Cosmic Cliffs
Whispering Worlds
Adhyâropa Records ÂROO 117 (aaronshragge.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-cliffs)

Extending the minimalist/global music ideas of the late John Hassell, Montreal raised Aaron Shragge brings his custom microtonal slide trumpet with rotary valves, shakuhachi and special effects, to a unified quartet that plays three of his compositions, one of Hassell’s and five group improvisations. Assisting are the alternately rhapsodic and ratcheting flanges and frails from guitarist Luke Schwartz, the understated throbs of Damon Banks’ bass strings and Deric Dickens’ drum clanks, chips and clatters.

Appending Carnatic raga affiliations to electronic oscillations throughout, the concept is most expertly expressed on the extended Seen by the Moon/Secretly Happy. On it the trumpeter mates shakuhachi tones with vocoder processed trumpet samples so that his plaintive brass tone becomes more intense as it works up the scale. It’s expertly backed by percussion slaps.

Sampled loops are also interpolated on the interconnected improvisations Reflection Nebula, Crystals and Serpentine Suspension, as microtones create double and triple shakes as if from multiple brass instruments. Meanwhile the three affiliated improvisations reflect how half-valve brass smears judiciously join with drum rattles, cymbal vibrations and tremorous guitar string scratches so that repeated portamento trumpet phrasing adumbrates melodic transformation to create a lyrical concordance.

Electro-acoustic applications are steadily advancing and the wealth of subcontinental traditional music is still available for study. That means that the cosmic cliffs that Shragge and company scaled so expertly here will most likely lead to additional sound ascension in the future.

Listen to 'Cosmic Cliffs' Now in the Listening Room

Brahms, Balkans & Bagels
Oktopus
Independent (oktopus1.bandcamp.com/album/brahms-balkans-bagels)

Formed in 2010 by clarinetist Gabriel Paquin-Buki, Oktopus, the Quebec-based klezmer octet (get it?) dedicates itself to exploring those creative possibilities that reside in the stylistic margins and fuses Western Art Music with klezmer and jazz improvisatory sounds on this terrific release. Brahms, Balkans & Bagels, released through the ensemble’s online Bandcamp site, expands upon and amplifies the influence that folkloric and traditional musical traditions had upon such esteemed art music composers as Brahms, Saint-Saëns and Franz Liszt. Although it is well-known that Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály—whose dynamic piece Kállai kettős is performed with aplomb here—were among music’s first ethnomusicologists, less is understood about the ways in which traditional folk music styles inspired other composers from the Western Art Music canon. 

Over 12 fine performances, creative arrangements and engaging sonic fusions where the only constant is musical excellence, Oktopus demonstrates why it has been routinely fêted with nominations for JUNO, Canadian Folk Music, Félix and Opus Awards.  Perhaps most notably, they earned a “special prize for the most creative fusion of ancient and contemporary music traditions,” at the Slovak Radio’s International Competition of Folk Music Recordings in Bratislava. Creative fusions certainly abound on Brahms, Balkans & Bagels. The album’s leadoff track, Mahler Goes Meshuge (Mahler goes crazy) sets the tone for the excellently curated, dynamically performed, inspired arrangements to come. Notable contributions from French chanteuse Janna Kate underscore the fact that there is much to enjoy on this unorthodox, but always musical, new release.

Listen to 'Brahms, Balkans & Bagels' Now in the Listening Room

Sofresh Tisch
Ladom Ensemble
Lula World Records LWR050A (ladomensemble.bandcamp.com/album/sofreh-tisch)

Canadian Ladom Ensemble is back with its third illustrious release, Sofreh Tisch. The four-member band’s diverse cultural and musical influences are created by founding member pianist Pouya Hamidi from Iran, who is joined by current members cellist Beth Silver of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, Canadian accordionist Michael Bridge, and Canadian percussionist Adam Campbell. They combine their personal musical talents and influences to blend Western classical, klezmer, rock, tango, jazz, East Coast traditional and classical Persian sounds. 

