Timothy Schwarz The Living American Albany Records Violinist Timothy Schwarz has commissioned, performed, and recorded a number of pieces by contemporary composers. His latest release on Albany, The Living American, is a collection of recent pieces by American composers. Schwarz takes a “melting pot” approach to his program. It opens with the solo Fantasy on Lama Badaa yatsana, written by Stephen Sametz, which explores alternate scales with frequent double-stops and harmonics alongside virtuosic melodic writing. Pianist Charles Abramovic joins Schwarz on a set of pieces by musical theater composer Joseph Goodrich. Indeed, C-minor Jam leans much closer
Read moreDanish String Quartet Prism V ECM Records This is the last outing in Danish String Quartet’s Prism series. Each of the five recordings has included a late Beethoven string quartet, a related Bach fugue, and a later work influenced by Beethoven. Prism V’s program begins with “Vor deinen Thron tret’ich,” Bach’s chorale prelude BWV 668, arranged for string quartet. It also includes “Contrapunctus 14” from Bach’s Art of Fugue, Anton Webern’s String Quartet (1905), and Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135. The performance of the chorale prelude is beautiful, played with expressive tone and ardent phrasing,
Read moreAnnika Socolofsky Don’t Say a Word Latitude 49 New Amsterdam Records “This unapologetic profession of love and vulnerability is something I have felt denied all my life. And it’s time to reclaim it. These are love songs for the self. These are my feminist rager-lullabies for the new queer era.” – Annika Socolofsky Composer/vocalist Annika Socolofsky works out a great deal of anger on her New Amsterdam recording Don’t Say a Word. She has described herself growing up as a “queer kid” being ostracized. That treatment has subsequently inspired her to examine all sorts of othering in society,
Read moreDeerhoof Miracle-Level Joyful Noise Recordings At a certain point in their career, many rock bands dread the audience reaction to saying “we’re going to play the new single” from onstage. It suggests that their days of vital music-making have devolved into being among the ranks of nostalgia artists. Deerhoof’s experience is quite different. They keep changing and developing as a band, and their successive releases are acclaimed and eagerly listened to by longtime fans and new listeners alike. Several things distinguish Deerhoof’s latest Joyful Noise release, Miracle-Level, their nineteenth recording, the first released back in 1997. Improbably, this
Read moreDominic Miller Vagabond Dominic Miller, guitar; Jacob Karlzon, piano, keyboard; Nicolas Fiszman, bass; Ziv Ravitz, drums ECM Records Vagabond is guitarist Dominic Miller’s third recording for ECM Records. Apart from bassist Nicolas Fiszman, Miller has assembled a new group of collaborators: keyboardist Jacob Karlzon and drummer Ziv Ravitz join him in a quartet setting. Miller composed most of Vagabond’s eight originals while living in the South of France. He has suggested that nature and the small towns and buildings he passes on long walks supply him with inspiration. The guitarist’s Argentinian roots may be a bit further out of
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Composers, Contemporary Classical, Deaths, Electro-Acoustic, File Under?, Metropolitan Opera, New York
Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023) Sequenza 21 is saddened to learn of Kaija Saariaho’s passing at the age of 70. The cause was cancer. Despite the toll taken by the disease, she continued to compose nearly to the end of her life. Hush (2023) for Finnish jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, was her last piece. Saariaho was one of the greatest composers of her generation, and a pathbreaker who encouraged composers in the next. She composed for nearly every genre of concert music and made electronic music at top flight studios, including IRCAM. The composer had an international career with champions
Read moreSebastian Rochford, Kit Downes A Short Diary ECM Records “This short diary (of loss), offered as a sonic memory, created with love, out of need for comfort.” -Sebastian Rochford When Sebastian Rochford’s father, the Aberdeen poet Gerard Rochford (1932-2019) passed away, the drummer decided to create a recording in his memory. He composed most of the music after his father’s death, and enlisted pianist Kit Downes as a collaborator. Downes is actually a musical switch-hitter; he is also an accomplished organist. “This Tune Your Ears Will Never Hear” opens the album mid-tempo with thick chords and snare in
Read moreSufjan Stevens – Reflections Timo Andres, Conor Hanick, piano Asthmatic Kitty Reflections is a studio version of Sufjan Steven’s sixth collaboration with choreographer Justin Peck. Over the course of his career, Stevens has explored a number of genres: indie rock, electronica, and folk music. His work as a concert music composer shows considerable facility, with idiomatic, indeed virtuosic, writing for piano duo. The opening track, “Ekstasis” begins the ballet with emphatic, thickly voiced chords and glissandos, followed by brilliant passagework and a briefly inserted swinging melody. Pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick are perfect for the challenges posed
Read moreMorales: Missa Desilde al cavallero, Missa Mille Regretz, Magnificat Primi Toni De Profundis, directed by Eamonn Dougan and Robert Hollingsworth Hyperion Records Cambridge’s De Profundis has quickly become a go-to ensemble for Spanish vocal repertoire from the Renaissance. An all-male group with a sonorous sound that includes an incomparable bass section (hence the group name), they have released extraordinary recordings of Vivanco, Esquivel, and Ribera. Now De Profundis is turning its attention to Cristobal de Morales (c. 1500-1553), with a projected 12-album project to record his masses and Magnificat settings. The first disc in the collection, released in 2023,
Read moreFrederic Rzewski Late Piano Works Bobby Mitchell, piano Naxos Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021) was a gifted composer and pianist. His oeuvre included pieces in many genres, but it is his piano works that, to date, are best known. Rzewski premiered a number of pieces, but in his later years deputized pianist Bobby Mitchell, dedicating works to him and trusting his talent to be sufficient for their often virtuosic and complex interpretive demands. Rzewski’s pieces combine modernism and vernacular styles, particularly leftist folk songs, often in sets of multifaceted variations. War Songs (2008) includes songs that are both pro and
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