With two critically-lauded releases on Navona Records, pianist Eliane Rodrigues returns with Reflets, showcasing the pianist’s nuanced and thoughtful performances of fifteen works by Claude Debussy. While it might seem that child prodigies are commonplace in the world of classical music, only a few truly make a lasting impact, one that lives on long after those prodigies have passed well into their adulthoods. Mozart began to play piano at the age of three, Beethoven did so at seven and a half, and Georges Bizet did so before his tenth birthday. Pianist Eliane Rodrigues, who began composing at three, played her first recital at five and first performed with an orchestra when she was just six years of age, can certainly be counted among those prodigious musicians, as evidenced on her latest recording, Reflets. The album opens with “Suite Bergamasque,” one of Debussy’s most well-known piano suites. The dynamic contrasts in the moods of the suite’s four pieces are well suited to Rodrigues’ sensitive and vivid style. Debussy is credited as one of the ‘founders’ of Impressionist music, distinguished by its focus on suggestions and atmosphere, a world that Rodrigues also inhabits here, as evidenced by her cascading and powerfully textured performance of Debussy’s “Ballade.” “Pour le Piano,” certainly one of the composer’s most moving works for solo piano, features rapid, brilliant passages that fully emphasize the pianist’s virtuosity. That impressionistic ability to invoke a mood or a feeling carries on with “First Arabesque in E Major,” one of a pair composed early in Debussy’s career. “Images,” comprised of two ‘books’ of three pieces each, ranging from the subdued “Homage à Rameau” to the energy of “Mouvement,” marked by the torrent of notes in its finale. Eliane Rodrigues was born in Rio de Janiero, where the performances that she gave in her childhood bore fruit when she was awarded the Gina Bachauer prize at the Van Cliburn Competition in the United States at only 18 years of age. She has gone on to perform internationally, as well as to hold the position of professor at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp.

One might be tempted to think that there is no crossover in music that hasn't been done yet; and thankfully, one would be mistaken. DEEP RIVER presents a vibrant selection of 21 African American spirituals, interpreted by countertenor Michael Walker II and Old Music consort Alchymy Viols. A curious collaboration? Not at all, according to director Philip Spray. The viol consort's historical purpose was to arrange popular tunes of it's day; so it appeared only logical to try this setup on America's first folk songs. It worked. Additional harmonies are provided by a distinctly anachronistic grand harp, and counterpoint by a small field pump organ. The effect is stunning: a music so utterly, distinctly American, one wonders why this hasn't been done before.

Spanning landscapes from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail covers thousands of miles of natural beauty, creating a transformative journey captured in FROM WILDERNESS from Navona Records. Choral Arts Initiative, conducted by Brandon Elliott and joined by cellist Kevin Mills, paints these landscapes from composer Jeffery Derus with vibrant color, with vocal soloists giving identities to the spirit animals one may encounter on the trail. A concert-length work and meditation, the listener will hear a wash of sounds that allow for introspective reflection on the sacredness of nature, the profound text, and themselves.

REVIEWS:

A Textura Top 20 Album of 2022!

Jeffrey Derus is both a founding board member of Choral Arts Initiative and one of the esteemed ensemble's tenors. He's also, however, the composer of From Wilderness, a glorious choral work brought to magnificent realization by twenty-five CAI singers, eight crystal bowl players, and cellist Kevin Mills. The company earlier distinguished itself with the release How to Go On: The Choral Works of Dale Trumbore and now equals that achievement with a stellar realization of Derus's work. From Wilderness is a multi-hued meditation that lives up to its transformative billing: it's almost impossible to imagine someone hearing it and not being profoundly moved.

-- Textura

Divergence

It all began in 2011, when DuWors and Niekawa, then students at Eastman School of Music, were assigned to perform Mozart's last Sonata for Violin and Piano K. 526 together. The magnificence of the piece not only unlocked a profound musical rapport between the two young musicians, but also inspired their name as a collective. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that there should be something timeless in the manner in which duo526 interpret their chosen works - and be they from the 20th century, like the compositions on DUO FANTASY. The selection itself is already superb, exploring the fantasia aspects of each piece through improvisatory style and free form. Villa-Lobos, Bax, and Bolcom each have a unique compositional voice, but heard together, they share the common thread of fantasy. Not only does this greatly contribute to the immense listenability of DUO FANTASY; more artistically, it also mirrors the relationship of the two musicians performing it. Violinist DuWors' audacious martel�, bold dynamics, and immense spectrum of tone are perfectly complemented by Niekawa's ever-sensitive musical command and uncompromising precision on the piano. Together, they achieve what most duos strive for in vain: a perfect homogeneity in interpretation. There is a great joy in risk-taking to be found here, but most importantly, the two musicians are impeccably in agreement at all times. DUO FANTASY is a wonderful example of how the sum of music is greater than it's individual parts. No doubt that DuWors and Niekawa are formidable virtuoso musicians in their own right. But together, they are simply stunning.