The ten diverse tracks are highlighted by each musician’s technical and improvisational expertise. Opening Gegna Taksim was composed by Jewish klezmer composer/violinist Jacob Gegna as an introduction or interlude. Here, with its moving cello melody above a low drone note, and tonal melodies with touches of modern music effects like rapid runs, it leads directly to the next track, Hamidi’s three movement Distance Suite. Inspired by separation.1. Hope opens with cello plucks, repeated notes on the piano, and taps on the accordion like raindrops. Detached chords with conversational legato cello and accordion melodies add drama. Gole Pachal is a Ladom “traditional” take on an Iranian folksong with crashing dramatic instrumental start, high pitched piano, and a memorable, traditional mid piece section with accordion and cello countermelodies.

Together as a “band,” Bridge’s musical accordion lines, Silver’s cello effects/melodies, Campbell’s intense to subtle percussion, and Hamidi’s grounded stylistically diverse piano playing make Sofreh Tisch  (meaning “spread” in two senses – the ceremonial table cloth at a celebration, and the feast placed on the cloth) unforgettable.

Rebekah Wolkstein: Drew Jurecka – The Legend of Carau
Payadora
Independent (payadora.com/legen-of-carau)

This stunning, multi-media project is the brainchild of founding members of the Payadora ensemble, writer, violinist and vocalist Rebekah Wolkstein and multi-instrumentalist and composer Drew Jurecka, who also serves as producer and recording engineer. The package involves a children’s book with original text by Wolkstein, illustrations by Camille Dumaine, and an original score by Jurecka, as well as related dance videos by PointTango Dance. The CD (or digital download) can easily be coordinated along with the book, for the optimum listening experience.

The spine of this ambitious project is an Argentinian folk tale, The Legend of Carau (the weeping bird of Argentina), which is beautifully re-told here and accompanied by a stirring 14 song original score. Payadora expertly performs Jurecka’s score, replete with Wolkstein on violin and vocals; Jurecka on bandoneon, violin and mandolin; the late Robert Horvath on piano; Joe Phillips on bass and guitar, and vocalist Elbio Fernandez. 

Things kick off with the rhythmic and bombastic Gaucho de las Pampas featuring Fernandez, and segues into the lovely violin and mandolin-centric bolero, Remember What’s Important. The Call of the Bandoneon is a stand-out, featuring Jurecka’s ridiculous chops, and morphs seamlessly into Fruta Prohibida (Forbidden Fruit) – a red-hot tango, masterfully sung by Fernandez. Also superb is the lovely ballad, Zamba del Carau which features the artistry of the entire ensemble. Horvath’s emotional and consummate piano solo on the reprise Ojos Que Mienten (Eyes That Lie) is the perfect closer for this radiant, potent and meaningful collection…which is not only a succinct “Morality Play” about what is “truly important” (suitable for children), but a verdant, irresistible, cross-cultural journey to a rich country of mystery, music and passion, with plenty of appeal for all.

Immersed
Justin Gray
IAN Records LC 84945 (justingraysound.bandcamp.com/album/immersed)

As soon as music became a recordable commodity,  pressed onto wax cylinders and disseminated through record distribution, jukeboxes, and radio stations, it took on a codependent relationship with technology. For example, while it is true that Louis Armstrong’s instrumental virtuosity expanded the instrumental range of the trumpet, his broadening of register would not have been possible were it not for the then burgeoning technological advances of brass manufacturing. Same goes for the Beatles’ important relationship with the recording studio, where technological advances helped the group realize their increasingly sophisticated artistic goals. And on it goes. 

For bassist, composer, mix and mastering engineer and producer Justin Gray, it has been the industry’s technological expansion into Dolby Atmos that has facilitated the realization of his own musical vision, supporting the ambitious, expansive, and consistently excellent work contained on Immersed. As the name articulates, the music was recorded using immersive audio techniques aimed at capturing every sound, musical gesture, and improvisation in three dimensions through a sophisticated process of microphone placement and studio mediation. 

