New from Navona Records and Craig Morris comes CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES, a stirring album of original chamber works. MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES is the work of a master craftsman with an ear for poignant lyricism. The album features four pieces, each of which exhaustively explores the colors and timbres available to the chamber ensembles. Critics have called Morris’s music “extremely intelligent, complex and powerful,” and CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES is further evidence of that. It opens with Romance, for Violin and Piano, which finds the violin and piano in one of the most deeply-intimate musical settings imaginable. The delicate interplay between these two instruments suggests both the tenderness and the passion of a budding courtship as it develops from one moment to the next. This is followed by Colors, a piece for string quartet that delves into the rich timbral contrasts that define this centuries-old musical form. The second portion of CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES’s program consists of a pair of piano quartets. Johnny and Tony, in particular, is a masterful homage to the chamber music of Brahms and Dvorak, and further reveals Morris’s skill for counterpoint and melody. Moods, the second piano quartet and concluding piece on the album, offers an upbeat and lighthearted finale to the collection. CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES is the result of Morris’s lifetime of study and practice of the art of composition. His work reveals his profound love and commitment to 19th-century Romantic music; and yet, this background serves merely as a launchpad for his own compositions. Far from derivative, Morris uses his deep understanding of the idiom to create novel and captivating works—works that lovers of tonal chamber music are sure to find at once familiar and refreshing.

New from Navona Records is saxophonist José Antonio Zayas Cabán’s CENTENNIAL, an album of cutting-edge solo and chamber music reflecting on the shortcomings of the 19th Amendment during its 100-year anniversary. Rather than celebrating, this album urges listeners to recognize the significant work that remains in achieving global equality. Zayas Cabán, the central collaborator and performer on Centennial, merges the musical and the political. As a native Puerto Rican and 2020–2021 McKnight Fellow, he works to develop musical projects and collaborations that confront current events and social issues. As historian Katheryn Lawson describes, Shelley Washington’s BIG Talk opens from a place of exasperation and power, speaking out against the wide spectrum of rape culture. The “unrelenting, churning duo” between baritone saxophones urges listeners to “stop perpetuating rape culture by any and every means necessary.” Gemma Peacocke’s Skin takes a New Zealander’s view on the ways the U.S. was built and is constantly remade from the illogics of race. Author of the CENTENNIAL opening essay, Lawson states, “anxieties about sexuality between races, between and among genders, are endemic to this system.” Amanda Feery’s Gone to Earth responds to the present moment through the lens of Mary Webb’s novel of the same name. The phrase “gone to earth” refers to foxes hiding in a hunt, a metaphor for the ways women are “hunted” in societies. Feery was “stunned that [the novel] was written in 1917, and angry that the notion of the predatory hunt and desire to control women is still very much a threat to women’s lives today.” Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel has long been a source of inspiration for those in search of female musicians and composers. A prodigy who struggled against patriarchal expectations, she premiered the Piano Trio in D minor in one of her Sunday afternoon musical gatherings.

Navona Records presents A NATIVE HILL from Philadelphia’s professional chamber choir, The Crossing. This monumental unaccompanied work is the result of a collaboration with composer Gavin Bryars, whose previous work for The Crossing won them their first of two recent Grammy awards. With intimate knowledge of the individual voices and art of each singer, Bryars composed A NATIVE HILL to capitalize on the group’s unique sound, personality, and esprit de corps. A NATIVE HILL is based on American author and environmentalist Wendell Berry’s 1968 essay of the same name, which examines bucolic elements of rural life, suffused with deeper metaphysical and political implications. The new album is full of rich, complex vocal textures, dense chromatic clusters, and moments of profound simplicity, offering an opportunity to reflect on life’s timeless questions.

Navona Records proudly presents BREAKING THE SILENCE from legendary Australian composer George Palmer. The works featured on this new album draw inspiration from centuries-old poetry as well as the composer’s own life experience; Breaking the Silence unpacks a 17th-century pastoral haiku depicting a lone frog’s leap into a still pond, while Not Going Quietly is a touching tribute to a concert pianist whose life was cut short by a brain tumor. Palmer’s versatility is on full display in this latest collection, with pieces arranged for chamber orchestra, clarinet and string quartet, and oboe and piano. A triumph of contemporary composition and modern recording, BREAKING THE SILENCE is at once approachable and universally captivating.

Inspired by a transcription by composer Franz Liszt, GÖTTERFUNKEN employs the duality of two grand pianos to reimagine and reinterpret Beethoven’s revered Ninth Symphony. As mother and daughter, pianists Eliane Rodrigues and Nina Smeets infuse their own personal flair with Rodrigues’s arrangement, following the path Beethoven paved while connecting his work to the present day with small instances of improvisation throughout that reflect his original stylistic preferences. Conceptualized in the age of social distancing, GÖTTERFUNKEN was arranged not only to reunite Rodrigues and Smeets through music, but the world as a whole with Beethoven’s magnum opus.

