Composition / Avant-Garde

*300 copies limited edition* Ars nova meets dark folk, aural cinema, contemporary music, drone and much more... An astonishing album gathering three extended pieces that unfold the works of medieval musical genius Guillaume de Machaut, the greatest and last of the troubadours. Lovingly recorded by sound master Frederic Alstadt, featuring Clara Levy, Stéphane Clor & Eugénie De Mey, this album captures all the poignancy and poetry, of this timeless music. A passionate performance by virtuosic musi…

Chashitsu: Auditory Tea Room is the debut album of original compositions by Japanese composer and violinist Midori Komachi. Inspired by the sonic journey of Chashitsu (Japanese Tea Room) and Chado (The Way of Tea), this album showcases Komachi's weaving together original compositions with field recordings by Nick Luscombe (MSCTY). Conceived and produced by Komachi in collaboration with London and Tokyo based MSCTY, known for their work at the forefront of music and architecture, the project refl…

*200 copies limited edition* Undertones is a composition for percussion idiophones, electronics, and variable field recordings, originally composed for four channels. It develops in four movements and is expressed through a graphic score which provides multiple instructions to the musicians and, simultaneously, requires their input and interpretation of the given instructions, including a particular part of the instrumentation. The field recordings, identified as variable, change with each perfo…

With this album, Heleen Van Haegenborgh returns to her roots as a pianist. In recent years, she has primarily composed works on commission for a diverse range of ensembles, from recorders to foghorns. On this solo album, her entire journey of musical encounters and compositions comes together subtly.Van Haegenborgh doesn't think in terms of stories or boxes, but rather in colours, energy, and texture - without drifting into the abstract. She remains true to her personal inside piano world, inclu…

1995 release ** Special members-only edition for the sponsors' circle of dacapo. Music by: Anton Webern, Morton Feldman, John Cage, Hans Otte, Malcolm Goldstein, Dietrich Eichmann, Yoshikazu Iwamoto.

This is the second Tzadik release of music by one of the most original and under-appreciated composers of the twentieth century. With José Maceda's passing in 2004, several of his most passionate musical collaborators have been continuing his legacy and they come together here to present his most ambitious and greatest large scale work—Strata. Beautifully recorded in Manila at the University of the Philippines and directed by Maceda's long-time collaborator Ramón Santos and Mills College colleag…

The complete music for cello and piano by Morton Feldman, played by cellist Stephen Marotto and pianist Marilyn Nonken, including unpublished pieces, a first recording of the 1946 Sonatina and the 89-minute Patterns in a Chromatic Field (1981).

Three world premiere recordings by Carol Robinson that pair a live soloist (basset horn, double bass, electric guitar) with computer music, each inspired by weather: a winter thaw, a green sky over South Dakota and a hurricane.

Three works from Horatiu Radulescu's Sound Plasma period, played by Sam Dunscombe and Rebecca Lane: Capricorn's Nostalgic Crickets, Small Infinities' Togetherness and Opus 42, Inner Time / Outer Time. Volume 4 of Mode's Radulescu Edition.

*2025 stock* Éric Gaudibert’s greatest legacy lies in his artistic generosity, aesthetic openness and commitment to exploration, qualities he shared throughout his career with fellow musicians and students. A decade after his passing, a vibrant and diverse artistic ecosystem shaped by his influence is brought into focus. To honour his memory, twenty-two composers who were accompanied or mentored by Gaudibert on their artistic paths were invited to create miniature works. These brief compositions…

This 2 CD album features Japanese pianist Miharu Ogura’s jaw-dropping rendition of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke I–XI, for solopiano, recorded live at Monopiano festival 2021. Includes a 20 page booklet with an essay by Robin Maconie, former Stockhausen pupil and author of the book “Other Planets: The Complete Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen 1950–2007”.

Chamber works by Earle Brown from Folio, Four Systems, Corroboree and Tracking Pierrot, played by musicians of Dal Niente Projects including John Tilbury, recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston upon Thames, in 2002 and at the Union Chapel, London, in 1999.

