EVERYTHING CHANGED ON JANUARY 7, 2025 I never imagined we would evacuate our home in the Palisades-a place alive with laughter, music, and the joyful chaos of my husband, our two young daughters, and crazy rescue dog-never to return. So many dear friends lost everything: cherished family heirlooms, photographs, instruments, and music libraries that had taken a lifetime to build-all vanished in moments. That evening, from our hotel window, I watched the fires rage through the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains and sobbed, completely helpless. Yet from the ash and destruction, something profoundly beautiful emerged-much like the glowing fairy at the end of Fantasia, rising from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. I commissioned Eric Whitacre to write a new work for violin and orchestra, and as the world changed, so did his composition. Little did I know that The Pacific Has No Memory would be born from these epic tragedies. This music has become salve for the soul-a warm, healing embrace for my broken heart. Tender and profound, it radiates love, hope, and renewal. I am eternally grateful to Eric Whitacre for creating this musical prayer and to the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for breathing life into it together. This recording is dedicated to all who were affected by the Los Angeles fires, and to the brave first responders who risked everything to save lives. - Anne Akiko Meyers

Valentin Silvestrov was forced to leave his native Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022. His music has a prescient quality that unerringly seems to express the fate of his homeland. The intimate Violin Concerto and the heartfelt, single-span Eighth Symphony are notable for their economy of expression and emphasis on beauty, depth and harmony. This is music that hovers on the edge of silence in an uplifting homage to love and humanity, hope and renewal.

This production is dedicated to the works of two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly the better known in Germany. His choral work O magnum mysterium (1994) in particular has become one of the hits of contemporary choral literature in recent years. Lauridsen (born 1943) grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Danish immigrants. The songs of Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers were very present in his home. He initially studied English and history and worked as a fireman. He then turned his attention entirely to music and moved to the University of Southern California, where, after graduating, he taught music theory and later became a professor of composition. As a creator of primarily vocal music he received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. From 1994 to 2001, he was composer in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the leading professional choirs in the USA, which also premiered his Lux aeterna. All five movements of this cycle refer to the "Eternal Light". While Lauridsen was setting the underlying liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying - but the words about light as a universal symbol of all-encompassing enlightenment gave him consolation. Jake Runestad is one of the latest additions to the list of great American composers and is in the process of securing his place in US music history. Born in 1986 in Rockford, Illinois, he grew up in a family that sang a lot. There was also a piano, and during his primary school years he began to play little melodies on it - also teaching himself Scott Joplin's The Entertainer. From 2009 to 2011, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, after which he quickly gained recognition, especially in the field of choral music. However, his catalogue of works also includes operas, orchestral pieces and chamber music. He has received commissions from the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. His first album, The Hope of Loving, was immediately nominated for a Grammy Award. A keen mountaineer and camper, Runestad finds nature a great source of inspiration. In his Earth Symphony, Mother Earth herself is given a voice; the five interrelated sections deal with her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and also her hope for humanity.

Featuring 13 premiere recordings, With Eys Lift Up is a new collection of works written by American composer Nico Muhly for - and the majority commissioned by - the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. Comprising settings of the mass and canticles alongside anthems for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascensiontide, Trinity Sunday and Remembrance, the collection sets a number of little-known texts, casting new light on familiar seasons of the church year.

Angela Hewitt's new album is clearly destined to become a favorite. It features some of the best-known musical declarations of love across the centuries, heard in transcriptions by some of the great pianists (including Angela herself).

(2-CD set) Deben Bhattacharya celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Jewish State with recordings made in the first years of it's etablishment. They recall a time when people with the same religion but from different cultural backgrounds were arriving from the world over. These CDs are a precious archive of the musical and cultural encounters of those early days.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Anton von Webern. Ensemble: Leipzig String Quartet.

Classical Music

V 11: COMPLETE SONATAS, K 476-

Winter Solstice

Step By Step: Hammer Dulcimer

John Mccutcheon'S Four Seasons: Summersongs

Mail Myself To You

Howjadoo

Sky Music

The Wind That Shakes The Barley: Hammer Dulcimer

River Songs of Bangladesh - Field Recordings by Deben Bhatta

TRIPTYKON

A celebration from The Orlando Consort of the musical and literary worlds of Florence's golden age under the Medici, in a selection of works which includes a number of first recordings.