While there is much more to discuss regarding the album’s enmeshed relationship with technology, this cinematic release on IAN Records also offers a wonderfully satisfying musical experience thanks to the contributions of a terrific cast of 30-plus world class players who collectively traverse the stylistic boundaries of film, jazz, and Indian Classical Music, among other vibrant global music traditions. 

Full disclosure, Justin is a friend and industry colleague, but with Immersed his expansive creative vision, technological engagement, and clear musical artistry is undeniable. Immersed, the album, can be paired with a full-length film and the stereo CD package comes with cinematic visuals for each track and an informative 24-page booklet of liner notes. 

The Birds of Marsville
Friendly Rich
We Are Busy Bodies (friendlyrich.bandcamp.com/album/the-birds-of-marsville)

Richard Marsella, well-known as Friendly Rich, releases his 17th album, and his second on the indie label We are Busy Bodies here. Marsella performs solo on a custom-built mechanical street organ equipped with contrasting effects built by Henk Degraauw. Marsella is joined on some tracks by Gregory Oh (organs and piano), Nick Fraser (drums), Nichol S. Robertson (electric guitar), Ed Reifel (orchestral percussion), and Tom Richards (trombone and tuba).

Marsella presents 76 imaginary birds from the fictional town of Marsville. Each is represented by a separate musical track in varying lengths and contrasting stylistic flavours on Side A (Birds 1-39) and Side B (Birds 40-76). Side A opening Overture encompasses musical ideas which reappear throughout like waltzlike rhythms, high pitched bird squeals, fast melodic ascending lines with held notes, short fragmented fanfares, and “bird sounds.” It leads with no break to Bird One: Songwriter with more short fragmented ideas, rhythms and ascending lines. High-pitched lines in Bird Five: The Marsvillian Farm Bird. Slight jazz feel with shorter higher pitched lines and repeated basslike notes in Bird Sixteen: The Honker.  

Side B’s contrasting tracks are intensely orchestrated, tonal to atonal and mostly seconds long. Percussion and drums add “noisy” colour. Closing longer Finale has snippets of ideas again, to the ending “flying away” fade.

Marsella’s detailed experimental, very soft to blasting loud, inspirational “musical bird” masterpieces incorporate such styles as vintage dancing, rock, jazz, new music and synthesizer. From fun to challenging listening, this is perfect, wacky music, tweet tweet!

As the history of music advances, deepens and becomes more inclusive, thoughtful people now realize that rather than it being a succession of Great Men who created notable sounds, distinguished music is the result of many adventurous stylists adding their contributions to the sound gestalt. Less hierarchical than most, creative music has long accepted this truism. What that means is that when contemporary players salute their forebearers by playing their music, a wealth of compositions exist from others than the justly celebrated Great Men. This is what these discs promise. Besides coming up with highly original versions of the oeuvre of Jazz’s Great Men – in this case John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk – the bands here interpret the music of other innovators, one of whom was even a woman. 

That woman was Leipzig-born German pianist Jutta Hipp (1925-2003), who in the 1950s was recognized as the first non-American female instrumentalist to contribute to Jazz’s evolution. To honour her during her centennial, the members of Remedy on Hipp Hipp Hooray (Fundacja Sluchaj! FSR 02/2025  sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/hipp-hipp-hooray-celebrating-the-centennial-of-jutta-hipp) play her compositions as well as their own, Not only that, but the trio doesn’t even include a pianist. Instead Remedy is composed of two Germans, trumpeter Thomas Heberer and drummer Joe Hertenstein, plus American bassist Joe Fonda. Only on Der Grüne Zweig does the band name check Hipp and her 1952 group “a lady and four gentlemen” while replicating pseudo-Bop with brassy shakes, echoing drum accents and a walking bass line. 

