Composition / Contemporary

Founding work of minimalism, Music with Changing Parts is a piece with free instrumentation. The musicians choose which part to play among the 8 staves of the score. At each indicated cue, the musicians can change part, which produces an abrupt change of instrumentation. While the music is based on a melodic material limited to a few notes that are repeated in patterns that expand or contract, the changes in orchestration refresh the listening  experience by producing sonic contrasts.  These tec…

*200 copies limited edition* Sullivan Johns is a composer and musician from the UK. He studied at Leeds Conservatoire and Leeds Arts University. His previous release, Assembled Parts (Rusted Tone Recordings - 2022), constructs a narrative on themes of loss, grief and memory using minimal drones and field recordings. Described by Bandcamp New and Notable as "Striking experimental compositions that conjure both childhood joy and icy terror”, pieces from Assembled Parts were Broadcast on BBC Radio …

Unreleased material composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1992

Two-CD set of works by Gerald Eckert, mostly for orchestra and often with live electronics, performed by Ensemble Reflexion K and the norddeutsche sinfonietta, with the composer as cellist and conductor.

2015 release ** "The tromba marina is a huge single-stringed instrument, played with a bow. For "in memory of james tenney", in four parts, Möller and Maldfeld each wrestle with one such beast, using instruments from the 17th and early 18th centuries. And f it's grain you want, step right up--this thing, especially Part I, sounds like the bow is severely serrated, close to being able to saw wood. A huge rumble that encloses myriad tones high to low. Think of an Eliane Radigue cello piece with yo…

Listening is the foundation of Raven Chacon’s (b. 1977) wide-ranging artistic practice. “I am a listener,” he simply declares, but the attention he gives to sound is complex and vast, encompassing far more than what is immediately audible. From his earliest works, Chacon has been dedicated to amplifying the unheard, calling attention to what is absent or unknown. Although Chacon classifies the compositions on this recording as chamber music, all three of these works “zigzag” through his noise st…

*40 copies limited edition, uv-printed tapes with case and no cover* The original tape was found in a very poor condition, luckily transported in caring hands of Nazlo labs and by accident was succesfully restored, digitalized and mastered using special professional vintage French equipment in a medieval castle somewhere in the center of France.

*2025 stock. 300 copies limited edition* Håkon Thelin is a generation-defining double bassist whose exuberant musicality and high-level technique have been heard in a wide array of album releases and concert performances over the past 25 years. Known both as an interpreter of contemporary music, where the notes resemble mathematical equations with both 8 and 9 unknowns, the musically omnivorous three-headed troll Poing with Frode Haltli and Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, and as a composer of both solo and e…

1991 release ** "Alexander Kandov graduated from the State Academy of Music majoring in Composition under Professor Dimitar Tapkoff and in Piano under Professor Liuba Obretenova. He worked as a music editor at the Bulgarian National Radio and in Musica Publishing House, and as a lecturer in Polyphony at the State Academy of Music. From 1982 to 1990 he was Chairman of the Young Composers’ Section at the Union of Bulgarian Composers. One of the founders of the Society for New Bulgarian Music (1990…

*2025 stock* New York City-based, Puerto Rican-born composer, guitarist, and visual artist Gabriel Vicéns releases his fourth studio album Mural, a recording devoted to his chamber works. Vicéns continues his musical journey by releasing a record of contemporary classical music including pieces for piano trio, wind quintet, Pierrot ensemble and more; featuring some of today's finest performers of the New York City classical scene. The immersive and mood-inducing music on this record spans a four…

Pianist Masako Ohta and trumpet player Matthias Lindermayr are back on Squama with 'Nozomi', the follow-up to their 2022 debut 'MMMMH'.The Japanese title, which translates to ‘hope’, felt fitting, as the album was conceived during a time of personal loss for Ohta, during and after which music proved itself as a beacon of hope. The music on Nozomi unfolds gently, with Lindermayr’s airy tone and lyrical playing being wrapped in Ohta’s chordal backing that moves from tender to tense and back over t…

