Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone’ (BIS-1899), Jakob Lindberg returns to his magnificent theorbo, specially built for him by the luthier Michael Lowe, based on an instrument preserved in the Musée de la Musique in Paris.

One of the most spectacular instruments of the early baroque owing to its length and great number of strings, the theorbo was originally designed to accompany the voice but is also ideally suited to solo performance.

For this disc, Lindberg has chosen pieces by Robert de Visée, one of the great French masters of the lute, theorbo, and guitar repertoire and a favorite of Louis XIV. The recording features dances as well as character pieces, including a moving ‘Plainte’ in memory of his two deceased daughters. It also includes de Visée’s arrangements of compositions by Lully, Couperin, and Purcell as well as his own version of Les Folies d’Espagne, a very popular chord progression that inspired so many composers of his time.

Jakob Lindberg writes: ‘I can’t help but be seduced by the grace of the instrument’s lines, the resonance of its sonorities, and by the unmistakably French elegance of this remarkable composer.’

Jean Langlais was born on February 15, 1907, in La Fontenelle, Brittany, France. He became blind from the age of two. Sent to the Paris National Institute for the Blind Youth in 1918, he studied piano, violin, harmony and organ with great blind teachers (among others Albert Mahaut and Andre Marchal). Later on, he entered the Paris National Conservatory of Music in the Marcel Dupre's organ class, obtaining a First Prize in 1930. In 1931, after studying improvisation with Charles Tournemire, he received the "Grand Prix d'Execution et Improvisation des Amis de l'Orgue". He completed his studies obtaining a Composition Prize in Paul Dukas' class at the Paris Conservatory in 1934. In 1945, he became the successor to Cesar Franck and Charles Tournemire at the prestigious organ tribune of Sainte-Clotilde in Paris. He gave countless concerts worldwide, and was a prolific composer. He died on May 8th, 1991 in Paris. Langlais' distinctive style combined traditional harmonies with contemporary techniques. His compositions often feature intricate organ textures and colourful harmonies, influenced by his background as a church musician. Langlais was also known for his use of modes and complex rhythms, which added to the unique character of his music. His works often have a strong emotional intensity and sense of drama, with frequent shifts in mood and dynamics. This is the third volume of the complete organ works includes sonatas, suites, Noels, the Symphony "Alla Webern", and many miscellaneous shorter works. Played by 3 excellent Italian organists: Giorgio Benati, Fausto Caporali and Alessandro Perin. The extensive booklet includes information on the organs used on this album.

Blind from the age of two, a prodigiously gifted student, Jean Langlais (1907-91) produced an immense quantity of music. His organ works alone exceed in number those of JS Bach. Many have hardly ever been performed. Perhaps not more than half a dozen works are regularly played or recorded today, which is what makes this new complete survey of his organ music so invaluable, as the authoritative document of a high point in the distinguished lineage of the French organ heritage. The second volume of this complete survey opens with the third and last of his organ symphonies, among the most imposing and yet overlooked of his major works. More familiar are the Gregorian-inspired Suite medievale, the Triptyque, and the Triptyque Gr�gorien, whose flowing melodies share a spirit of Catholic mysticism with briefer meditations such as the Pri�re des Mages, the Incantation pour un Jour Saint and the Palm-Sunday voluntary Dominica in Palmis. As a collection of character pieces, Mosaique shows off Langlais's versatility, by turns solemn and joyful, songful and stormy. This sheer variety of form alone makes him stand out among French 20th-century composers for the organ. Throughout his life, Langlais wrote in many different styles and, true to his ideal, still retained the ability to surprise. This major project has been undertaken jointly by the Italian organists Giorgio Benati, Fausto Caporali and Alessandro Perin. Benati is a former student of Langlais, and Caporali has a string of successful French organ recordings to his credit. They have made these new recordings on Italian instruments, lending Langlais an 'Italian accent' while faithfully observing his expressive and registration markings in his scores. Booklet notes for each piece have been written by Giorgio Benati.

