The sonic image I had when composing this eight-minute composition was that of a kaleidoscope's vibrant and multi-shaped materials being rotated five times, resulting in five ever-changing bebop dances which are played without pause. The orchestra is a virtuosic kaleidoscope. Bebop Kaleidoscope, Homage to Duke Ellington unfolds a labyrinth of musical interrelationships and connections that showcase the world-class musicians of the New York Philharmonic and conductor Ken-David Masur. Here is a virtuosic display of rhythmic and timbral dexterity, counterpoint, skill, energy, dynamic and articulative range, precision, and teamwork. When feasible, the composition is to be performed with dancers. Made as an homage to Duke Ellington, Bebop Kaleidoscope celebrates the imagination, joy, love, swing, soul, energy, great chords (as if he had seven fingers on each hand!), rich chord progressions, tight big-band-splash-chords, the use of brass mutes, the highlighting of soloists within the band, and the sheer beating-heart inner life of the music. - Augusta Read Thomas

Carl Friedrich Abel: The Drexel Manuscript

It is difficult to say anything about Mozart's famous Requiem – the masterpiece having been described and analysed all too often. It is known to almost everyone in the world, either in its entirety or in large parts, or is familiar to them at the very least from its title. Almost everybody has come into contact with the Requiem’s music, whether from the concert hall or merely from watching Miloš Forman's 1984 film drama "Amadeus". What breathes new life into this work and this music time and again are congenial performances with outstanding casts. A true highlight in the performance history of the Requiem was Mariss Jansons' interpretation of it in May 2017, which absolutely delighted the Munich concert audience and was also highly acclaimed by the trade press. Under Jansons' direction, the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks gave of their best, with an excellent quartet of vocal soloists rounding off the outstanding ensemble. This made the performances of Mozart's Requiem in the popular completed version by his student Süßmayr a truly memorable experience.

The live recording from the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz was made on May 11 and 12, 2017 and has now been released on a single CD by BR-KLASSIK.

Flutist Roberta Michel releases Hush, a collection of new works for solo flute and with electronics by Victoria Cheah, Angelica Negron, Jen Baker, Mert Morali, and Jane Rigler that are the result of close collaborations. Michel brings her wide ranging virtuosity to all of the pieces, from acrobatic passagework to deep timbral excavation.

Pianist David Kaplan releases New Dances of the League of David, comprised of a set of miniatures he commissioned between 2013 and 2015 to be woven into the Davidsbundlertanze of Robert Schumann. Kaplan asked 16 composers to write responses to Schumann's original, presenting a startling range of compositional approaches, though all unified by their common engagement with Schumann's spirit.

Composer Arthur Levering releases OceanRiverLake, a collection of his music for chamber orchestra, string quartet, solo piano, and mixed trio that reflects his affinity with the core repertoire of the modern era, Celtic music, and the work of an esteemed colleague who recently passed, Steven Stucky. The album features performances by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Lydian String Quartet, Donald Berman, Sarah Brady, and Maarten Stragier.

Lloyd's first solo piano piece, An African Shrine (1966), was written for the great British pianist, John Ogdon, who premiered it on 30 August 1969 for a BBC Radio 3 broadcast and recorded it a year later for EMI. The material teems with invention of the highest quality, yet the composer keeps a tight rein on his ideas. Weighty, dramatic sequences are counterpoised convincingly with gentler, lyrical episodes inside an expansive, sweeping canvas that honours the depth and seriousness of the music's underlying theme. Above all, the music is unequivocally, and compellingly, pianistic and could not have been written for any other medium.

Composer Adam Mirza releases Partial Knowledge, a collection of chamber works written between 2006 and 2022. Featuring some of the new music world's most active ensembles, including loadbang, Mivos Quartet, Unheard-of//Ensemble, Bent Frequency Duo Project, and members of International Contemporary Ensemble, Mirza experiments with the relationship between the part and the whole that is germane to the experience of chamber music. He employs strategies involving independent tempi, integration of field recordings, and live electronics to destabilize expectations and inject unpredictability into the essence of ensemble works.

