★Another Timbre
John Tilbury plays Terry Riley
There are certain works by minimalist pioneer Terry Riley that are rightly celebrated as classics, paradigm-shifting masterpieces that exerted a wide influence within classical music, but also well beyond its often hermetic borders. Hello, “Baba O’Riley!” But there is so much more in his repertoire deserving the same accolades. On “Terry Riley: Keyboard Studies”, released by Another Timbre, one of the premiere contemporary music labels of our time, three mid-1960s masterpieces are interpreted by…
Landmarks
Eight collaborative compositions for organ and percussion by the longstanding Canadian duo, who also appeared on Isaiah’s previous, and now sold out, CD ‘Bow’.
Hope Lies Fallow
Six pieces developed by Johnny and Keir from music by Hildegard van Bingen and Orlando de Lassus. Three violin duets, + three tracks for violins and the voice of Celeste Oram.
Tehran Dust
Three chamber pieces by the Austrian composer Klaus Lang, plus two arrangements by Klaus of early music by Johannes Ockeghem and Pierre de la Rue.
Played by Trio Amos with Klaus Lang
The Pankow-Park Sessions
What happens when a composer starts improvising in his mid-80s… Duo from Berlin for cello and piano.
How Lonely Sits The City?
Great new piece from the Swedish composer, working as fruitfully as ever with his ensemble Skogen. Mysterious, dream-like and melancholic. Another gem.
Together on the Way
A concert-length work for pipe organ, piano and percussion, created by the composer and the GBSR Duo (Siwan Rhys and George Barton) at the recent Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Wonderfully brooding music, beautifully played.
Adjacent Sound
Four pieces from the Argentine composer, whose unique soundworld is well described by the title of the first piece: ‘The Construction of an Imaginary Acoustic Space’. Compelling, disconcerting music from a very interesting composer, performed by the New European Ensemble, Ensemble Modelo62, Francesco Dillon and Teodora Stepančić.
Discreet Angel
Three works written over 25 years ago by a virtually unknown Canadian composer. The pieces were originally performed just once or twice, but have recently re-emerged and sound extraordinarily contemporary. New recordings by Apartment House and Cristian Alvear, as well as one historic recording by the composer himself. Brilliant stuff.
Luft.Inneres
Four chamber works for strings by Korean composer Kunsu Shim, plus six short pieces written for Kunsu by composer friends.
Performed by the Luna String Quartet.
Piano and String Quartet
A late work of extraordinary sensual beauty, realised by Apartment House, and – at 79’50” - only just fitting on a standard CD. Not to be missed
A Moonbeam is Just a Filtered Sunbeam
An extended solo work by the California-based composer/instrumentalist Andrew McIntosh, using field recordings and electronics, alongside violin, viola, piano, bowed wine glasses and slate – all played by the composer. Wonderful music produced during the year of lockdown
September
Apartment House again, performing eight exquisite chamber works by the young UK composer Georgia Rodgers
Songs For a Shed
A series of six beautiful works for piano and instruments, realised by Apartment House and pianist Siwan Rhys, with great cover artwork by Maxwell Doig
Sapindales
Four clarinet-based works, brilliantly played by Heather Roche, with Juliet Fraser, Anton Lukoszevieze and James Opstad. Music with intricate, interweaving lines, the title piece is a mesmerising work for multi-tracked clarinets and field recordings
Number Pieces
A beautifully produced 4-CD box set of John Cage's 'Number Pieces', played by Apartment House. With 44-page booklet and CDs in individual card wallets with original artwork by Arvinda Gray. These extraordinarily beautiful works were all composed in the last 5 years of the composer's life, as Cage approached his 80th birthday. These recordings by Apartment House are the first recordings for 15 years of almost all of the pieces. An essential release of wonderful but somewhat neglected music.
In th…
Dark Heart
Four fascinating and detailed compositions from Canadian composer and painter Lance Austin Olsen, each work giving the performers space to collaborate on the results, using graphic scores and Cage-like elements from recordings; performers include Terje Paulsen, Gil Sanson, Ryoko Akama, Isaiah Ceccarelli, Katelyn Clark, Patrick Farmer and Apartment House.
Verses
Another Timbre presents Verses, five chamber and solo works by the Canadian composer Barbara Monk Feldman. "I have been thinking about what is inside and what is outside. The everyday life and tragedy of what goes on around you, and the fact that to accomplish anything you need the isolation in the studio - I think about this moral issue. And then on another level, I think about an inside and an outside for art itself, and how ephemeral that is.... What I am looking for is a way to notate the mo…
Ballad
Two pieces for cello and piano by Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, both performed by Anton Lukoszevieze (cello) and Kerry Yong (piano). "In Ballad (45 minutes in duration) I was extending myself into a longer work; I wanted to make a work that could be the entire concert, that could unfold over a longer time. With Through the Low Hills (10 minutes), I was working with a very restricted vocabulary in a process of constrained variation, working and re-working just a few elements. I felt like …
Me Hollywood
Another Timbre presents Me Hollywood by Oliver Leith. 5 chamber works by UK-based composer Oliver Leith, performed by Explore Ensemble. Cover drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King. ‘Me Hollywood’ sees a hired ensemble soundtrack their patron's evening. He is hoping, or, knows even, that the music will elevate each banal gesture. Films will eventually be made about him, so he’s just making it happen now, his life is filmic, it just needs a score, he drinks, he sings, he plays the piano, he cares for…