1998 release ** Music for recorder by Paul Hindemith, Harald Genzmer, Francis Poulenc, George Auric, Jacques Ibert, Walter Leigh, Gail Kubik, Ulrich Staeps, Benjamin Britten, Hans Poser, Ervin Henning, Konrad Boehmer, Marjo Tal. "In thinking of the recorder, one normally sets his or her sights upon the many composed musical works from the 16th and 17th centuries, when the instrument was accorded the status of an official court instrument, as well as being the choice for regional folk and ceremon…

1994 release ** "The Arditti Quartet here performs all three of Kurtag's string quartets, along with Lutoslawski's one quartet, and Gubaidulina's second as well -- the recordings are from 1990. Kurtag's quartets are some of the finest of the 20th century, clearly fusing Webern and Bartok. What distinguishes Arditti's Kurtag from the Keller Quartet on ECM? (see my review). The AQ takes the tempos slightly faster. Not too fast, in fact I'd say if anything the KQ has slowed them down for dramatic e…

1993 release ** "Sur cette gravure, Irmela Nolte propose un beau jeu allié à une technique nécessaire quant à ce répertoire, agile, au service des œuvres regroupées ici et dont l’on n’entend pas outre mesure son souffle ni sa respiration. Un panorama intéressant, avec 2 des 4 pièces en solo (1,3) et l’autre moitié où la flûte sera aidée d’un autre dispositif (synthétiseur en 2, bande et enregistrements préalables en 4) qui diversifie les procédés et rompt une monotonie possible dans ce genre de …

1990 release **  Syrinx – Claude DebussyDensity 21.5 – Edgard VarèseMusica Su Due Dimensioni – Bruno MadernaSequenza I – Luciano BerioDas Atmende Klarsein (Fragment)– Luigi NonoCarceri D'Invenzione II/b – Brian FerneyhoughCome Vengono Prodotti Gli Incantesimi? – Salvatore SciarrinoCanzona Di Ringraziamento – Salvatore Sciarrino

1989 release ** Marubatoo (13:05) John Wyre Fauna (13:17) William CahnCymbal (11:55) Bob BeckerRain Tree (11:10) Toru TakemitsuRemembrance (9:36) Robin Engelman "This is a fine collection of pieces performed by one of the premier percussion ensembles in the world. The Canadian quintet Nexus approaches the notion of the percussion ensemble with an ear for innovation and a discipline for virtuosity. Nowhere is this clearer in this disc than on the album's centerpiece, "Cymbal," by group leader Bob…

Tractus emphasizes Arvo Pärt compositions that blend the timbres of choir and string orchestra. New versions predominate, with focused performances from the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tõnu Kaljuste’s direction that invite alert and concentrated listening. From the opening composition Littlemore Tractus, which takes as its starting point consoling reflections from a sermon by John Henry Newman, the idea of change, transfiguration and renewal resona…

A double CD with location recordings - recorded by Christophe Albertijn - of organ and carillon music plus a 32 page booklet of/for the unveiling of Katharina AW, a relational artwork by Joris Martens.

Nicolás Melmann (born in Buenos Aires and now based in Barcelona) explores sound's social and poetic dimensions through transdisciplinary projects. Drawing inspiration from Erik Satie's concept of "furniture music," Melmann's compositions transform the listening experience into havens of calm and contemplation. Música Aperta is a fusion of acoustic and electronic sounds, rich in beautiful harmonies, where carefully soft elements interplay with delicate raspiness. Made up of three parts, the musi…

2007 release ** "Reinhold Friedl’s “Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Cheap Imitation“ is exactly what the title says: an endless funny parody of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, a composition often taken far too seriously. At the same time, it is a compositional condensation of Schönberg’s techniques, conducted in a great way by trumpet player Franz Hautzinger from Vienna, a longtime-member of zeitkratzer; sung by the soprano Marcus Weiser, who succeeded already in Berlin as a singer under the name Mark …

