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Two Sides: Baroque & Icelandic Contemporary Music / Barokkbandid Brák
Sono Luminus

Two Sides: Baroque & Icelandic Contemporary Music / Barokkbandid Brák

$10.49
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Details

Composer
Johan Joachim Agrell, Arcangelo Corelli, Thrainn Hjalmarsson, Finnur Karlsson, Kristinn Kristinsson
Artist
Barokkbandid Brak
Format
CD
Label
Sono Luminus
Released
Sep 23, 2022
Catalog #
SLE-70026
UPC
053479702623

About

Tvær hliðar/Two Sides presents two contrasting sides of our music-making. On the first album we perform our core repertoire of Italian and Swedish Baroque music, but Barokkbandið Brák also seeks to expand the repertoire for historical instruments by commissioning new works by up and coming Icelandic composers, and the second album showcases new Icelandic music written specially for the ensemble. All of these works share the same sound world as all the music is performed on historical instruments from the baroque era.

REVIEW:

This is a gripping if curiously conceived album, divided unequally between an entertaining music from the High Baroque, and four new works by young Icelandic composers all commissioned by Barokkbandi Brák.

There are no doubts about Barokkbandi Brák’s virtuosity or musicality: the lively opening Allegro of Vivaldi’s Sinfonia bounds along with flawless intonation and ensemble. In Agrell’s vibrant Sinfonia in A and Sammartini’s energetic Concerto grosso, musical flow is always beautifully maintained, moving consistently at pace without seeming hurried. Barokkbandi Brák’s partnership with Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir in the Agrell Concerto is immaculate, with a real sense of joy – but then Kristinsdóttir is not only one of theirs but was one of the founders of the group in 2015. The same applies to the crisp performance of Vivaldi’s triple concerto for two violins and cello, featuring the group’s co-founder Laufey Jensdóttir and cellist Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir.

The group’s chamber credentials are highlighted in the trio sonatas by Corelli and Stradella, and – in a very different vein – Thrainn Hjalmarsson’s string quartet Recitar cantando/Speaking in Song, a study in ethereal textures. Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir composed her septet Quorum Sensing to evoke the biological mechanism that can ‘regulate gene expression’ and ‘co-ordinate group behavior’. Starting in not dissimilar expressive territory to Recitar cantando, it develops, slowly, in a more focused manner. Finnur Karlsson describes Fold as ‘a kind of contemplation about different aspects of Baroque music’. Kristinn Kristinsson’s diptych BRK also explicitly references the Baroque at its opening, though the music immediately circles away from (and back to, several times) the idiom in the first span’s sedate progress. Sono Luminus’s sound is crystal clear throughout.

-- Gramophone

Tracklist 29 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 I. Allegro 02:24
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  3. 2 II. Andante 02:34
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Andante
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  4. 3 III. Allegro 00:46
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    00:46
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  5. 4 I. Allegro 03:32
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  6. 5 II. Largo 03:12
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    03:12
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  7. 6 III. Allegro 02:58
    Track
    6
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  8. 7 I. Vivace 01:15
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. Vivace
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    Arcangelo Corelli
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson
  9. 8 II. Adagio 00:59
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Adagio
    Duration
    00:59
    Composer
    Arcangelo Corelli
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson
  10. 9 III. Allegro 01:06
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    01:06
    Composer
    Arcangelo Corelli
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson
  11. 10 IV. Presto 01:32
    Track
    10
    Title
    IV. Presto
    Duration
    01:32
    Composer
    Arcangelo Corelli
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson
  12. 11 I. Allegro 03:18
    Track
    11
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:18
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  13. 12 II. Andante 04:06
    Track
    12
    Title
    II. Andante
    Duration
    04:06
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  14. 13 III. Allegro ma non presto 03:07
    Track
    13
    Title
    III. Allegro ma non presto
    Duration
    03:07
    Composer
    Johan Joachim Agrell
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  15. 14 Trio Sonata in D Minor 06:54
    Track
    14
    Title
    Trio Sonata in D Minor
    Duration
    06:54
    Composer
    Alessandro Stradella
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson
  16. 15 I. Allegro 03:01
    Track
    15
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Giuseppe Sammartini
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  17. 16 II. Andantino, e cantabile 01:53
    Track
    16
    Title
    II. Andantino, e cantabile
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Giuseppe Sammartini
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  18. 17 III. Allegro moderato 04:14
    Track
    17
    Title
    III. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    04:14
    Composer
    Giuseppe Sammartini
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  19. 18 IV. Minuet gratioso 02:19
    Track
    18
    Title
    IV. Minuet gratioso
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Giuseppe Sammartini
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  20. 19 I. Allegro - Adagio e spiccato - Allegro 03:57
    Track
    19
    Title
    I. Allegro - Adagio e spiccato - Allegro
    Duration
    03:57
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  21. 20 II. Largo e spiccato 02:06
    Track
    20
    Title
    II. Largo e spiccato
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  22. 21 III. Allegro 02:15
    Track
    21
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  23. Disc 2
  24. 1 I. Prelude 02:01
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Prelude
    Duration
    02:01
    Composer
    Fridrik Karlsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  25. 2 II. Slow and Steady 02:06
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Slow and Steady
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Fridrik Karlsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  26. 3 III. Pattern 03:44
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Pattern
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Fridrik Karlsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  27. 4 IV. Passacaglia 03:30
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Passacaglia
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Fridrik Karlsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  28. 5 Recitar Cantando (Speaking in Song) 06:16
    Track
    5
    Title
    Recitar Cantando (Speaking in Song)
    Duration
    06:16
    Composer
    Þráinn Hjálmarsson
    Performer
    Laufey Jensdóttir, Sólveig Vaka Eyþórsdóttir, Margrét Sveinsdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir
  29. 6 Quorum Sensing 11:03
    Track
    6
    Title
    Quorum Sensing
    Duration
    11:03
    Composer
    Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  30. 7 I. — 07:35
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    07:35
    Composer
    Kristinn Kristinsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák
  31. 8 II. — 03:24
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. —
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    Kristinn Kristinsson
    Ensemble
    Barokkbandið Brák