2018 release ** "Two versions of Cage's 'One' and one of his 'One5' performed by pianist Guy Vandromme. 'One' was written in 1987, a ten-minute long piece for solo piano. Per the Cage Works page, the commentary is: "This work comprises 10 systems of piano chords, varying in dynamics, selected by chance. Each system is roughly 1 minute long, and all but one is flexible. Each system contains 2 sets of chords. The order of each set is maintained, but the relationship between the two sets of chords …

2012 release ** "Combining the deep voice of Hildegard von Bingen and the inner song of John Cage (or vice versa)—what a wonderful idea, isn't it? And it's Irene Kurka herself who seems to have come up with it. She performs Hildegard nine times and gives her version of Sonnekus² (in nine parts, which Satie's Je te veux inspired Cage to use). She blends, finally, the eighteen pieces already sung. She merges attachment to faith and detachment from all things, Latin and the elevation it encourages …

2007 release ** Fold in; fold out: the breathing of the accordion. On this CD the accordion unfolds in a very special way, unusually close to the instrument. Four works, four worlds that seem to know each other; refer to each other like a greeting from far away.Hearing John Cage's ,,Cheap Imitation" played on accordion gives you the impression of folk music from an unknown, probably non-existent country. This music comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, is forever on its way.....Like ,,Sam Lazaro Bro…

2009 release ** The score of "Stones" consists of just a few lines of text:Make sounds with stones, draw sounds out of stones, using a number of sizes and kinds (and colours); for the most part discretely; sometimes in rapid sequences. For the most part striking stones wfth stones, but also stones on other surfaces (inside the open head of a drum, for instance) or other than struck (bowed, for instance, or amplified). Do not break anything.  Christian Wolff, STONES, (from: Prose Collection, 1968…

EM Records is proud to present 8 Automated Works, the first full release by Componium Ensemble, an "indeterminate chamber music" ensemble helmed by Spencer Doran of Visible Cloaks. The project is inspired by the long history of automated musical instruments, beginning with the ancient Greek Archimedes and further developed by the Banū Mūsā brothers in 9th century Baghdad, who "first perfected the concept of a programmable, automated musician: a mechanically controlled flute which used hydraulic …

A pivotal 1970 minimalist composition by Philip Glass, performed by the Dedalus Ensemble. This 2LP edition captures the piece’s layered, psychoacoustic magic—where pulse, texture, and harmonic shimmer meet.

2012 release ** "Complex and expressive vocal writing, blending elements of traditional choral music with more modern, experimental techniques. Wolfgang Rihm has not usurped the immense reputation he enjoys in contemporary artistic life. The works of this worthy heir to the German musical tradition invariably oscillate between monumentality – immutable blocks of sound – and ethereal movement – instrumental or vocal lines opening towards the infinite. His choral music is characterised by a syncre…

2012 release ** "Number 4 of the Salzburg Festival “Kontinent” series was dedicated to Wolfgang Rihm. We have compiled a selection of the works for your conven- ience – including a first recording! Wolfgang Rihm once claimed that the most appropriate statements about his oeuvre are his own compositions. In 2010 the Salzburg Festival adopted this approach. The result was a “Kontinent Rihm” which placed the manifold tone colors and modes of expression created by the former Stockhausen student into…

2011 release ** "Stemming from the homonymous biennial festival in the Czech Republic, Ostravská Banda – with its twenty musicians – thrives under the direction of Peter Kotik, a veteran of unconventional orchestration and artistic director of the S.E.M. Ensemble in New York City. Standing out among the large group is Joseph Kubera – a name already referenced in a contemporary context – a talented pianist with a resume rich with collaborations with masters such as Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, Mo…

Works by Luigi Nono for flute and live electronics from his 1980s collaboration with Roberto Fabbriciani, with Musiche per Manzù for tape (1969) and Fabbriciani's own tribute for piccolo, Omaggio a Luigi Nono.

2003 release ** "People uncertain about the appeal of an album of percussion music should know two things up front. First, the three longest pieces on Drums Along the Pacific feature a non-percussion solo instrument. Second, Lou Harrison's interest in percussion music was split equally between rhythm and melody. In percussion-only pieces like "Simfony #13" and "Song of Quetzalcóatl" -- both performed here by the William Winant Percussion Group -- he uses sets of instruments with different pitche…

This is a lovely and surprising treat indeed. Composer andmulti-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow and much more) partners with vocalist Atsuko Kamura (Mizutama Shobodan aka PolkaDot Fire Brigade and Frank Chickens) to present 37 compositions,expanding the usual sub-10-second acoustic life of classic haiku into avaried suite of compositions which place the gem-like poems, spokenand sung in both English and Japanese by Hodgkinson and Kamura,into gorgeous musical frames composed by Hodgkins…

James Fulkerson’s release on Irida, Works (IRIDA 0017, 1980), is the first collection of the trombonist’s own compositions, all of which he had written and developed in the mid-’70s. Just as Jerry Hunt had done with Cantegral Segment(s), Fulkerson problematized the presentation of his work as a record in the liner notes, where he noted the complex and intense relationship he had developed with the pieces over countless concerts and rehearsals: “I was overwhelmed with the sense of disparity betwe…

