Composition / All styles

Sacred polyphony from a Prague manuscript of about 1500, sung by the Hilliard Ensemble (David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, John Potter, Gordon Jones), recorded in January 1993 in the Stadtkirche, Gönningen.

Soprano Sarah Leonard and organist Christopher Bowers-Broadbent in Górecki's O Domina Nostra, Satie's Messe des pauvres, two Milhaud preludes and Gavin Bryars's The Black River. Recorded June 1992, Hofkirche Luzern.

Solo violin album by Swiss violinist Paul Giger, his first for ECM New Series: five largely improvised pieces recorded at night in the crypt and upper church of Chartres Cathedral around the summer solstice of 1988, produced by Manfred Eicher. Released 1989.

Giya Kancheli's Vom Winde beweint and Alfred Schnittke's Viola Concerto, with Kim Kashkashian and conductor Dennis Russell Davies, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn (Nov 1991) and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken (May 1986).

Three orchestral works by Giacinto Scelsi recorded in Vienna in 2005: Quattro Pezzi (su una nota sola), Uaxuctum, and the first recording of La Nascita del Verbo, with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and choirs.

Aki Takahashi plays Giacinto Scelsi's piano works in 2005 recordings, mostly pieces she prepared with the composer, including the Quattro Illustrazioni depicting the incarnations of Vishnu.

Two Scelsi piano works played by Stephen Clarke: the first recording of the 1930 Suite No. 2 and Action Music (1955), in the second volume of Mode's Scelsi Edition devoted to the piano.

Giacinto Scelsi's music for woodwinds, mostly from the 1950s, for solo clarinet, flute and duos with oboe and piccolo, played by Carol Robinson, who worked with the composer, with Clara Novakova and Cathy Milliken.

Organ works by Arvo Pärt, Peter Maxwell Davies and Philip Glass played by Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, recorded in October 1990 at the Grossmünster, Zürich, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Shostakovich's Viola Sonata Op. 147 with Linda Bouchard's Pourtinade and Paul Chihara's Redwood, played by Kim Kashkashian (viola), Robert Levin (piano) and Robyn Schulkowsky (percussion), recorded in June and October 1990.

Organa and conductus by Perotin and anonymous composers of the Notre-Dame school (c. 1200), sung by the Hilliard Ensemble directed by Paul Hillier, recorded in September 1988 at Boxgrove Priory, Sussex.

Four pieces for cello and pipe organ by Thomas Demenga (cello) and Heinz Reber (organ), recorded digitally in October 1980 at the Pauluskirche in Bern and produced by Manfred Eicher; first released by ECM in 1981.

Solo guitar album by Brazilian guitarist Daniel Murray, playing his own arrangements of thirteen compositions by Egberto Gismonti on six- and ten-string guitars, produced by Gismonti and recorded in April 2018 at Visom Digital Studios, Rio de Janeiro.

Two George Crumb works of the 1970s: Black Angels in an arrangement for string quartet and string orchestra, with Cuarteto Latinoamericano, and Makrokosmos III for two amplified pianos and percussion, conducted by Juan Pablo Izquierdo.

Keith Jarrett's composition Ritual for solo piano, played by Dennis Russell Davies. Recorded in June 1977 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, produced by Manfred Eicher, released as ECM 1112 in 1982.

Elliott Carter's Quintet for Piano and Strings, Quintet for Piano and Winds, Syringa, Tempo e Tempi and two miniatures, recorded under his supervision for his 95th birthday with Ursula Oppens, the Arditti Quartet and Ensemble Sospeso.

From the liner notes by Tim Perkis: "Ellen Band's work... lies in the path it takes, leading one from listening to recordings of natural sounds to, before one knows it, being immersed in a dense and complex field of sound which, though built completely from natural elements, is something quite transcendent and otherworldly. Band's music seduces us into perceiving the sensuous properties of familiar sounds by building dense and complex sound environments out of these elements. By sheer sensory de…

Suite for piano, string quartet and percussion composed in 2018 by Wolfert Brederode for the centenary of the end of World War I, played by Brederode (piano), the Matangi Quartet and Joost Lijbaart (drums, percussion). Recorded August 2021 at Sendesaal Bremen.

"Two first recordings of Morton Feldman's music in themselves make this CD a notable event. And then, David Felder's music puts it over the line. The music bridges two generations and two distinct personalities. Feldman, with John Cage, Earle Brown, David Tudor, and Christian Wolff, was a seminal member of the New York School in the 1950s, and his work is known for the beauty and delicacy of its orchestral colors, its 'painterly' surface, its static and quiet structure, its contemplative charact…

First album by Marco Ambrosini's Ensemble Supersonus (nyckelharpa, kannel, overtone voice and harp, jew's harp, harpsichord and square piano): early music, folk, Ottoman and original pieces. Recorded November 2015, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM debut of the Naqsh Duo, guitarist Golfam Khayam and clarinettist Mona Matbou Riahi from Tehran, nine joint compositions drawing on Persian tradition. Recorded July 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher and Ramin Sadighi.