The other tunes are postmodern rather than puffery as the three adapt 21st century techniques to firm, swinging expositions. With his playing as relaxed as it is rugged, Hertenstein supplies the necessary cymbal chings, drum clanks and occasional thundering ruffs to the nine tunes, but even his heaviest hits allow the others to play on unperturbed. Exponent of the low pitched string slap with the same cultivated skill he brings to speedy spiccato rubs, two of Fonda’s compositions are as fully in the groove as ones from the 1950s, but are stretched into this century. Detroit Meets Leipzig mates thick bass string throbs with Heberer’s gritty growls and flutter; while Bass Bottom accelerates from languid to lively as the trumpeter interposes an interlude of gargles and gurgles dug out of his horn’s innards, emphasized among soaring grace notes as the drums smack and the bassist’s tough spiccato rubs speed and slow. Heberer’s portamento command is featured best on his own Das Brot der Frühen Jahre as he maintains an elongated phrase alongside Fonda’s col legno stops and then relaxes into a sequence of easygoing story telling.

A similar transformation of another musician’s oeuvre is created on Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head OOYH 035) Members of The Hemphill Stringtet – violinists Curtis Stewart and Sam Bardfeld, violist Stephanie Griffin and cellist Tomeka Reid – take the compositions of alto saxophonist Julius Hemphill (1938-1995), created for reed heavy ensembles like the World Saxophone Quartet, and interpret them as part of the string quartet tradition. Influenced by, but not part of the jazz mainstream, Stringtet members often perform the compositions as Reid’s low-pitched pizzicato creates the pulse a double bass would provide, while the others stick to arco interpretations. Vibrant lyricism takes its place alongside vigorous locution, but melody never gives way to soppiness. That’s because as well as harmonies, the strings create rhythmic stops and touches of hoedown sprightliness. On the final Choo Choo for instance, they not only replicate expected locomotive chugging, but enliven the reading with hide-and-seek cadences. My First Winter/Touchic, an extended tone poem, may start off balladic and atmospheric, yet it emphasizes colour and motion more than romanticism. When the affiliated Touchic is latterly played, it’s defined by col legno sweeps and spiccato string swabs. Even as the theme variations ascend in speed and volume lilting touches remain. In part the disc is also a dual tribute, for its centrepiece is Mingus Gold, a Hemphill arrangement of three Charles Mingus compositions commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. Stringtet’s variant emphasizes antiphony between high and low pitches and in recasting the main themes blends raunchy with romanticism without overindulging either. Most spectacularly during Better Get Hit in Your Soul its pronounced funkiness is expressed clearly with Reid’s plucks surrounded by the others’ prestissimo cadenzas that manage to swing at the same time as they extend the famous piece’s musical architecture.  

Coming from the opposite direction is Roscoe Village, the Music of Roscoe Mitchell (Corbett vs Dempsey CvsD CD 103). The disc consists of unaccompanied renditions by vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz mainly of compositions by multi-reedist Mitchell. Some were initially performed solo by the composer himself, while others were played by Mitchell’s groups, including the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Adasiewicz, who has recorded with other advanced saxophonists like Peter Brötzmann, doesn’t miniaturize the composition with his metal and resonator instrument, but gives them a novel reading. By maximizing the sustain and focusing on multi-mallet pressure he brings out both the rhythmic and refined qualities of the tunes. This is expressed most eloquently on the extended Toro/Jo Jar, where his repeated patterns coalesce into expressive swing, then just as quickly switch to the second sequence derived from contrasting hard bell-like ringing with gentling resonating echoes. Since the solo instrument husks the arrangements to their core, the simplicity and beauty of Mitchell’s pieces previously masked by horn and rhythm inferences are revealed. The usually aggressive A Jackson in Your House becomes a showpiece of strained metal echoes, moving forward even as motor-driven shakes preserve the melody. The Cartoon March leans more towards pep than parading, as the pinpointed aluminum bar slaps and stop-time runs turn to speedy glissandi which define animation motion rather than multi-layered character sketching. Subverting its title, Carefree is actually slower paced and more meditative than would be imagined, with Adasiewicz mixing measured strokes and quicker mallet clunks to examine the charm and contradictions in Mitchell’s compositions.

