The culture of Azerbaijan dates back four millennia, and in it Turkish, central Asian, Persian, and Western influences meet. The music of the present CD shows that the Azerbaijani have combined all these influences with a fascinating native tradition. The ensemble Kur has specialized in classical Azerbaijani mugams, but contemporary songs and dance melodies are also part of its repertoire. This unmatched Azerbaijani group is distinguished by its authentic playing style in traditional pieces that it knows how to present with individuality.

Zeydes un Eyniklekh unites several generations of American klezmer music in a tribute to the Jewish clarinetist and King of Klezmer, Dave Tarras (1897-1989), who was synonymous with klezmer for several generations of American Jewish. Joel Rubin, a master of the ancient Jewish art of ornamentation, is accompanied by the Epstein Brothers Orchestra, and together they perform the wedding and festival music of eastern European immigrants to America. What we hear is Jewish dance music as it was performed in American-Jewish communities in the 1940s and 1950s.

When assigning names to his works J�rg Herchet avoids traditional generic labels or picturesque titles. His works are simply headed "Composition" for followed by their scoring. Herchet's choice of neutral titles is indicative of a fundamental stance. They place his works in the tradition of absolute music, i.e. music which is devoid of extra-musical references, preferring instead to communicate through it's form and structure alone and preserving it's autonomy as pure music. Herchet's hermetic musical language must also be viewed in direct connection with the limited possibilities for artistic development in the former state of East Germany. During his studies in Dresden and East Berlin he came into conflict with the political expectations of the school authorities and was not allowed to take his final examinations, the reason being that his undergraduate thesis as well as his compositions are unworthy of a future socialist composer. Even after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Herchet declined to conform with the trends of the day, nor with the high-powered demands of the western music market. His works are neither easy to consume nor easy to play. They pose a challenge, and have something to say to those open-minded listeners who are willing to yield to the music and allow themselves be carried away. "Composition 1" for two violins, viola and cello is dedicated to Herchet's teacher Paul Dessau in veneration and gratitude; "Composition" for oboe, English horn, trombone, percussion, piano, viola, cello and double bass was composed specifically for the regular members of the Leipzig avant-garde performance group Neue Musik "Hanns Eisler".

Already in the Renaissance the toccata (from the Italian toccare - to touch) was understood to be a free-form virtuoso piece for keyboard instruments. Today, as for centuries, the toccata is for keyboard a favourite model for improvisation, and the organ toccatas on this recording radiate the spontaneous sheen of an unacademic musical joy. Rosalinde Haas: organ. This production received the quarterly German Record Critics' Award.

Hans-J�rgen von Bose belongs to a generation of German composers who completed a reversal in the first half of the seventies. They strove away from the ever-increasing complexity of the music and composed as it were out of the belly. Indignant protest was in response to these outrageous trends, but which you rashly and hastily to the New Simplicity explained to them to arrange somewhere for general calming the public. On the New Simplicity, the label followed neo-romanticism; because of Bose and his peers were interested in Alban Berg, who among the three Viennese Dodekaphonisten - had captured most clearly, in spite of certain technical subtleties, to the overflowing feeling of a rich, warm harmonies - in addition to Schoenberg and Webern. From mountain it was only a small step to Robert Schumann, whose proliferating Klangfiguren once tended to precious miniature, another time for sweeping large form. For Bose but this attitude could not be the final destination. He looked around and learned from the work of Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Gy�rgy Ligeti and Brian Ferneyhough. An estimated carpenter and he appreciates still the pluralistic approach, but just the purism of to refuse all already existing in an impasse had led. Ligeti was important because he half-serious, half-playful was always looking for new ways. The immense complexity of Ferneyhough was another corrective to a carefree drauflos composing. Modernity to draw from the new spirit of romanticism, but remained of Bose's Ideal.

The musicians of the Mallik family have for many generations been masters of the dhrupad style, the oldest form of North Indian art song. In India they are famous for their own rhythmically accentuated singing style and the rich repertoire of compositions, some using ragas that are sung only by their family. Because of the demands that the dhrupad places on the voice, it is usually sung by several singers at once. In India they say that the strength of four elephants is required to develop it fully. Bidur Mallik and his sons, Ramkuma and Premkumar, were fortunate enough for a time to be the ensemble that came closest to this standard.