Three Orchestral Works by Dwight Beckham, Sr. marks a tremendous sample of American composer Dwight Beckham’s lyrical style and command of the orchestra. Based in Kansas, Beckham is part of an important generation of composers who, in the latter half of the twentieth century, persisted in their pursuit of a classically Romantic aesthetic. To this end, Beckham’s orchestral music is stalwartly thematic, crisply orchestrated, and centered on dramatic melodic and harmonic ideas. The music on this album demonstrates Beckham is also a facile, expert orchestrator, who can draw any mood with the instruments at hand. In this regard, the album’s longest work, Feather Sound, is the most dynamic. At first plaintive, the piece is enlivened by triumphant percussion and brass, and includes a variety of wonderful textures, particularly in its heavily contrapuntal sections. Feather Sound features an impressive and intricate section dominated by a web of canons, which Beckham deftly illustrates with crystal clear and clever orchestration. Feather Sound also speaks to Beckham’s attraction to lyrical and thematic melodic material, a characteristic that dominates the other works in this collection. Fanfare 40, though brief, features a handful of memorable themes, some stately and others more delicate and charming. Like in Feather Sound, Beckham is cleverly economical here, and uses sections of counterpoint to re-purpose and disguise his ideas, giving the listener the sense that we are hearing something new, when in fact, the opposite is the case. Fanfare 40 also features structurally significant orchestration, as to the two themes at the heart of work are scored very contrastingly. Memorial Ode, the remaining work on the album, again demonstrates Beckham’s skill at painting mood through orchestration. Its contemplative opening, scored simply for solo flute and chimes, is extraordinarily compelling, so much so Beckham meaningfully recalls aspects of this texture later in the piece. The remainder of Memorial Ode is dominated by elegant and glorious re-settings of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sine nomine” hymn tune, which was a favorite of the work’s dedicatee, Harold Romoser. HIGHLIGHTS Dwight Beckham’s orchestral music is defined by Romantic lyricism and crisp, clear orchestration, which particularly shines in contrapuntal sections Feather Sound, being the longest work, is the most texturally dynamic work on the album, while Fanfare 40 and Memorial Ode are the most classically thematic

Edward Hart’s UNDER AN INDIGO SKY features A Charleston Concerto and Under an Indigo Sky, two concertos that celebrate and reflect the history and culture of the Southeastern United States. A native of Charleston SC, Hart finds inspiration in the natural beauty and multicultural heritage of his homeland. A Charleston Concerto was written to commemorate the 350th Anniversary of the City of Charleston; it features a collaboration with the Charleston Symphony and the world-renowned Harlem Quartet. It takes an unflinching yet ultimately hopeful view of the city’s complex history over those three and a half centuries. Under an Indigo Sky for violin and orchestra is a musical love letter written to Hart’s geographical home. It explores both the physical splendor of the mountains and coast, but also the feel and “soul” of these breathtaking places.

Grammy Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing brings to life the striking works of six contemporary composers in this Navona Records release, with performances that are unique and awe-inspiring. The Crossing is a professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to new music. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir that explore and expand ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir. Many of its over seventy commissioned premieres address social, environmental, and political issues.