Ahead of the 80th birthday of one of Britain's most singular compositional voices, this double album presents the complete organ works of Michael Finnissy a body of music as rich in intellectual depth as it is in imagination. Performed with careful nuance by acclaimed American organist Forrest Eimold, these works span over six decades and chart the evolution of a composer constantly challenging himself to think beyond presumed forms. At the heart of the collection are Finnissy's four Organ Symphonies: bold, searching works that pay homage to and wrestle with the legacies of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler, while also evoking the French organ tradition of Vierne and Widor. "Why even write a Symphony?" Finnissy asks in a personal note for this release. "To explore and learn. To challenge oneself with the abiding presence of awe-inspiring history... to locate a rhetoric which fearlessly approaches the 'higher world of knowledge.'" From the youthful drama of�... ere the set of sun... �(written as incidental music for�MacBeth�in 1965) to the industrial solemnity of�Blackburn�(2022), the album presents not just a body of work but a kind of inner autobiography. The�Hymn-Tune Preludes - transformations of Sacred Harp and Norwegian folk melodies - offer a striking contrast: intimate, harmonically volatile, and unhitched from convention. Even the earliest works here, like the student piece�Xunthaeresis, reveal the seeds of a language already driven by risk and complex expression. Forrest Eimold, a formidable interpreter of 20th and 21st century keyboard music, brings dazzling technique and interpretive depth to this music. His command of registration, colour, and pacing allows each piece - from the vast landscapes of the symphonies to the epigrammatic preludes - to speak with clarity and conviction. Recorded on a range of instruments, including the organ of the UK's Blackburn Cathedral, this is a release release which anchors Finnissy's contribution to the organ repertoire as one of bold imagination and philosophical depth. It also continues Metier's retrospective celebrations for Finnissy's 80th year, with further releases to follow.

Legendary American piano player/composer Andrew Hill (June 30, 1931 – April 20, 2007) lived an active and fruitful life leaving us a legacy of unique, enigmatic music. Hill, however disappeared from the scene for about a decade in the late 60s. This album and its predecessor SCCD 31026 “Invitation” released in the mid. 70’s paved his way back to the limelight he deserved. Andrew Hill received numerous awards including Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America (1997). “... Divine Revelation certainly earns its title, for it reveals to any newcomer to his music… Hill at his most inspired, and most enigmatic ....” (Simon Adams, Jazz Journal International, March 1995) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Kenny Drew (August 28, 1928 / New York – August 4, 1993 / Copenhagen) spent the last three decades of his life in Copenhagen as a stalwart of vibrant European jazz scene. He left quite a number of outstanding recordings both as leader and sideman on SteepleChase. Here on his first trio recording for the label, Kenny Drew is backed by – to quote Melody Maker – Danish bass wizard Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and intelligent purveyor of rhythm Albert “Tootie” Heath. Dark Beauty whose album cover is graced by a portrait photo of his daughter Sabrina is one of the most popular albums of his recording career. “...extremely charming main stream jazz..” (Swing Journal) “...brilliant!” (Jazz Magazine) “Kenny has a relaxed, attractive style, free from embellishments or dramatic devices, but capable of generating happy swing…” (C.W. Meloday Maker on SCS 1016) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Violin and piano duo Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins explore a violin and piano programme spanning four generations of musical imagination. Prokofiev's F minor Sonata captivates with it's dramatic intensity and baroque-inspired clarity. Stravinsky's Duo Concertant enchants through five lyrical musical poems, blending wit, elegance, and classical poise. Knussen's 'Reflection', written for Waley-Cohen and Watkins, immerses listeners in a jewel-like world of colour and introspection, where every note is deliberately placed. Watkins's Violin Sonata fuses modern lyricism with bursts of earthy vitality, creating a dialogue of subtle contrasts.

In the 1950s, American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987) developed his own unique, meditative style of music, combining open, quasi-functional sounds into a musical flow. His works generally do not follow any formal concept; they are slow, calm, sometimes very extended sound meditations, mostly moving in the finest piano-pianissimo nuances. With these recordings made at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne, the participating artists present the first complete recording of all of Feldman's piano works for more than two hands. The piano duo elaeis - Jovita Z�hl and Philipp Kronbichler - collaborated with other pianists and singers. The recordings include several first recordings, such as Pianos and Voices, recorded for the first time on five grand pianos with five sopranos, and the recently discovered Trio for Two Pianos and Cello with Rohan de Saram, long-time member of the Arditti Quartet, playing the violoncello. The fame of Feldman's late work temporarily overshadowed our appreciation of his earlier compositions, the importance of which is amply demonstrated in this album. - A magnificent release to mark the composer's 100th birthday!