Ketil Bjørnstad's cantata on prose by Edvard Munch, sung in Norwegian by Kari Bremnes and the Oslo Chamber Choir under Egil Fossum, with Bjørnstad on piano, Aage Kvalbein on cello, saxophone, bass and percussion. Recorded April 2012 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

This marvelous recording of these elusive works features composer-supervised performances by a hand-picked group of renowned new-music exponents.  "Your first encounter with the music of Christian Wolff leaves you with the impression you've just heard (or played, or read) something totally strange, unlike anything else you know. And yet, upon reflection, you realize it is at the same time something completely ordinary and normal, as familiar in its way as any number of repetitive actions …

Two CDs covering 37 years of Christian Wolff's music, mostly first recordings including the graphic score For 5 or 10 People and Schoenen met veters, played by The Barton Workshop with James Fulkerson.

Four works by Dino Saluzzi for bandoneon, cello and string orchestra, with Anja Lechner (cello), Felix Saluzzi (tenor saxophone) and the Metropole Orchestra strings under Jules Buckley. Recorded live on 13 February 2009 at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam; released 2010.

Thirteen-limit just intonation, with the primes 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and 13 governing the tuning, the harmony, the rhythm and the form all at once. The twelve retuned notes yield seventy-five different intervals where equal temperament gives twelve. Brown was a piano tuner for fifteen years and tuned it himself.

Trio album by Vassilis Tsabropoulos (piano), Anja Lechner (cello) and U.T. Gandhi (percussion): twelve Tsabropoulos compositions and three Gurdjieff/de Hartmann pieces. Recorded June 2007 at Auditorio Radio Svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Two live orchestral works by Terje Rypdal (electric guitar): Melodic Warrior with The Hilliard Ensemble and Bruckner Orchester Linz under Dennis Russell Davies (Linz, 2003), and op. 97 with the Wrocław Philharmonic (2009). CD, ECM 2006.

Michael Mantler's Ernst Meister settings, sung by Mona Larsen with the Chamber Music and Songs Ensemble (Copenhagen, 1993), and his One Symphony, played by the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt under Peter Rundel (Frankfurt, 1998). CD, 2000.

Michael Mantler's chamber pieces for trumpet, the Balanescu Quartet, guitar, alto flute, vibraphone and piano, ending with a setting of Samuel Beckett's last poem sung by Karen Mantler and Jack Bruce. Recorded June 1992, Angel Studios, London. ECM 1485, 1993.

Two concert works by Terje Rypdal for electric guitar and ensemble, Q.E.D. Opus 52 and Largo Opus 55, played by Rypdal with the Borealis Ensemble conducted by Christian Eggen. Recorded August and December 1991, Rainbow Studio, Oslo. ECM 1474, 1993.

Chick Corea's five-movement septet for string quartet, piano, flute and French horn, commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, plus The Temple of Isfahan. Recorded October 1984 at Mad Hatter Studios, Los Angeles, produced by Corea. ECM, 1985.

Concert film by Isabelle Soulard: Márta and György Kurtág play pieces from Játékok and Kurtág's Bach transcriptions for piano four hands, Cité de la musique, Paris, 22 September 2012, in memory of Haydée Charbagi.

Concert film of Eleni Karaindrou's 'scenic cantata' at the Megaron, Athens, 27 March 2005: music from 13 film and theatre scores with Maria Farantouri, the Camerata Orchestra under Alexandros Myrat and the ERT Choir.

The work of Alvin Lucier needs little introduction. He is certainly one of the most innovative composers of his time, a pioneer and central figure in the world of experimental and electronic composition and performance. His early work, alone and in conjunction with Robert Ashley, David Berhman, Gordon Mumma and others in the Sonic Arts Union -- which Lucier helped found in 1966 -- is musically rich while simultaneously exploring the many physical and psychic effects of sound. Pieces such as I Am…

Two microtonal works by Alvin Lucier written for the performers: Navigations for Strings, played by the Arditti Quartet, and Small Waves for string quartet, trombone, piano and two water pourers, with Hildegard Kleeb and Roland Dahinden.

Another classic Lucier catalog item, a 45-minute recording made in 1991 of this piece that he first conceived in 1978. The piece is for: amplified clock, performer with galvanic skin response sensor and digital delay system. The sounds that emanate are beautifully shifting patterns of tock-collage that reveal dramatic sonic detailings. "I wanted to make a work in which a performer could speed up and slow down time, stopping it, if possible, simply by thinking. I bought a Westclox Silver Bell Mon…

Live electronics from a composer born in Napoly in 1962. He also has a CD on EDition RZ. 'Roma. L'insieme Di Cantor' (1998). 'Paris. La Robotique des Lumiéres' (2003). 'Berlin. Bad Sampling' (2000). 'New York. Background MeDia Noise' (2005). 'Untitled (sound synthesis, October 01)' (2001). 'eBss (e-Book Sound Supplement)' (2002).

Aldo Clementi marks out the distance with an absolute refusal to provide narratives, whether of tension resolved, or simply of that logically unending succession of states of being so dear to many of his contemporaries. His materials, whether gathered from a tonal past, generated as a jeu d'esprìt from the names of dedicatees, or produced by a purely abstract process, are projected into a rotational steady state that has no logical end or beginning. (David Osmond-Smith, 2005) On the occasion of …