Navona Records presents European/American composer Svjetlana Bukvich’s latest masterpiece: EXTENSION, a multifaceted collection of pieces that use technology, music, and the motions of dance to both deconstruct and reimagine ideas of genre and cultural division. In EXTENSION, listeners traverse ten innovative pieces that are both deeply personal and universal. Bukvich describes herself as aiming for a “no-genre-borderless-flow” with her music and, on a larger scale, in the structures of human society. Indeed, she captures that spirit immensely: hybridizing musical languages from American minimalism, art and progressive rock, and German classicism, to Italian polyphony, Russian romanticism, jazz, and ethnic idioms, she creates a cinematic, ‘fictocritical’ sound that is entirely unique but at once familiar. From the opening whispers of the electric violin in The Beginning to the evocative title track Extension which mingles both voice and synth, the album is a sweeping conversation between the natural and technological, the language of sound and the language of numbers. The piece Once You Are Not a Stranger appears in three iterations: instrumentally, vocally, and as an orchestral reprise. The meditative return of the piece emphasizes the expression of its title — in the acceptance of profound loss and the redemptive possibilities that extend out of it, there is no division, and no one is a stranger. The composer herself knows the world’s need for connection all too well — her past includes an escape from her home in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina in the midst of the Civil War before finding her way to America where she continued her pursuits in media arts. In her youth Bukvich has lived in Ethiopia and Scotland, experiences which also influenced her sonic ideas. EXTENSION offers an opportunity for reconnection through dismantling, rebuilding, and exploring concepts of time, style, and musical history.

FIGMENTS 2, which follows the success of 2016's FIGMENTS, is a compendium of chamber music that sparks the imagination. The album features the works of Yuan-Chen LI, Peter Dayton, Hans Bakker, Navid Bargrizan, and Charles Corey-innovative composers whose works draw inspiration from the world around them, be it the tribal dances of indigenous peoples, art history, 16th-century keyboard music, the science of acoustics, or the idiosyncrasies of language. The album opens with Tell by Yuan-Chen LI, a work commissioned and performed by saxophonist Jessica Maxfield, that joins the woodwind instrument in a holy dance with the leaping yips, gasps, and cries of the human voice. This is followed by Mar de Lurin, after paintings by Fernando de Szyszlo, in which composer Peter Dayton harnesses the creamy resonance of nylon guitar strings to paint vibrant studies in light and shadow. Hans Bakker's Tiento I for guitar solo and Tiento II for guitar solo are contemporary imaginings of a 16th-century Spanish form that are all at once aggressive, romantic and, at times, contrapuntal. Next comes Navid Bargrizan's 10 Aphorisms, a series of concise musical statements colored by contrasting timbres and scales that push the boundaries of music theory into the realm of psychoacoustics. A second piece by Bargrizan, Se-Chahar-Gah, is inspired by Persian classical music and performed on a custom-built microtonal guitar. The album concludes with Charles Corey's Syzygy, a four-movement work for string quartet, each one exploring relationships between tonality and dissonance; the last movement dramatically ends the album by slowly gliding to the extreme registers of the ensemble. FIGMENTS 2 invites listeners on a journey that is sure to both delight their minds and challenge their assumptions. The sundry pieces, each infused with the unique voice of their composer, come together to form a distinctive and cohesive album. FIGMENTS 2 offers listeners a brief taste of the breadth of sounds that Navona Records has to offer and is sure to leave them hungry for more.

GUERNICA, 3 of Kaufman's orchestral works: The "Guernica" Piano Concerto, an anti-war piece; Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, "Kaddish," a work written in memory of the composer's parents; and "Seascape", which illustrates the calmness and turbulence of the sea.

From Bow to String

Around the world, millions of readers eagerly await the impending release of the new thriller ‘Origin’ by Dan Brown, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ According to Brown, the initial spark of inspiration for his highly anticipated novel struck him when he first heard a provocative piece of classical music entitled Missa Charles Darwin — a piece composed by award-winning composer Gregory W. Brown, who also happens to be the author’s brother. The composition is featured at a crucial moment in the ‘Origin’ narrative.

Missa Charles Darwin, was written for Grammy-nominated New York Polyphony and is structured on the standard liturgical Mass. Brown painstakingly translated DNA sequences and markers into musical phrases set to texts by Charles Darwin.  In doing so, Brown simultaneously commemorates the scientist’s genius while interrogating the relationship between faith and reason.

“For some listeners Missa Charles Darwin might seem inherently subversive,” adds Gregory W. Brown, “but that can be part of the conversation. It doesn’t take anything away from religion to also celebrate Charles Darwin.”

All of Gregory’s proceeds from this release are being donated to musical education charities including Chorus America, American Choral Directors Association, and the International Society for Music Education.