One musician who specialized in contradiction and subverting expectations was Thelonious Monk (1917-1982). Yet on Monk (BMC CD 344) Poles, pianist Marcin Masecki, reedist Eldar Tsakukov and drummer Jan Pieniążek, go one step further using an uncommon instrumental mix and unusual arrangements for a different take on 19 Monk tunes. Whether solo on three tracks, or with the trio, the pianist extends the composer’s initial stride and angled inferences to pseudo player piano and ragtime emphasis, inflating hesitant tonal shakes and repeated key clips into wider arpeggios with keyboard slides and slaps. Still his speedy fingering and stop time throbs on a track like Bemsha Swing feature a darker ostinato that preserves the head while also emphasizing the cadenced part of the title. With Pieniążek’s cymbal splashes, woodblock hits and backbeat thumps mostly deep background, the disc’s seesawing essence is between Masecki and Tsakukov’s alto saxophone and clarinet, another difference since Monk’s quartet partners were tenor saxophonists. The reedist’s fluctuating lines add a yearning eastern European melancholy not found in pieces like Ugly Beauty, while his cheeping squeals fit perfectly the pianist’s often parodic pre-modern comping and subvert Monk’s usual initial futuristic style. At the same time on tunes like Misterioso and Brilliant Corners, Tsakukov uses tongue stops and reed bites to create a pyramid of upward surging smears attaining prestissimo pitches in tandem with Masecki at near piano roll speeds for stop-time intersections. 

However the strangest acknowledgement of an influential musician’s work is Berlin-based DAS B’s recalibrating of John Coltrane’s seminal A Love Supreme entitled Love (Thanatosis Produktion THT 40/Corbett vs Dempsey CvsD CD 117 thanatosis.bandcamp.com). Despite the exact same running time, division into the same four movements and replication of the CD’s label colours of that 1965 album, sonic transfiguration renders it a completely different product. While the rhythm section consisting of German pianist Magda Mayas and Australians, drummer Tony Buck and bassist Mike Majkowski remains the same as the original, Lebanese trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj’s choked, half valve inner horn boring timbres are substituted for Coltrane’s majestically overt saxophone soloing. The transformative tracks, each labelled Love and a numeral, capture an intriguing contrast between a tough conveyor belt of the others’ textures and the trumpet modelling. Double bass strings buzz and stop; drumming moves from sonorous rumbles and harsh clanks to cymbal and press roll explosions; while Mayas’ cross chording, chiming expositions and vibrations of metal objects on the piano’s inner strings create an ever-shifting continuum that intersect with Kerbaj’s tones. Portamento expression from the trumpet is usually abandoned for guttural scoops, aviary squeals, mouthpiece whistles and blowsy rips that not only redefine the Coltrane suite but also the standard trumpeting rules. Somehow though disparate timbres converge and result in a unique session which in itself is a backhanded salute to the constant innovation which Coltrane and his bands personified.

Moving past Great Men celebrations to advocate for a fuller version of jazz and improvised music history, albeit in a revamped form, is what makes these discs consequential.

After completing modern violin studies in Los Angeles the Canadian-American Baroque violinist Alison Luthmers moved to Sweden in 2012 and began pursuing her “true love,” the Baroque violin. It’s no surprise, then, to find her recording the J.H. Roman: Assagi for Solo Violin, featuring four of the distinctive works by one of Sweden’s most important composers, Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758) (Rubicon RCD1140 shop.darksiderecords.com/en-ca/collections/release-date-4-25-25/products/alison-luthmers-j-h-roman-assaggi-for-solo-violin?srsltid=AfmBOoot3C0eW4G6btJhhwKGMZpJ8z40sXzHSt0gn_nw_px1ie-Lby83).

There are about 20 Assagi extant in various degrees of completion and with a complicated and contradictory source history that includes a few movements from an aborted print edition, Roman’s manuscripts and contemporary copies. Luthmers has chosen the Assagi in E Minor BeRi 312 and in A Major BeRi 301, and the two Assagi in G Minor BeRi 314 and 320.

Her playing is exemplary – light and nuanced, unfailingly accurate and with a lovely sense of pulse.