*2023 stock. 250 copies limited edition* Composer/improviser Magnus Granberg, who lives in Stockholm, has presented outstanding composed works through Skogen, the ensemble he directs, and experimental music ensembles, projects and labels from around the world. He has released three CDs on the Meenna label: "Whose Words?"(meenna-983 / 2017), documenting a trio improvisation performance with Tetuzi Akiyama and Henrik Olsson; and two albums titled "Come Down to Earth Where Sorrow Dwelleth" (meenna-…

Music of Dary John Mizelle is a recording of three densely layered compositions by the eponymous Oklahoma-born composer. Originally trained in trombone performance, Mizelle was a graduate student in composition at the University of California, Davis, under Larry Austin. The two, alongside Stanley Lunetta, had founded the free improvisation group New Music Ensemble in 1963 on campus with the intention of exploring the outer limits of performance and composition. Mizelle became the youngest member…

Tip! Music of BL Lacerta is an album of spontaneous music featuring two live performances, one at the University of North Texas art gallery and one at the Second National Tuba-Euphonium Symposium-Workshop, and a stray studio recording done at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky. The collective BL Lacerta, whose name is derived from a distant astronomical constellation, formed in 1976 (Lacerta also translates to “lizard,” accounting for the group’s reptilian cartoon logo). They began as classical m…

Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kurzwellen (1968) in a new performing version by C.L.S.I. for four instruments, four shortwave radios, six computers and conductor, premiered in 2011 and conducted by Paul Mefano.

Award-winning producer and composer Giorgi Koberidze offers up a head-spinning debut of Georgian modern classical music shot through with 360° electroacoustic textures.

1992 release **Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. His music places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and, unlike the work of Sciarrino and Lachenmann, often requires improvisation. His extensive output is largely unknown outside of experimental music circles. As a trom…

1991 release **Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. His music places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and, unlike the work of Sciarrino and Lachenmann, often requires improvisation. His extensive output is largely unknown outside of experimental music circles. As a trom…

1994 release **Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. His music places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and, unlike the work of Sciarrino and Lachenmann, often requires improvisation. His extensive output is largely unknown outside of experimental music circles. As a trom…

"Today’s wine tasting is once again hosted by sommelier Claudio Sanna. He presents more local Sardinian varieties with a round of flights, much like the 2022 release Compositori Sardi Contemporanei. Instead of grape cultivars and vintner, Sanna presents multiple composers and performers for you to sample, not with your tongue but your ears. Just like a wine tasting experience, these tracks are a sample of the rich and fertile Sardinian landscape of creative musicians." – Mark Corroto

"Each composition arises from a clear idea that the listener can grasp. That is their beauty, I’d argue – there’s no need for, or possibility of, any process of beautification. They are conceptual art in the broadest sense, but vividly concrete in their sonorous properties. So they are a paradigm of musical art – for music is an art that is abstract in form, concrete in utterance." - Andy Hamilton

music for bowed string instruments consists mostly of music composed by Malcolm Goldstein (b. 1936) between 2018 and 2019 while living in Montréal, Québec. The impulse to compose this series came from Goldstein’s experience as a teacher and performer of Béla Bartók’s 44 Duos for Two Violins (1931). Whereas Bartók’s series features a clear progression to the pieces, gradually increasing in technical and musical complexity from beginning to end, music for bowed string instruments has no such seque…

Closing the achingly long four years wait since her last full-length, the American composer/percussionist Sarah Hennies returns with “Motor Tapes”, her second release with New World Records. Comprising three astounding new pieces, made in collaboration with three acclaimed ensembles - ensemble 0, Talea Ensemble, and Ensemble Dedalus - that simultaneously encounter her moving into new uncharted territory, while remaining rooted in her singular practice, exploring musical, sociopolitical, and psyc…

The inaugural release in Greyfade’s innovative new FOLIO music release format, composer Kenneth Kirschner’s Three Cellos is the culmination of a five-year collaboration between Kirschner, arranger & producer Joseph Branciforte, and cellist Christopher Gross.

Two live 1983 performances of John Cage conducting Atlas Eclipticalis with Winter Music at Seattle's Cornish Institute, first issued on LP in 1986, with a bonus disc of the 86-part Atlas Eclipticalis and Winter Music for 20 pianos.

1995 release ** Contemporary music for organ by Arvo Pärt, John Cage and Giacinto Scelsi.