An exploration of the unique timbral characteristics and technical extensions of wind instruments, Gregory Wanamaker's LIGHT AND SHADOWS, WAVES AND TIME is comprised of eight compositions that collectively illustrate the composer's ability to integrate various genre influences into a distinctive whole. His music has been lauded as "pure gold, shot through with tenderness and grace" by the San Francisco Chronicle and "achingly beautiful" by the Palm Beach Daily News. The album's first track, "des ondes et les temps," which translates to "of waves and time," explores the saxophone's full range of possibilities. A solo piece performed by Casey Grev, "des ondes et les temps" waxes and wanes and rises and falls. Wanamaker expands to a quartet setting for "... unsettled, unphased... ," whose rhythmic roots can be found in genres ranging from Eastern European folk and dance music to jazz and progressive rock. The somber, poignant "Elegy," written for and performed by the Akropolis Reed Quintet, was originally composed in memory of those who died in the September 11 attacks, while the virtuosic musical fantasy, "Ragahoro Breakdown" intricately weaves elements of North Indian Raga with characteristics of a Bulgarian Horo and subtle hints of American folk music. The track that represents the second half of the album's title is a sonata in two contrasting movements, the first a quiet nocturne, the second it's polar opposite, each exploring the extended timbres of the saxophone and extreme ranges of the piano, while the dynamic "Out of Mind, Into Body" travels a similar path taken by John Friedrich's solo bass clarinet. While less than two minutes in length, the spirited "Counterpunch" effectively alternates elements of driving American-style minimalist with a fusion of jazz and funk. The album concludes with a concr�te version of it's opening track, transforming it into the form of experimental music in which sound identities are intentionally manipulated to appear unconnected to their source, creating an ambient, layered soundscape.

Heavy Pedal: Works for Organ

The singing quality of string instruments ties together "SONGS FOR A NEW CENTURY," a program featuring both world premiere recordings of new music commissioned for the artists and world premiere recordings of masterpieces by Mendelssohn.

The program opens with a set of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, beginning with the Opus 109 written by the composer for cello and piano. It continues with a set of arrangements for cello and piano, some recorded for the first time, by the 19th-century cellist Alfredo Piatti, a personal friend of Mendelssohn’s upon whose cello Jonathan Miller plays. Gabriela Lena Frank’s Operetta for violin and cello, the composer writes, expands upon Mendelssohn’s concept of the “song without words,” creating opera without words that evokes scenes and characters through singing music for the duo of violin (Lucia Lin) and cello. Scott Wheeler’s second cello sonata, Songs Without Words, was inspired by Miller’s singing cello tone. Finally, Judith Weir’s Three Chorales for cello and piano meditate on religious poetry, departing from hymn texts –– and in the third Chorale, a melody from Hildegard of Bingen –– in a triptych that evokes the human condition.

"Operetta," "Three Chorales," and "Cello Sonata #2: Songs Without Words" were commissioned by Jonathan Miller and Diane Fassino for the Boston Artists Ensemble.

Throughout his lifetime, composer Sydney Hodkinson wrote over 250 works, covering a wide array of genres including educational literature, chamber arrangements, and large-scale orchestral pieces. SYDNEY HODKINSON: CHAMBER WORKS from Navona Records brings four live recordings of the late composer’s string quartets and a trio, Rogatio Gravis, to life with performances from the Benda Quartet and the Jupiter Quartet. With works written in dedication to family members, loved ones, and friends, this posthumous release serves as a perfect parting gift from Hodkinson — a musical display of his compositional prowess and kindness.

Transcriptions for string quartet by the composer or someone else was common practice in Mozart’s time. In that light this string-version of Mozart's Requiem is nothing special. What makes it special, is the circumstance of the original Requiem itself. It is known that Mozart left the majority of the work incomplete, and that on request of Mozart's widow, his pupil Süssmayer did the finishing job. Where one's work ends and the other starts, no-one knows. This 'skeleton-version' of the Requiem, however, fully preserves the eloquence of Mozart's music and therefore perhaps proves that the Requiem contains more of the masters own composing than we can objectively establish. But incomplete as the Requiem is, Mozart's universal genius radiates through the notes in any version. And if anyone can bring the radiation to the surface in this version, no one better than the Kuijken Kwartet.