The American violinist Simone Porter makes her recording debut with ad tendo, a collection of mostly 21st-century solo violin works inspired by philosopher Simone Weil’s quote “Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer,” Porter feeling that the experience of total absorption offers a kind of deliverance. ad tendo, the Latin root of the word “attention” means “I stretch toward.” (Bright Shiny Things BTC-0217 brightshiny.ninja/useless-information/ad-tendo-amazon-music-classical-focus).

The world premiere recording of Reena Esmail’s Drishti (“focused gaze”) anchors the disc, which also includes Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Lachen verlernt, Olivia Marckx’s Improvisation on O Virtus Sapientiae by Hildegard von Bingen and Andrew Norman’s Sabina, his arrangement of a movement from his string trio written after watching a sunrise during morning mass in Rome’s Santa Sabina Basilica.

Biber’s Passacaglia in G Minor, “Guardian Angel” provides a suitably meditative conclusion to an excellent CD on which Porter fully exploits the tonal qualities of the on-loan 1740 Carlo Bergonzi violin.

On Boismortier 6 Sonatas for 2 Pardessus de viole, Op.63 the Dialogue Viols duo of Peter Wendland and Jacqui Robertson-Wade performs delightful works by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755) that have probably not been heard in well over 200 years, a copy of the engraved score originally published in 1737 having only recently been discovered and published in facsimile by Atelier Philidor in 2021 (First Hand Records FHR159 firsthandrecords.com/products-page/album/boismortier-6-sonatas-for-2-pardessus-de-viole-op-63).

The pardessus de viole was in vogue in France in the mid-18th century; it had six strings tuned in fourths across an almost identical range to the violin. The six sonatas here are quintessentially French in style, and the performances, at the French Baroque pitch of A=392Hz are simply flawless and quite captivating.

Two short pieces transposed up an octave from the original sources end a fascinating CD: the Fantaisie en Écho from Marin Marais’ Pièces de viole Book 1, arranged for two pardessus de viole by Villeneuve (1706-1771) and Le Dodo, ou l’amour au berceau from Couperin’s Pièces de clavecin Book 3, arranged by the performers.

Paganini Caprices, the second Deutsche Grammophon release by the young Spanish violinist Maria Dueñas is a 2CD set that features much more than Paganini’s 24 Caprices Op.1, Dueñas also offering a selection of caprices for solo violin, violin and guitar, violin duo, violin and piano and violin and orchestra (DG 4865 708 deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/paganini-24-caprices-mara-dueas-13622).

The solo works are Kreisler’s Recitativo & Scherzo-Caprice Op.6 and Jordi Cervelló’s Milstein Caprice, written for Dueñas. Boris Kuschnir is the second violinist in Wieniawski’s Étude-Caprice Op.18/2, Raphaël Feuillâtre the guitarist in Kreisler’s Caprice viennoise Op.2, Itamar Golan and Alexander Malofeev the pianists in Sarasate's Caprice basque Op.24 and Gabriela Ortíz’ De cuerda y mad era respectively, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Mihhail Gerts supports Dueñas in Berlioz’s Rêverie & Caprice Op.8 and Saint-Saëns’ Caprice andalous Op.122 and Introduction & Rondo capriccioso Op.28.

It’s the Paganini that drives this release, however, and it’s a stunning performance, technically assured and brilliantly coloured, with Dueñas quite rightly stressing the bel canto vocal nature of much of the writing.

A few years ago, somewhat uncharacteristically, I included a digital-only single release in the column because it was so good – a suite from Sondheim's Broadway musical A Little Night Music, arranged by Broadway veteran Eric Stern and performed by the Opus Two duo of violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock. The good news is that it’s back on regular CD; the even better news is that it opens a full-length CD of world-premiere recordings of Sondheim arrangements by the same team – Opus Two Celebrates Stephen Sondheim (Bridge Records 9605 bridgerecords.com/products/9605).

Stern worked closely with Sondheim as musical director for numerous shows, and his arrangements are an absolute delight. Broadway Baby and Not While I’m Around are probably the best-known items here, but Follies, Evening Primrose, Company, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along are also represented.