2025 stock ** ""Marcin Masecki, an outstanding Polish cross-genre pianist, composed the new work inspired by famous composition of Frederic Rzewski and invited another pianist Piotr Nowicki to perform it. Marcin Masecki (born 1982 in Warsaw) is an avant garde pianist. His father was a clarinetist who started playing musical games with him at age 3 and by age 7 Marcin took up piano. He began playing at clubs at age twelve and by the time he was fifteen, he had his own trio. In 2005 he won the mai…

1990 release (RARE) **  Ionisation (1933) Edgar Varèse 5:58Trio (1936) John Cage 3:56Canticle (1939) Lou Harrison 4:13Polifonica Monodia Ritmica (1951) Luigi Nono 8:50Gloria E Morte (Words By Marco Luzzi) Guido Facchin 1978 11:21Concerto Da Camera(1986) Roberto Beccaci 9:43Pavone, Mulo, Volpe (1987) Saverio Tasca 5:00Il Respiro Della Notte (Liric By Elena Budini) Luigi Celeghin (1989) 3:55Omaggio A Giocando Duchamp Vinci Leonardo Alfredo Tisocco (1975)

2006 release ** "Savage Altars alternates rather abruptly between spooky and harrowing sections of rhythmic choral chanting and drop-dead gorgeous interlocking scalar passages that almost seem to float in suspended bliss. Its structure is somewhat episodic: one section begins and ends, followed by the next section, and so forth, which creates the feel of an unfolding procession or ritual (and does so more effectively in its concise 20 minutes than John Taverner's bloated The Veil Of The Temple d…

1990 release ** Luciano Berio: Ricorrenze Salvatore Sciarrino: Quintettino #2 Luca Francesconi: Attesa Ludovico Einaudi: Ai margini dell' aria Armando Gentilucci: Cile 1973 Giorgio Federico Ghedini: Quintetto #1 "The collection here draws together pieces from the "hard" wing of post-World War II composers. The Arnold Quintet plays all this music with flair, wit, and understanding. Berio is probably the best-known name on the disc, and I enjoyed his Ricorrenze ("Recurrence") more than the other p…

1989 release **  This compact disc contains excerpts from the following releases, recorded between 1976 and 1986. 1. NEXUS RAGTYME CONCERT (UMB DD2) 2. MUSIC OF NEXUS (NE01) 3. NEXUS AND EARLE BIRNEY – 3 record set – (NE 02, 03 & 04) 4. CHANGES (NE05) 5. NEXUS PLAYS THE NOVELTY MUSIC OF GEORGE HAMILTON GREEN (NE 10273)

'Frames that lean, pictures that roam’ is a collection of instrumental works by Ailie Ormston for tape, electric guitar, cello and double bass. This ensemble of instruments achieves a complex sound ranging from fully electronic (tape) to fully acoustic (strings), with the guitar occupying space in-between. The freeing of fixed material is the common thread throughout these six works – riffs and motifs are established before being reinvented and reimagined, bending and twisting within the bounds …

1988 release ** Four innovative acoustic works played by the excellent Canadian ensemble Arraymusic. Contains: Claude Vivier Et je reverrai cette ville étrange, James Tenney Harmonium # 5, Henry Kucharzyk Beating, Michael J. Baker Unfinished Business.

1993 release (RARE) ** "This disc, which brings together recent works with two pieces from 1981, allows for a very interesting journey. It is here with Bernard Noël, a relentless questioner of our language, that these Mémoires d’oubli open. With a philharmonic orchestra at its best, which is not always the case when playing contemporary music, the singer Helen Merrill and Bernard Noël himself bring to life a text that goes from simple phonemes to a beautiful poem on the theme of the face. Instru…

1999 release **

1990 release ** Music by young French-Italian composers or performers of contemporary music: Griffith Rose, Enrico Correggia, Fabrizio De Rossi Re, Giulio Castagnoli, Mauro Cardi.