Be transformed by the haunting intensity of Brankovich’s performance in Black Swan of Piano. Extending from the melancholic forms of 19th century composer Eric Satie to the dark, moving compositions of the pianist herself, this album invites listeners into the realms of the past, the war-torn images of her homeland, and a look into the immense possibilities for the musical future. Victory and War are the first of Brankovich’s own compositions, but with her sharpened technique combined with an emotional drive, the pieces play like those by a seasoned composer. The works are directly inspired by melodies heard during her childhood in Serbia and the dramatic choral elements found in the Kosovo region. Her melodies refer to “the screams of the lost souls that vanished in the wars during the 90s in the Balkan region.” These compositions are dedicated to the innocent victims of violence during that dark time in her homeland. Throughout the album, Brankovich intertwines Serbian and Western techniques with her own experimental style. The piano is stretched to limitless sonic possibilities thanks to Brankovich’s application of phrasing, tension, and mood. The solo pianist fills the soundscape effortlessly, allowing chords and melodies to linger. This is especially present in Božic’s Lyric of Athos and Mansell’s Lux Aeterna, originally composed for the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. The album also consists of works by acclaimed composer and professor Fredrick Kaufman, Metamorphosis and Yin and Yang. Kaufman’s compositions provided key inspiration for Brankovich’s debut album, and she is joined on Yin and Yang by the notable pianist and scholar Kemal Gekic. The “Black Swan” pulls listeners into each composition with her spellbinding command of the piano. She gives life to the Serbian sound by adding space between the notes, letting her piano breathe and tell the complex story of her people.

Daniel Burwasser award-winning music has been performed worldwide, and has been featured on the Navona releases DIMENSIONS (NV5895) which includes his piece Whirlwind, as well as LUMINESCENCE (NV5969) which showcases his work Catching Fireflies. Recordings of David DeVasto’s compositions have been featured on Navona Records, the most recent of which being the compilation release CRIMSON & LACE (NV6006), which Gramophone praises as “Another in Navona Records’ typically intense and varied compilations of new music presents sympathetic, earnest performances of three under-the-radio American composers struggling to find consolation amid emotional uncertainty, hopelessness and pain.” Swiss composer Georges Raillard has written over 50 pieces for guitar. Sinking Islands, his contribution to this compilation, is performed by David William Ross. Award-winning composer Michael Lee composes in a variety of eclectic styles, with influences ranging from Stravinsky to early rock and jazz to 16th century polyphony. His featured piece on this release, Farewell…, is performed by the MFO Chamber Players.

Acclaimed pianist Inna Faliks breaks new ground with REIMAGINED on Navona Records, an homage to Beethoven and Ravel which manages to do the impossible: be breathtakingly innovative while remaining respectful to the source material. Nine contemporary composers, including Richard Danielpour, Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, and Timo Andres, were commissioned to craft responses to Ludwig van Beethoven's Bagatelles, op. 126 (incidentally, the master's favorite) as well as Maurice Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. The results are exhilarating, not least owing to Faliks's stunningly precise and sensitive pianistic interpretation: the Ukrainian-born American pianist ties together Classical, Romantic and modern pieces with disarming nonchalance and rock-solid technical skill. Defying the challenge of uniting three centuries of musical styles and social commentary, as well as producing an album during a global pandemic with the help of Yamaha's Disklavier technology, REIMAGINED proudly raises a monument not only to the genius of Beethoven and Ravel, but also to the perseverance and verve of some of today's most exciting and important composers.

PARMA Recordings, together with the esteemed Croatian Chamber Orchestra, is proud to release Beneath the Tide, a reflection on human emotion and experience through a collection of five concertos. As the title suggests, Beneath the Tide looks under the surface, examining underlying human realities that rise to the surface with the arrival of life’s changes. Beneath the Tide starts off with Clarinet Concertos by Michael G. Cunningham. A weighty, dissonant performance, the solo clarinet is carried by the sometimes urgent, sometimes quietly brooding harmonies of the orchestra. Clarinet Concertos is followed by Rain Worthington’s In Passages for string orchestra, where the solo violin and orchestra pass the lead voice back and forth. Ssu-Yu Huang’s Guitar Concerto No. 1 is a reflection on nostalgia after moving to a foreign country. The guitar’s voice, which sings a motif inspired by a Hengchun folksong “Nostalgia,” is balanced by the accompanying orchestra, conveying the sudden outbursts of suppressed emotions that one in the midst of melancholy may experience. Bruce Reiprich’s Lullaby, written upon the birth of a friend’s child, is a harmonically lush composition for violin solo and orchestra. Tender and sentimental, the piece reflects on the wonder of new life and the love that comes as people gather to help a child grow. Beneath the Tide concludes with the triumphant Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Beth Mehocic—triumphant not only in character, but also for the fact that the piece has finally been brought to life after its creation 40 years ago. The piece, which had been considered “too conventional” by Mehocic’s instructors, is a grand, thematic performance with bright brass, lively percussion, and swooping piano gestures, and its entry into the listening sphere is not to be missed. Beneath the Tide provides a stunning look into the minds of five composers, as well as a reflection on the human experience itself. Demonstrating the multifacetedness of the recording orchestra, and the limitlessness of the denotation “concerto,” Beneath the Tide is a first-rate classical experience.