Fittingly, the more substantial Fleet Street Suite – music from Sweeney Todd – bookends a delightful CD.

On I Can Finally Feel the Sun violinist Robert Uchida explores musical relationships on a CD inspired by his playing the “Dawes, de Long Tearse” Guadagnini violin previously played by Andrew Dawes, the first violin of the Orford String Quartet and a mentor of Uchida. Philip Chiu is the pianist (ATMA Classique ACD2 2916 atmaclassique.com/en/product/i-can-finally-feel-the-sun).

Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne is paired with Jean Papineau-Couture's Suite for Violin Alone, three brief movements by a self-described “Stravinskyist.” Telemann’s Fantasie No.1 in G Minor is coupled with Murray Adaskin’s Sonatine Baroque, written for Dawes and first recorded on this same violin. It quotes Bach’s E Major Partita, the Prelude from which is the following track, paired with the Prelude - “Obsession” from Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Solo Violin Op.27 No.2, which again directly quotes the Bach.

Debussy’s Violin Sonata L.148 and the CD’s violin solo title track by Canadian composer Carmen Braden close an entertaining and engrossing disc.

On Aequora, the Mystery Sonata married duo of violinist Zachary Carrettin and pianist Mina Gajic present works by several prominent Icelandic composers (Sono Luminus DSL-92282 sonoluminus.com/sonoluminus/aequora).

The title track, by Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir was originally for grand piano and electronics, with a violin and new material being added when the composer met Carrettin. Daniel Bjarnason’s First Escape for solo violin, commissioned by violinist Jennifer Koh explores natural harmonics in a virtuosic fashion.

Páll Ragnar Pálsson’s Notre Dame from 2021 was originally for harp and violin. Anna Thorvaldsdóttir’s 2017 Reminiscence for solo piano comprises seven short sections “exploring mental images and memories of witnessing and experiencing natural phenomena.”

Re/fractions, also by Sigfúsdóttir was commissioned by Mystery Sonata and the Boulder Bach Festival in Colorado. Inspired by space, time and textures, its second half gravitates around the note D – “Re” in tonic solfa, hence the split in the title.

Shostakovich – Silvestrov  contains music for viola and piano by the two Russian composers in performances by violist Ettore Causa and pianist Boris Berman (Le Palais de Dégustateurs PDD041 lepalaisdesdegustateurs-shop.com/boutique/SHOSTAKOVICH-SILVESTROV-Ettore-Causa-et-Boris-Berman-p712329711).

The Viola Sonata Op.147, with its huge third movement Adagio, was the last work Shostakovich composed before his death in 1975. There has been much speculation about the autobiographical nature of the music, given the numerous quotations from other of his works, especially in the Adagio.

Valentin Silvestrov (b.1937) wrote a Postlude DSCH for piano trio, but the two composers never met. Silvestrov’s 2010 Elegy for Viola solo, his 2022 Three Intermezzi for Piano (dedicated to Berman) and the 2023 Triptych for Viola and Piano (commissioned by the record label for this CD) are world premiere recordings. His Epitaphium (L.B.) from 1999, originally for piano and string orchestra, was written in memory of his wife, whom he lost in 1996.

Shostakovich’s brief Impromptu for Viola and Piano Op.33, written in 1931 but only discovered in 2017, ends a high-quality CD.

With Beethoven Complete String Quartets Vol.1 the Ariel Quartet launches a project which they describe as a testament to their belief in the enduring relevance of the music. Volume 2 is scheduled for release in November, followed by Volume 3 in June of next year and a special box set in March 2027 to mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death (Orchid Classics ORC100378 orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100378-ariel-quartet-vol-1).

This first volume contains the six String Quartets Op.18. The quartet first played together at the ages of 13 in 1998 – three founder members are still present – and Beethoven’s Op.18 No.4 quartet was the first they played. There’s an immediacy and commitment in their playing and a full, rich recorded sound on what promises to be a significant and attractive option in a fiercely competitive field.

Poland's Silesian Quartet is the ideal interpreter for Górecki Complete Works for String Quartet, a survey of the three quartets all commissioned by the Kronos Quartet together with five choral works played as string quartets (Chandos 202283 2 chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020383).

