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Navona

Within Earth

$16.99

Details

Composer
DU BOIS BROUWER TAN VO WAL
Artist
Apollo Chamber Players, Detrick, Detrick, Bullock, Dudzik, Vo, Carrington, Windsync, Kinetic, Loop38
Format
CD
Label
Navona
Released
Nov 08, 2019
Catalog #
NV6262
UPC
896931005623

About

On Navona Records' WITHIN EARTH, Houston string quartet Apollo Chamber Players, described as "... infectious... intimate... provocative... fun... " (Gramophone Magazine) presents an album that demonstrates the contemporary possibilities in string music, continuing Apollo's innovative 20x2020 project. The album contains three new multicultural commissions, as well as a contemporary work by Alexandra Du Bois. Leo Brouwer's Nostalgia de las Montañas is an homage to his affection for Brazil's lush mountains and landscapes, and reflective of his love of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian dances and rhythms. The three-movement work plays to the Apollo Chamber Players' passion for contemporary music as well as to the individual talents of the performers. The irregular metric patterns, distantly reminiscent of Brazil's varied dance music, require an extraordinary steadiness and sense of rhythm, which is demonstrated impeccably. Matthew Dudzik's cello part impressively keeps the rest of the music in line. But also the viola, played by Whitney Bullock, gets it's share of glory: in Christopher Walczak's Four Dreams, it is the middle voice that ties the three-movement quartet together, this time thematically. Remarkably, during the entire album, it is almost impossible to differentiate between the first and second violin: both Anabel Ramirez Detrick and Matthew J. Detrick, respectively, play with great empathy to both the music and their fellow quartet members. Mây [Cloud] by Vu Nhât Tân and Vanessa Võ (the latter a Emmy and Grammy Award winner and Academy Award Contributor) is scored for string quartet and the Ðàn b?u, a Vietnamese monochord zither. The result is ethereal, otherworldly, and like a cloud, changes constantly over the course of nearly 20 minutes, eventually fading away without a trace. The final track, the album's namesake Within Earth, Wood Grows by Alexandra du Bois is the musical interpretation of a line in the I-Ching. Again, the Ðàn b?u features prominently, and yet, this time, it is the overall team spirit that shines through, between Apollo and the guest ensembles WindSync, Kinetic and Loop 38. Indubitably, it is the same spirit of unity which lends the Apollo Chamber Players their emotionally charged, homogenous sound, and the same spirit which led them to commission the contemporary works presented here.

Tracklist 7 tracks

  1. 1 I. Introduction - II. Preámbulo 06:18
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Introduction - II. Preámbulo
    Duration
    06:18
    Composer
    Leo Brouwer
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  2. 2 III. Sonata 06:03
    Track
    2
    Title
    III. Sonata
    Duration
    06:03
    Composer
    Leo Brouwer
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  3. 3 I. The Dream of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 04:26
    Track
    3
    Title
    I. The Dream of the Sun, Moon, and Stars
    Duration
    04:26
    Composer
    Christopher Walczak
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  4. 4 II. The Dreams of the Statue and the Tree 04:19
    Track
    4
    Title
    II. The Dreams of the Statue and the Tree
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    Christopher Walczak
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  5. 5 III. The Dream of the Ladder 05:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    III. The Dream of the Ladder
    Duration
    05:36
    Composer
    Christopher Walczak
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  6. 6 Mây (Cloud) 18:11
    Track
    6
    Title
    Mây (Cloud)
    Duration
    18:11
    Composer
    Vân-Ánh Võ, Nhât Tân Vu
    Performer
    Vân-Ánh Võ
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players
  7. 7 Within Earth, Wood Grows 14:33
    Track
    7
    Title
    Within Earth, Wood Grows
    Duration
    14:33
    Composer
    Alexandra du Bois
    Performer
    Vân-Ánh Võ, Matthew Carrington
    Ensemble
    Apollo Chamber Players, WindSync, Kinetic, Loop38
    Conductor
    Jerry Hou