The Renaissance Men are back with their latest release on Navona Records: A VERY RENMEN CHRISTMAS: LIVE! The album, which features lush choral arrangements of traditional hymns and holiday classics, captures the festive spirit of the RenMen’s annual Christmas galas for listeners everywhere. Following on the heels of their 2019 release, RENMEN LAMENTS, this newest collection offers timeless seasonal chamber music arranged for tenor, baritone, and bass voices.

The album opens with soloist Corey Dalton Hart intoning the verse of Some Children See Him; the sparkling clarity of each rounded note is soon multiplied by the rest of the choir, elevating the performance to spiritual heights. This is followed by Cantate Domino, an invigorating setting of Psalm 96. With its aggressive rhythmic action and sensitive dynamics, the Latin text is presented as an arresting and captivating musical piece. Riu Chiu is a traditional Spanish song, and the RenMen bring it to life with passionate energy against the chattering rhythm of a tambourine. The RenMen treat listeners to favorite classics, as well, but always with that signature sound and attention to detail they are known for. Their rendition of I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a treatment of the song made popular by Rascal Flatts. Blending the choral group’s influences, this number incorporates jazz, country, and popular stylings seamlessly with traditional choral techniques. Later, songs like Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman offer a lighthearted counterpoint to O Magnum Mysterium and Angels We Have Heard on High, making this a joyful and inviting holiday album for the whole family.

Steeped in time-honored western choral music and flavored with yuletide fun, A VERY RENMEN CHRISTMAS: LIVE! brings the merriment of the RenMen’s live performances to your living room. Pour some eggnog, don that favorite Christmas sweater, and enjoy this collection of ancient and modern classics.

Australian composer Andrew Anderson defies expectations with a new recording of his magnificent Piano Quartets, interpreted by the Australia Piano Quartet with breathtaking new zest and verve. Australia Piano Quartet (APQ) brings together Australia’s most respected and dynamic instrumentalists. The players’ passion for the piano quartet stems from their love of the extraordinary repertoire and the unique qualities of the ensemble itself: a synthesis of the finely blended sonority of a string trio, the soloistic qualities of each string voice and the orchestral power and virtuosic brilliance of the piano. APQ presents reinvigorated interpretations of canonic masterpieces, neglected piano quartet works of past and present, and new works by Australian composers. Commissions to date have engaged leading composers including William Barton, Ross Edwards, Paul Dean, Elliot Gyger, Elena Kats-Chernin, Lachlan Skipworth, Jack Symonds and Felicity Wilcox.

The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A MEXICAN CHRISTMAS, an album of 17th century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion. Organ, harp, bassoon, and a variety of Mexican traditional instruments bring this exuberant and diverse music to life.

From Mozart’s concertos to Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung,” the flute has served as a versatile tool for conveying the spectrum of human emotion. On AERO, flutist Dieter Flury puts decades of study and a handmade golden flute by Yamaha to work to breathe life into works by contemporary composers and spark the imaginations of listeners. John Bilotta’s Capricci gives the flute a virtuosic encore with three contrasting sections full of syncopation and off-beat gestures. Mari Kotskyy’s Colors offers a cheerful musical landscape filled with conversational harmonies between flute, piano, and clarinet. Three Lais by Allen Brings envisions a poet, alone in a world of sand and stone, reading texts in an ancient tongue. The flute’s delicate side is highlighted by Romance for Flute and Piano by Marvin J. Carlton, a gentle dance that pleases the ear. Ondine’s Flute by Kenneth Eggert depicts a mermaid atop a rock, waves crashing around her as she plays her song. Andrew Lewinter’s Waltz for Flute and Cello brings the two instruments together with a tonal, three-part structure, and Charles Savage’s Mad Rush to the End shows off the power of two flutes with a drive that creates a unified “super-flute.” Carl Vollrath’s The Glass of Absinthe showcases the instrument’s ability to illustrate by capturing the mood of Degas’ painting of the same name. Over his storied career, Flury has served as Principal Flute of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist with orchestras the world over, and recording artist for a slew of albums from Baroque to contemporary. Behind the scenes, he’s also served as Artistic Director and General Manager of Vienna Philharmonic and a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.

The music of composer Beth Mehocic comes together as a fulfilling and enticing whole in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF BETH MEHOCIC. This all encompassing album merges the many corners and triumphs of Mehocic’s library, with commissioned pieces, tone poems, and various styles colliding in celebration of her extensive breadth of repertoire. Find early works like Piece by Piece alongside the more recent Left of Winter, Picasso’s Flight, and others with performances from Trio Casals, Croatian Chamber Orchestra, Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra, Altius Quartet, Zagreb Festival Orchestra, and more.

Just as each season brings its own sensations and expressions, so does composer John Mitchell’s SEASONS from Navona Records. Performed by the award winning Benda Quartet, the compositions envelop the various characteristics and hallmarks of each time of year, capturing both their beauty and the emotions they evoke. Autumn exudes the subtle warmth left from summer, Winter brings suspenseful chills and flurries of notes, Spring, a shedding of winter coats, and Summer, a regal and relaxing musical soundscape, all conjured from a dynamic and expressive string quartet performance.