The symphonies of the Bulgarian composer-conductor Emil Tabakov (b. 1947) explore the darker side of the human spirit in monumental scores as austere as they are powerful, his language sitting somewhere between Shostakovich, Var�se, Pettersson, and Simpson in it's fierce, explosive energy and elemental drive. His Tenth Symphony (2018) opens with the first of many wild outbursts that occasionally give way to islands of uneasy calm. The inconsolable sorrow of the slow movement finally boils up into an epic passage of colossal anger. By way of contrast, the scherzo opens in a mood of mischievous humour that soon spirals into a swirling, headlong, white-knuckle ride. Like the first movement, the finale sets off with the untrammelled power of a raging flood; it abates only briefly, to reveal a blasted landscape suggesting Kafka's 'There is hope - but not for us'. The Symphony is prefaced here by a dignified, deeply felt symphonic essay for strings, an epitaph for lost love.

SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music of the United States) releases it's latest archival recording drawn from it's annual conference, featuring works by John Gibson, Timothy Roy, Qiujiang Levi Lu, Chi Wang, Sam Pluta, and Scott L. Miller.

For many years, composer Tina Davidson has written music that endeavored to connect with issues larger than herself. "Barefoot" is no exception, though here Davidson looks inward towards her personal ties to music and how they can be a portal to a more holistic sense of being in the world. Featuring chamber works performed by the Jasper String Quartet and Natalie Zhu, "Barefoot" is an earthy invitation to a subtly powerful musical world.

French lutenist Florent Marie presents his second solo album on Carpe Diem Records: A collection of Renaissance lute music by the famous John Dowland. Recorded in a small church in the normannic countryside, this album features both melancholic and more uplifting compositions of the great English master of the lute, creating an emotional and colorful rendering of these mostly well-known and loved pieces.

In 1972, Lloyd wrote the first draft of The Transformation of that Naked Ape. He had been reading Desmond Morris's book, The Naked Ape (1967) and the idea for a solo piano piece came to him. In his own words, 'I had always refused to accept the notion that we humans are just superior animals so this book decided me to stand up and be counted amongst those who believe another dimension must be added to explain our natures'. In 1987, the composer revised the work for the present recording. There are six movements in the piece, entitled 'Her Hair', 'Her Tongue', 'Her Eyes', 'Her Brain', 'her Mind' and 'Her Soul'. If this sequence suggests a progression from the physical to the spiritual, such a development is also apparent in the music. Hence the helter-skelter scherzo-like frivolity of 'Her Hair' and the florid introspection of 'Her Tongue' give way gradually to the tender lyricism of 'Her Mind' and the brio and joyfulness of the closing movement, 'Her Soul'.

At the head of the score of The Lily-leaf and the Grasshopper (1972), Lloyd has written, 'One evening as I lay in my canoe by the banks of the Avon, I saw a large lily-leaf come floating down stream, on it sat a grasshopper'. The painterly outer portions of the piece generate a languid, serene atmosphere. In the lighter and more animated middle section, the grasshopper holds sway. This principal character in the narrative even gets a dramatic lead-in, replete with expectant trills. As ever with Lloyd, the material is meticulously proportioned, so that the scene-setting opening sequence and the summatory close are both given due weight to counterbalance the dynamic, wide-ranging central exploits.

A unique collection of recordings from the radio archives from 1982-1986, documenting the short yet brilliant career of the diva Ewa Gawronska, endowed with a beautiful soprano. Her unusual musicality, excellent vocal technique and repertoire consisting of famous arias and songs will not leave any listener indifferent. An album for long-time admirers of the artist's talent and for those who, thanks to recordings, have a chance to get to know one of the most beautiful voices of the operatic stage.

Scott Wollschleger's Between Breath contains four works for different duo and solo combinations that are presented here as a multi-movement complete work. Featuring performances by Miranda Cuckson, andPlay duo (Hannah Levinson and Maya Bennardo), Lucy Dhegrae, Anne Rainwater, and Nathaniel LaNasa, Wollschleger's music balances exuberance and intimacy with characteristic sensitivity to timbre and structural proportions.