Esteemed pianist James Iman releases his highly anticipated album, "Iman III," marking the third instalment in his groundbreaking series. Delving into a diverse repertoire, Iman's latest offering showcases a unique blend of piano works that resonate with the complexities of the human experience. The genesis of "Iman III" amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the resilience and creative introspection that defined it's conception. Originally planned for recording prior to the pandemic-induced lockdowns, the project encountered delays, allowing Iman ample time to refine and redefine it's thematic underpinnings. The resulting album is a testament to the profound evolution of artistic vision in the face of adversity. Iman's eclectic program transcends traditional narrative structures, inviting listeners into a labyrinth of musical abstraction where each piece engages in a nuanced dialogue with it's counterparts. From Klaus Huber's haunting exploration of silence in "Ein Hauch von Unzeit II" to Alban Berg's masterful interplay of chromaticism and counterpoint in his Piano Sonata Op. 1, "Iman III" offers a multifaceted journey through the annals of musical expression. In Morton Feldman's "Last Pieces," Iman embraces the freedom afforded by the composer's experimental notation, weaving a tapestry of sound that defies conventional constraints. Emulating the randomness inherent in Feldman's ensemble works, Iman navigates the delicate balance between structure and spontaneity, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in a realm of deliberate and enjoyable ambiguity. Betsy Jolas's enigmatic "B for Sonata" serves as a fitting conclusion to the album, epitomizing the composer's innovative approach to form and rhythm. Through meticulously crafted rhythmic freedoms and evolving tonal landscapes, Iman breathes life into Jolas's introspective exploration of musical minimalism and existential inquiry. "Iman III" attests to James Iman's unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of artistic expression. With each track meticulously curated to resonate with the soulful intricacies of human experience. James Iman is a critically acclaimed pianist known for his innovative approach to repertoire and profound musical insight. With a career spanning decades, Iman has established himself as a prominent figure in the contemporary classical music scene, captivating audiences worldwide with his dynamic performances and meticulous attention to detail. "Iman III" marks the latest chapter in his ongoing quest to redefine the boundaries of artistic expression through the transformative power of music.

This album features mastered versions of works performed live by the Quatuor Diotima at the Fundacion Juan March on 27 April 2022 and 14 February 2024. It presents the world premiere recordings of String Quartets Nos. 8 and 9 and of the Intermezzo Scherzo on the surname Mi-la-nes by Conrado del Campo (1878-1953), one of the most original but least well-known Spanish composers of the first half of the twentieth century. The concert was part of the Proyecto Conrado, launched in 2021, which involves programming the first complete cycle of his thirteen string quartets. This will go hand in hand with the production of a complete edition of the scores, most of which have never been published, and the release of recordings of the quartets. The aim of this ambitious initiative is to rescue a significant body of works from the undeserved neglect into which they have fallen.

Busoni's operatic masterpiece, Doktor Faust, was left unfinished on his death in 1924. A DVD (37998) and Blu-ray (57998) of this performance was released on Dynamic in March of this year, receiving much critical acclaim. Cornelius Meister conducts the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Dietrich Henschel in the title role. This release marks the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. May 2025 will be the 100th anniversary of the opera's premiere performance.

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis - The jury's statement: "Comprehensive and highly "Comprehensive and interpretatively high-ranking insight into the central creative field of an unjustly forgotten composer of the Schonberg generation, who stood in the Reger tradition and continued it not without a pronounced will to experiment. The edition of a young label enriches the record repertoire in an exemplary way and has a high information value." (Orgelwerke); "Excellent performance." (American Record Guide)

Avant-jazz pianist and composer Matthew Shipp has been referred to as the "elder statesman" of the art form by DownBeat magazine, but the reach and scope of his music extends much further than mere genre. The Cosmic Piano delivers on that promise - a solo recording that taps into the deeper exploratory potential of the instrument, with Shipp channeling a lifetime of knowledge and a daunting array of influences into nearly an hour of spontaneous, enlightened and joyfully rendered music.