It is not often that one encounters a choir - professional or otherwise - whose unity, technical perfection, and musical expressiveness would be a match for the Chamber Singers at the University of South Dakota. The much-recorded, much-acclaimed ensemble presents yet another triumph in the form of I Carry Your Heart, a breathtaking, exhilarating cruise through a cappella choral music from around the world. The Chamber Singers is the premier vocal ensemble at USD. Performers in the choir are selected through audition from the entire university student body. The choir's repertoire, which is primarily a cappella, includes music from the Renaissance to the present in a wide variety of styles. The ensemble presents formal concerts on campus each semester and it's annual concert tour has taken the group throughout the United States and Europe. They have been selected for performance at state and regional conventions, have appeared on the public radio programs, and received numerous national honors and distinctions.

With her Navona debut I Close My Eyes In Order To See, accomplished Canadian flutist Sara Hahn demonstrates her exceptional sensitivity for emotional nuance coupled with great virtuosic capability, but most of all: the healing power of music itself. Hahn, currently the Principal Flutist for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, is rightly known for her refined and beautiful tone, and I Close My Eyes In Order To See indubitably attests to this. But extraordinarily, there is even more to Hahn's musicianship: An exquisite ability to get right into the heart of a composition. No doubt this is in part due to the highly personal selection of pieces: The album's eponymous opening track, I Close My Eyes To See, was dedicated to Hahn by composer Arthur Bachmann, written to commemorate her mother's hard (but eventually successful) battle with cancer. Indeed, the compositions of this album center around perhaps the greatest, and most universal, challenge of the human condition: overcoming Fate's hardships. In this spirit, the individual musical pieces represent emotions such as fear, sadness, the desire to bargain, and depression and anger are reached with the help of mental fortitude and spirituality – all culminating, inspiringly, in acceptance and optimism. Sara Hahn's interpretation of these wildly diverse sentiments is nothing short of riveting and, towards the album's cheerful conclusion, supremely uplifting. In this sublime feat, pianist Laura Loewen and alto flutist Sarah Gieck, who both accompany with fitting delicacy, add great musical depth. I Close My Eyes In Order To See is an aesthetic feast for the ears, no doubt; but its true strength lies in having encapsulated not only a timeless constant of the human experience – suffering – but also a viable, feasible way to overcome it.

S. SCOTT Afternoon of a Fire 1. New York Drones. Vocalise on “In a Silent Way” 2. Aurora Ficta. “La Guitarra” 2. Baltic Sketches • Bowed Piano Ens; 1 Saraiya Ruano (native American fl); 2 Victoria Hansen (sop) • NAVONA 5937 (51:30)


Sad to say, this may be the final recording released by the Colorado-based Bowed Piano Ensemble, as Stephen Scott, its founder, director, and in-house composer, will be retiring this year, and no one is in line waiting to fill his shoes. A performance by this ensemble looks something like a team of doctors performing open heart surgery on a grand piano. Up to 10 musicians simultaneously brush, pluck, or strike its strings (or other parts of the piano), or bow its strings using nylon filaments or other implements. In fact, the only way in which the piano is not played is by means of its 88 keys! This is not a stunt, however. The results are musically viable, thanks to Scott’s strengths as a composer—he has been influenced both by Steve Reich and by jazz—and to the nearly orchestral range of sounds the Ensemble produces. Electric and acoustic guitars, harpsichords, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, percussion instruments, synthesizer-like effects, even eerie approximations of the human voice all live within the Ensemble’s piano. The Ensemble was founded in 1977.


This CD, which goes by the title Fire & Ice , in an excellent introduction to the Ensemble’s work, even as it brings its output to a close. The most recent work, Afternoon of a Fire , was inspired by a devastating fire that occurred in Waldo Canyon, just outside of Colorado Springs, in the summer of 2012. Scott’s eight-minute composition is, to a degree, illustrative, but it is more a reaction to the fire than a description of it. Three passages for native American flute complement the music, and are an allusion to Ute Indian tribe, which had been associated with the area. There are several passages that are reminiscent of Reich (who is specifically honored in New York Drones , the following work on the CD). The oldest work, Baltic Sketches , is a continuous set of five short pieces that Scott composed for Estonian and Lithuanian musicians in 1997. Much of Scott’s music for the Bowed Piano Ensemble tends to unfold slowly, perhaps because of his interest in jazz, but the Baltic Sketches are precise and immediately effective.


