Modern

Anything since Bartok

The Immanent Velvet

Artist(s): Floraleda Sacchi, Fero Krály, Guido Arbonelli, Piero Salvatori, Dušan Šujan, Daniel Garel, Ondrej Veselý, The Ján Pöschl Youth Orchestra with Anita Mirossayová conducting, Dawn Scarfe, Katariina Vuorinen, Caroline Bouissou, Eunjoo Noh, Elisabet Enebjörn, Ghenadie Rotari, Katka Máliková, Robert Mulch, Eva Pekárová

Composer(s): Peter Machajdík

The Immanent Velvet is the title of a new album of chamber music composed by one of Slovakia's most admired and frequently performed composers Peter Machajdík. The CD includes pieces for piano, guitar, cello, harp, voices and string ...

By Hannah Kubick | 28 Dec 2012 | Comments | 346 views
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Remembered States

Artist(s): Argeo Ascani, Nicole Camacho, Justin Friedman, Matthew Hough, Dillon Kondor, Annie Lyle, Joshua Modney, Anne Rainwater, Megan Schubert, Dennis Sullivan

Composer(s): Matthew Hough

I’m not going to lie, Remembered States is a challenging album. At the core of this collection of compositions is a full exploration of extended techniques at the pianissimo level (with a few exceptions) and the near absence of actual notes, not to mention a complete eschewal of meter. Nonetheless, once you get settled into its sound, the album is a surprisingly listenable one, drawing you in because its unusual, intricate world is so well constructed.
By Meg Wilhoite | 08 Oct 2012 | Comments | 440 views
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American Mystic - Music of Alan Hovhaness - Centennial Collection

Artist(s): Seattle Symphony Shanghai Quartet, et al

Composer(s): Alan Hovhaness

Alan Hovhaness would have been 100 this year, and for this occasion Delos is releasing American Mystic...This new Delos CD is a beautiful collection of meditations, some intimate, some more monumental (it might sound antithetical but Hovhaness is that good).
By I Care if You Listen | 19 Nov 2011 | Comments | 909 views
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this was written by hand

Artist(s): Andrew Zolinsky

Composer(s): David Lang

The composer's new album features a cycle of memorial pieces
By Chris McGovern | 18 Nov 2011 | Comments | 580 views
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Line Upon Line Percussion

Artist(s): Line Upon Line Percussion

Composer(s): James D. Norman, Steven Snowden, Zack Stanton, Ian Dicke

Featuring the work of four local, Texas composers – James D. Norman, Steven Snowden, Zack Stanton and Ian Dicke – the self-titled album is a remarkably diverse journey in sound and expression. Each work revolves around contrasting, evolving relationships in timbre and employ a variety of pitched and unpitched, commonplace and specialized percussion instruments. Exquisitely produced and performed, the album is limitlessly captivating and stimulating thanks to the deft, elegant work the composers and the constant variety of colors present in their pieces.
By Garrett Schumann | 29 Oct 2011 | Comments | 756 views
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Ives: Four Sonatas

Artist(s): Hilary Hahn (w/Valentina Lisitsa)

Composer(s): Charles Ives

Charles Ives' complete sonatas for violin and piano, performed by Hahn and Lisitsa as equal duets rather than violin sonatas.
By Chris McGovern | 13 Oct 2011 | Comments | 922 views
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Paysages

Artist(s): Susanna Phillips (soprano), Myra Huang (piano)

Composer(s): Debussy, Messiaen, Fauré

paysages

 

I’m pretty sure French vocal music wouldn’t be considered the type of music one would blast in one’s car.  Well, I was. Until I listened to, and most definitely blasted in my car, Susanna Phillips’s debut solo ...

By Elena SB | 01 Oct 2011 | Comments | 165 views
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Feather Hammer

Artist(s): Leah Kardos

Composer(s): Leah Kardos

A progressive collection of short pieces threaded together as a tone poem on the composer's relationship with piano as her first instrument.
By Chris McGovern | 01 Oct 2011 | Comments | 950 views
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Sometimes the City is Silent

Artist(s): Meerenai Shim, featuring pianist Lori Lack and cellist Rachel Turner Houk!

Composer(s): Various


Meerenai Engages the Listener with Pure Flute Technique and Sound on her Debut Album

Flutes are delightfully simple, yet incredibly complex instruments. When you look at the wave form, the sound of the flute is pure and clean. The emotional range ...
By Chip Michael | 22 Sep 2011 | Comments | 797 views
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WTC 9/11

Artist(s): Kronos Quartet; Steve Reich and Musicians; So Percussion

Composer(s): Steve Reich

Now that we’ve gotten the cover art discussion out of the way – and Nonesuch has acquiesced to the concerns of those who felt the artwork exploitative and inflammatory – let’s consider the music on Steve Reich’s latest recording. Kronos Quartet, So Percussion, and Steve Reich & Musicians give renditions of Reich pieces written in the past nine years.
By Christian Carey | 11 Sep 2011 | Comments | 241 views
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