Mélodies d'ailleurs is the first album collaboration of Swiss soprano Viviane Hasler and her long-time friend and musical partner Maren Gamper. For this album, the two artists selected French songs from the turn of the 19th Century, known as the "fin de siècle" in France and beyond. Works by Claude Debussy, Ernest Chausson, Cécile Chaminade, and Reynaldo Hahn are being contrasted by three songs of contemporary German composer Wolfgang Rihm, creating a concept album that is much more than just an anthology of romantic piano songs. Viviane Hasler's interpretation is fresh and tangible, never overboarding or romanticizing, yet staying true and honest to the emotions of the original compositions. Pianist Maren Gamper, always searching for that perfect moment between the notes, creates an intimate yet deeply supportive soundscape for the voice. Recorded at the big hall of the orchestra house in Kriens, Switzerland, this album strives to open a little window in time, leaping into memories of a bygone past while connecting them to the living present.

Ostium is a selection of works from medieval, traditional and oriental sources featuring different ancient and modern flutes and recorders, drawing a rich tapestry of early flute sounds and melodies that inspired and formed later Euopean musical culture on many levels. Greek flutist Dimitris Kountouras performs these pieces together with his ensemble Ex Silentio.

Soprano Fotina Naumenko releases Bespoke Songs, a collection of works she commissioned for voice and ensembles with various instrumentations that set texts by female authors. In pieces by Jonathan Newman, Benedict Sheehan, Carrie Magin, and Jennifer Jolley, Naumenko's crystalline voice leads the ensembles through varied aesthetic territory, displaying a broad snapshot of contemporary vocal ensemble composition.

The Aggressive Fishes (1972) was inspired by Karl Lorenz's account of experiments with tropical fishes. According to the composer, 'They are wonderfully beautiful creatures, but very vicious and aggressive, so I tried to describe the languor and the laziness and the sudden bursts of violence'. Lloyd creates an aptly fluid, aqueous soundscape, which returns in the closing stages of the piece. In the main, central section, he takes the listener on a colourful journey, full of unexpected flights of fancy, in one of his most impressionistic pieces.

St. Antony and the Beggar (1972) juxtaposes a variety of styles and moods, from dark introspection and violence outbursts to sequences of prayerful hope. A lively waltz also recurs in the varied and engaging narrative. After a stormy climax is reached, the closing section is serene and spacious.

Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto García unveils "la vida que vendrá," showcasing four electro-acoustic solo works that culminate in an ensemble piece performed by the prolific loadbang ensemble. Through this collection, García invites listeners to delve into the realm of timbre, exploring the interplay between harmonious and divergent sounds.

Lullaby (Intercom Baby) was originally written for violin and piano in the mid-1970s, but Lloyd arranged it for solo piano in 1987 for the present recording. The composer wrote of the work, 'It is really a lullaby, but the mother does not rock the cradle, she is in another room at the end of an intercom listening for her baby; what she hears is not always as peaceful as it should be'. This gentle berceuse has a lilting warmth, with delightfully puckish central excursions. There is an old-world charm to the piece that belies it's modish title.

This exuberant piece begins with a lively, dancing section, driven by various rhythmic motifs, anchored by a vivid, repeated melodic pattern. An insistent triplet fanfare figure dominates the central section, before the opening gambolling material returns, with even more feverish energy. After a sonorous climax, the music gently ascends the heights before the vigorous final flourish. At several moments and especially at the music's climactic sequence, it feels as though Lloyd is demanding richer, more extensive sonorities than a single performer can produce. So it is not surprising that in 1995 he arranged the piece for two pianos. He remarked pithily, 'I think it sounds better with two pianos' and the greater depth of sound afforded by two instruments and the additional interplay between the two performers enhances the material. On the other hand, the element of striving and struggle present in the version for solo piano better complements the idealism and aspirations of the protagonists in the music's scenario.

This exuberant piece begins with a lively, dancing section, driven by various rhythmic motifs, anchored by a vivid, repeated melodic pattern. An insistent triplet fanfare figure dominates the central section, before the opening gambolling material returns, with even more feverish energy. After a sonorous climax, the music gently ascends the heights before the vigorous final flourish. At several moments and especially at the music's climactic sequence, it feels as though Lloyd is demanding richer, more extensive sonorities than a single performer can produce. So it is not surprising that in 1995 he arranged the piece for two pianos. He remarked pithily, 'I think it sounds better with two pianos' and the greater depth of sound afforded by two instruments and the additional interplay between the two performers enhances the material. On the other hand, the element of striving and struggle present in the version for solo piano better complements the idealism and aspirations of the protagonists in the music's scenario.