Two of the works include Scott’s wife, soprano Victoria Hansen. In Vocalise on “In a Silent Way,” she sings several wordless phrases from the Weather Report composition to the Ensemble’s accompaniment, before the Ensemble itself takes up the melody. In “La Guitarra,” she adopts a flamenco-like singing style to produce an earthier effect. These works demonstrate how well the Ensemble can play both starring and supporting roles.


Aurora Ficta is the “false dawn,” an astronomical phenomenon also known as zodiacal light, in which light from the sun reflects off dust particles, and a dim triangle of light rises above the horizon, although it is still night. Scott reserves some of his strangest and most interesting sounds for this work, which is a true and uncanny tone poem.


It’s sad to think that there will be no more releases from the Bowed Piano Ensemble, but perhaps someone will step into Scott’s position after all, or perhaps a similar ensemble will be founded somewhere else. Fire & Ice makes an excellent case for the worth of what Scott and his Ensemble have been doing for almost four decades. One might approach their work with skepticism, but one responds to it with amazement.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

On IMPRESSIONS OF SPAIN from Navona Records, the critically acclaimed guitar trio enchants and excites with their performance of Spanish-influenced works from master composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Arranged and adapted for guitar trio by Gregg Nestor, the unexplored repertoire of five composers cascades across guitar frets in this recording, communicating themes of love, poetry and literature, Spanish dance, and the spirit of Spain itself through music. Experience the works of Isaac Albéniz, Maurice Ravel, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Turina, and Manuel de Falla through a new and virtuosic voice.

Acclaimed piano four-hand duo Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt come together once more for In Your Head, a collection featuring the work of six composers that highlights both fresh compositional talents and earlier successful works. Each piece demonstrates the unique synergy between the two performers. With twice the hands, twice the talent, and twice the interpretation, the piano is pushed to dynamic and sonoric extremes. Compositions on In Your Head span over five decades, but each is brought to new life by the skilled hands of Muller and Steigerwalt. The duo, who have performed extensively across the Western Hemisphere, found inspiration for this compilation in the success of Lewis Spratlan's Dreamworlds, a piece which they had commissioned in 2015. Using the piano as a canvas, the two paint a psychological landscape exploring the mind within different people, scenarios, and even locations. Sometimes dissonant and flustered, as in 'Mind Games II. Panic,' and other times eerie as in 'The Silent Hearth' which captures the memories echoing like firing synapses inside a dilapidated concert hall, each piece resonates with the complexity of mental activity. Throughout In Your Head, Steigerwalt and Muller compel listeners to zero in on the thoughts of the panicked soul, the trapped bureaucrat, the obsessed dictator, and the mind control of the lucid dreamer. As you follow along, perhaps you'll ask yourself - whose psyche most resonates with me?

Navona Live is proud to announce the release of INDIANA COLLECTANEA, which celebrates and preserves composer Michael G. Cunningham’s residency at Indiana University School of Music from 1969-1973. This live recording of Cunningham’s work comes on the heels of his acclaimed album ECUMENICAL SPIRIT from Navona Live earlier this year. This latest release captures a significant moment in time, when Cunningham’s work helped channel the talents of 30 burgeoning musicians. In INDIANA COLLECTANEA, Cunningham expands his palette beyond traditional tonality, painting with chromatic, timbral, and rhythmic nuances. The work opens with Prisms, a four-movement piece in which dense tone clusters shift and refract among the strings like a kaleidoscope. This is followed by Polyphonies, a wild-eyed percussion piece that manipulates instrumental timbres to an exhilarating effect. As the album progresses, each piece is a surprise to the listener’s ears, with its unique assortments of instruments and sounds jolting the audience into new appreciation. The frenetic horns at the start of Concertant are further evidence of this. The penultimate track, Scenario, is particularly inventive, opening with a prelude of ethereal bells. Each musician is assigned to multiple instruments, showcasing both their own skills and that of their composer. Lastly, the album ends with the dramatic Noetical Rounds, which concludes with a soft, descending glissando into oblivion. Despite the decades that have passed since the performances on INDIANA COLLECTANEA, each piece is as startlingly fresh as it was the day of its performance. Listen to hear this collection of talented musicians pushed to their utmost by the challenging and thoughtful compositions of Michael G. Cunningham.