In a series of five compact discs WERGO releases Claude Debussy's complete works for piano - masterly played by Nina Tichman - in a series of five compact discs. Music is for Debussy part of nature, originating from it and returning to it. As a sensitive mediator it allows one a glimpse of an original state of things in which man and nature were one - and at the same time documents painfully the loss of this original state. Expressions like "music of silence" and "music in the open air" are key expressions in understanding Debussy's works.

Harald Weiss, composer, percussionist, and stage director, applies his artistic energies at the dividing line between music and theater. An experienced composer and performer, he smuggles musical material into visual environments and creates figures for the stage that quietly or restlessly occillate between audible and visible worlds. Peter M�ller: piano / Cyklus / Carina Mora: sopran / Mandolinenorchester Bielefeld / Harald Weiss: pecussion, voice.

The "Five Orchestral Pieces" by Joaquin Rodrigo chosen for this recording range from 1924 to 1982, the last year in which Rodrigo wrote compositions for orchestra. "Cinco Piezas Infantiles" was the first of Rodrigo's orchestral scores to make an impact: "Reading the score makes one's hair stand on end!" (E. L. Chavarri) "These five children's pieces are made to please grown-up children who enjoy games of sounds and rhythms." (R. Brussel) "Per la flor del lliri blau" [For the flower of the blue lily] is a symphonic poem, based on a Valencian legend. Though the idiom of the piece is part of the European late-Romantic tradition, the voice is unmistakeably Rodrigo's own and demonstrates how easily Rodrigo integrates popular Spanish styles of music to great effect, as also seen in "Palillos y Panderetas" and "Homenaje a la Tempranica" - a homage to a famous zarzuela, the Spanish form of light operetta. During a visit in Texas, Rodrigo had made the acquaintance of some astronauts and had been allowed to touch some stones from the moon. He was thinking about this event when he wrote "A la búsca del mas alla" [In search of the 'beyond'] some years later. This piece begins and ends somehow lost in space - in the beyond.

Sierra Maestra - named for Cuba's highest mountain - is one of the best-known and no doubt also one of the best Cuban bands, which specializes in "genuine" Cuban music, the son autentico. The particular strength of this group also distinguishes it's personal style: all of the instrumentalists are also outstanding singers; for example, Maceito, also known as Jos� Antonio Rodriquez, the band's lead singer, is one of Cuba's most famous son singers today. Sierra Maestra is among the best son, or salsa, bands in the Spanish Caribbean.

Are we now in a position to experience within ourselves every kind of music as a harmonious system? In this case there would be only one music existing independent of the composer and the notation. Is it then the case, that the responsibility for the music has not only been shifted from the composer to the performer, but even further to the listener? The person who listens to this record will have to decide.

Koechlin's inner preoccupation with the theme of light - the changes between light and dark, sun and moon, day and night, month and season - is revealed in all his creative periods and often makes it's way into the musical interpretation itself as the playing instruction, "lumineux" (luminous); this leads to a special formal synthesis in "Les Heures Persanes". This CD was awarded the "Le Diapason d'Or"- and the "Choc Musique"-Award. Herbert Henck: piano.

In a series of five compact discs WERGO releases Claude Debussy's complete works for piano - masterly played by Nina Tichman. Music is for Debussy part of nature, originating from it and returning to it. As a sensitive mediator it allows one a glimpse of an original state of things in which man and nature were one - and at the same time documents painfully the loss of this original state. Expressions like "music of silence" and "music in the open air" are key expressions in understanding Debussy's works.

Seleshe Demassae comes from one of the few cultures in which the lyre, a very ancient instrument, still accompanies song. As a singer, dancer, instrumentalist, composer, and poet Seleshe builds on the rich variety of cultures in his native Ethiopia. He studied traditional East African music, teaches in Africa, Europe, and the United States, and specializes in the sagas of the azmaris, the singer-poets of East Africa. On the present CD Seleshe performs for the first time with the Ivory Coast percussionist Suleymane Toure, a master of the talking drum.

Juke, music box, barrel organ and Cuckoo are just some of the mechanical musical instruments that are presented in this unique and fascinating documentation. The 26 very different songs here - of " Rigoletto " on " Sunday will sail with me sweetie go " to " Singing in the rain " to hearing instruments are in the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments in Bruchsal Castle and are described in detail in the booklet described. "