1989 release ** Chamber works: Louis Andriesses, Hoketus; Elliott Carter, Enchanted Preludes, Espirit Rude, Esprit Doux; Karlheinz Stockhausen, Dr. K Sextet; Michael Torke, The Yellow Pages; Rand Steiger, Quintessence; Arthur Jarvinen, Egytian Two Step. Personnel: Erika Duke, Lorna Elder, Arthur Jarvinen, Amy Knoles, Robin Lorentz, Gaylord Mowry, James Rorig, Rand Steiger, Dorothy Stone, Tony Holmes, Teresa Tunnicliff.

1991 release ** Nebojša Jovan Živković plays total percussion music by himself, Maria Ptaszynska, Johannes Kotschy, Markus Halt, John Christie Willot and Robert Schumann.

2025 stock ** Flute player Michelle Zurria plays music by Gyorgy Kurtag, Salvatore Sciarrino, Heinz Holliger, Toshio Hosokawa, Peter Ablinger, Yan Maresz, Pierre Jodlowski,  Mary Jane Leach,  Giuliano D'Angiolini, Laurence Crane, Noah Creshevsky, Beat Furrer, Howard Skempton, Michel Van der Aa. "It is not so much the case of choosing more or less appropriate sounds, to decorate the house, as it is a case of 'building new universes with new sounds'. Composer Salvatore Sciarrino comments, without …

'SOVT' is an album containing one 55-minute piece, written for piano by Sarah Hennies in 2017. SOVT stands for Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract which refers to vocal exercises that strengthens the voice by helping the vocal cords vibrate more efficiently. One may practice SOVT exercises by singing with a straw in the mouth which regulates air pressure and reduces strain on the vocal folds. Hennies encountered these exercises in a class on so-called “voice feminization” for transgender women which also …

CD in 6 panel digisleeve. With Obi strip. The first release to document the solo cello work of musician and composer Lucy Railton, the 40-minute composition Blue Veil recorded at Église du Saint-Esprit in Paris invites listeners into the realm of precision-tuned states of resonance: states made manifest through Railton’s careful traversal of her cello's most subtle acoustic characteristics as they harmonically interlock with mind’s embodied modalities of attention and imagination. Blue Veil aris…

2025 stock ** "British compositions dominate Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal. Both Gavin Bryars (born in Yorkshire, 1943) and Laurence Crane (born in Oxford, 1961) belong to the classic experimental scene in England, a scene that developed in the wake of the conceptual New York School music in the 1960s. The Englishmen draw inspiration from composers such as Cage and Feldman, as well as from earlier cult figures such as Eric Satie, who anticipated genres such as minimalism and ambient as far back a…

2000 release ** "“To awaken the ear well” was one of the goals of Luigi Nono in his last creative period, the 1980s and 20th century. Between pianissimo and complete silence, the listener is invited to unexpected sound adventures. Tense intensity with a sparse expression goes together with the breaking of clear coherence in a very concentrated and targeted manner. As one of his first works, the Variazioni from 1950 derives its substance from Arnold Schönberg, his posthumous father-in-law. The us…

1992 release **  Felix Werder - Three Night Pieces Op. 121 (1972)    Klaus Hinrich Stahmer - König Wiedehopf (1981)    Frank Michael - Trio Op. 58 (1985)    Wolfgang Hildemann - Suoni Serale XI/XII (1989/90)    Klaus Hinrich Stahmer - Hallo - Georg Philipp! (1981)    Wilfried Jentzsch - Paysages FI G Für Flöte Und Computerklänge (1984) Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo Flute – Hanna PatzeltFlute, Bass Flute, Alto Flute – Winfried Meier-EhratFlute, Piccolo Flute, Bass Flute – Frank MichaelGuitar – Andre…

1991 release **

1990 release ** ""In illo tempore" composed 1979 and recorded June 3-4, 1983 at WDR, Köln, Germany. "Je vis - Je meurs" composed 1979-80 and recorded November 15-16, 1984 at WDR, Köln, Germany. "Nomos protos" composed 1986-87 for piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, posaune, percussion, two violins, bratsche, cello and double bass. Recorded April 23, 1988 at Nedeltschev Sound-Studio."