2022 release. Simply put, Samara Joy is next. At just 22 years old, her Verve debut Linger Awhile shows that with a voice, tone, and phrasing that harkens back to the most legendary jazz vocalists, Samara belongs in the company of iconic labelmates from Ella Fitzgerald to Sarah Vaughan to Billie Holiday. Samara is remarkably savvy on TikTok and Instagram, fostering a community of devoted followers through fully organic means. She is poised to be a household name, synonymous with timeless jazz music.

Simply put, Samara Joy is next. At just 22 years old, her Verve debut 'Linger Awhile' shows that with a voice, tone, and phrasing that harkens back to the most legendary jazz vocalists, Samara belongs in the company of iconic labelmates from Ella Fitzgerald to Sarah Vaughan to Billie Holiday. Samara is remarkably savvy on TikTok and Instagram, fostering a community of devoted followers through fully organic means. She is poised to be a household name, synonymous with timeless jazz music.

US 180-gram vinyl pressing. Extension of a Man is an album released by the R&B/Soul singer Donny Hathaway in 1973. It was his last studio album. It's noted for including a young Stanley Clarke of (then) Return to Forever on a couple of tracks, as well as drummer Fred White, brother to Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White (who worked with Hathaway in Chicago in the early days).

The 'fount of grace' of the title is the Virgin Mary, to whom Machaut addresses his appeals for mercy during a turbulent period in France's history.

The triumph of the harp! When Marie-Antoinette arrived at the French court in 1770, she brought a harp in her luggage. Thanks to her enthusiasm, the instrument was to enjoy a revival of interest that produced an abundant repertory. Available once more from the hamronia mundi archived, "Christie's collaboration with the superb Xavier de Maistre is an exquisitely refined account of Krumpholtz's enchanting Fifth Harp Concerto" (BBC Music Magazine). "This is rococo entertainment music at it's most decorously pastel... de Maistre's playing is a marvel of delicate coloring and shimmering, perfectly even passagework." (Gramophone)

This Now Playing shines the spotlight on Donny Hathaway with a tracklist that spans soulful themes of love, hope, and introspection. It includes iconic songs like "The Ghetto - Part 1," "A Song For You," and "Where Is The Love" featuring Roberta Flack, showcasing his emotive vocals and poignant lyrics. This collection also delves into social issues with tracks like "Little Ghetto Boy" and ends on a hopeful note with "Someday We'll All Be Free," leaving a lasting impact with it's soul-stirring melodies and messages of resilience.

Double purple vinyl LP pressing. Platinum Best Of that's never been released on vinyl. Includes the holiday favorite 'This Christmas' as well as his famous duets with Roberta Flack 'The Closer I Get to You' and 'Where Is The Love'. This collection has been the go-to for Donny Hathaway fans old and new for 30 years.

Diana Krall - "The Look Of Love (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)" / The Look of Love is a lush, cinematic collection of ballads and bossa nova tunes, produced by Tommy LiPuma, arranged and conducted by the legendary Claus Ogerman, and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. Originally released in 2001, The Look of Love brings to mind such classic Frank Sinatra albums as In the Wee Small Hours and Only The Lonely - but the elegant piano solos, sensual vocals and wickedly modern sense of humor are, inimitably, all Diana Krall. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180grAm vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. [2 LP] Special Pkg:180gram Heavy

Blu-ray With 192/24 Resolution Quadraphonic And Hi-Res Stereo Mixes Transferred From The Original Half-Inch Four-Channel Masters Quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound, utilizes four audio channels connected to four speakers positioned at the corners of a listening space. The multi-tracked audio is mixed dimensional, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape. Donny Hathaway's final studio album, EXTENSION OF A MAN, released in 1973, was a collaborative effort with renowned musicians Stanley Clarke (Return to Forever), Fred White, Al Kooper, Billy Preston, and many more. The album featured the transcendent track "Someday We'll All Be Free," which featured lyrics from Hathaway's close friend and manager, Edward Howard.