It Is Time

When The Soul Speaks paradoxically presents music of ancient texts through some of the present day's youngest voices. Performed by the Bonifantes Boys' Choir and the Czech Soloist Consort, these sacred texts rise to life through the performances of one of the Czech Republic's most acclaimed ensembles. The Bonifantes Boys' Choir was founded in 1999 and has since won a place among the cream of the crop of choir ensembles in the Czech Republic. Talented boys from age 4 to age 20 work in the singing school known as the Bonifantes School of Arts. The group has gone on a number of concert tours across the world, and performs with many Czech orchestras on a regular basis.

Composer Jan Järvlepp’s FLIGHTS OF FANCY is available now through Navona Records. Fusing European and American musical traditions, the album pairs the excitement of rock and jazz rhythms with classical orchestral and chamber music forms. Turning his back on the avant-garde 20th century modernism he was trained in at the University of California, San Diego, Järvlepp’s focus has shifted to a postmodern, popular-music influenced style borrowing from a variety of cultures’ traditional music. Pierrot Solaire opens the album with an unusual combination of flute, violin, bass, percussion, and piano. Harnessing the early 20th century angst of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Järvlepp set out to compose a piece that was the mirror opposite of Schoenberg’s; teasingly subtitled “an antidote for anxiety-filled old German music,” the piece recombines popular and folk music to create a lively, energetic, and highly rhythmic piece. Trio. No. 2 captures the unique and often-neglected timbre of the piccolo playing in its lower register. Combined with rapidly bowed string harmonics, the piece is developed into three “flights of fancy”— Järvlepp’s term for flamboyant piccolo solos. The three movements place the piccolo in different musical contexts; the second movement features plucked cello and lyrical viola melodies, while the third takes on an aggressive rock music attitude. Tarantella marries contemporary popular music styles with a baroque tarantella. In keeping with postmodernism’s approach of reimagining historical tradition rather than discarding it, this piece features previously unheard combinations of the old and the new. Overture was composed in 1999 as a Laidlaw Foundation commission for the Ayorama Wind Quintet. Taking cues from the grandeur of Beethoven, Järvlepp employs loud, dramatic chords and memorable melodic phrases to create something wholly his own.

With narration by award-winning actor Rob Dean, Jan Järvlepp brings classic tales to life on THREE STORIES BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Little Match Girl, and The Emperor’s New Clothes, along with other works by Järvlepp, open a new world of imagination for the youth of today and conjoin the countless capabilities of oral and musical storytelling. Join the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra on this thrilling ride through these childhood classics. Composer Jan Järvlepp began playing pop guitar at the age of 12 and took up cello in high school at the age of 14. He also learned to play bass guitar and harmonica at this time. In university he majored in composition while developing his cello playing skills. As his studies progressed, he realized that he was not on the same wavelength as his modernist composition teachers. Järvlepp has been delving deeper and deeper into the world of pop-influenced contemporary "classical" composition. He has completely turned his back on the avant-garde modernism that he was rigorously trained in to concentrate on the emerging neo-tonal style. He has also taken an interest in Hispanic, flamenco, Arab and Nordic folk styles. The result has been a variety of accessible pieces of music that appeal to a surprisingly wide cross section of the public.

John A. Carollo's fourth Navona Records release, and follow up to 2017's The Transfiguration of GIovanni Baudino, is a wondrous musical journey through the world of desire. With Music From the Ethereal Side of Paradise, Carollo makes an impassioned plea for the power of romance. From the opening tensions and mystery of "Awakenings for String Orchestra" through the surprising, amorous joy of "Romanzo!" "Splendido Affare," and "La Tortura dell' Amore," Carollo's compositions communicate what mere words cannot: the inner rapture, utter fulfillment, and yes, the torture, of being in love. Shifting slightly, and perhaps more into the ethereal, "Metamorphosis No. 3 for Solo Violin" introduces a newer, more contemplative element. With short notes and runs, the violin first cries out with unanswered questions followed by furrowed introspection. Two Guitar Etudes follow, demonstrating both intimacy and technique, while maintaining an inquisitive tone throughout. As the album continues, we arrive at a vocal suite with "Little Gems" to be discovered throughout. T.S. Eliot wrote "... The end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time." Musid From the Ethereal Side of Paradise does just that. Concluding as we began with a sumptuous string orchestra, we arrive where we started - enlightened and wise from our journey.

John Carollo: Starry Night