Górecki (1933-2010) turned to string quartets relatively late in his career, No.1 Op.62 “Already it is dusk” dating from 1988, No.2 Op.64 “quasi una fantasia” from 1991 and the monumental No.3 Op.67 “...songs are sung” from 1994-95. The Five Kurpian Songs Op.75 are from 1999.

These are not new recordings: the quartets are from 2008, originally released on Polish EMI, and the choral songs are from 2014. No matter, for I’ve not heard these challenging and sometimes abrasive works sound warmer or more personal and accessible than in these penetrative and illuminating performances.

Shostakovich String Quartets Nos 2, 7 & 10 is the first release on the BIS label by the Jerusalem Quartet (BIS-2654 SACD bisrecords.lnk.to/2654).

The String Quartet No.2 in A Major is from 1944, but has no direct war reference, its remarkable slow movement possibly reflecting lingering grief over the sudden loss of a close friend. The String Quartet No.7 in F-sharp Minor Op.108 from 1959-60 is a brief but deeply personal three-movement work dedicated to the memory of his wife, and the String Quartet No.10 in A-flat Major Op.118 is one of his most accessible.

The Jerusalem Quartet is in top form on an excellent disc.

On DSCH & beyond the Eliot Quartett delivers impassioned performances of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.3 in F Major, Op.73 and the hauntingly autobiographical String Quartet No.8 in C Minor, Op.110 (GENUIN GEN 25919 genuinclassics.com/_new/cd_1.php?cd=GEN25919).

The central work on the disc is the remarkable Au-delá d’une absence, Op.89 by Krzysztof Meyer, a hypothetical Shostakovich String Quartet No.16 written in 1997 entirely in the style of Shostakovich as “a tribute to a man who had been very close to me.” In 1974 Meyer had discussed a possible 16th quartet with the composer, who had intimated that it would be in three movements, with a singable second movement and a double fugue finale, playing Meyer one of the tunes for the latter. On that minimal framework Meyer has built an astonishingly idiomatic and convincing quartet.

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam completes its recording of the composer’s three quartets with Tchaikovsky String Quartets Vol.2, the String Quartet No.3 in E-flat Minor Op.30 from 1876 being the central work on the CD (Rubicon RCD1124 dudokquartet.com/albums/tchaikovsky-string-quartet-vol-2).

The single Quartet Movement in B-flat Major from 1865 opens the disc, with four short pieces from the solo piano work The Seasons Op.37a, arranged by members of the quartet closing it.

The quartet members use unwound gut strings for music written before 1900, noting the necessary adjustments in the left hand and the bow control – not that you would ever know, given the remarkable and ravishing depth of sound and colour they draw from their instruments.

Lutenist Miguel Rincón describes his new CD Concertos for Baroque Lute, with Il Pomo d’Oro as the result of a deep desire to breathe new life into forgotten repertory from the crossroads of the Baroque and galant style eras before the lute became eclipsed by the classical guitar (Aparté AP376 apartemusic.com/en/album-details/concertos-for-baroque-lute-fasch-hagen-kohaut-kleinknecht).

The small ensemble – two violins, viola, cello, bass and harpsichord – allows the virtuosity and subtlety of the lute to predominate in performances of the Concerto in F Major by Austrian composer Karl Kohaut (1726-84), the Trio in E-flat Major by Bernhard Joachim Hagen (1720-87), the Concerto in C Major by Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht (1722-94) and the Concerto in D Minor by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758), his only lute work, and one which is described as a work of great expressiveness and virtuosity that still surprises today.

It’s all absolute perfection, with brilliant playing by Rincón and sensitive and spirited support from the ensemble.

We’re all accustomed to seeing soloists perform concertos from memory, but on Beethoven Violin Concerto, the remarkable new CD from Nicola Benedetti everyone, including the entire Aurora Orchestra under Nicholas Collon, is playing from memory (Decca Classics store.deccaclassics.com/products/beethoven-violin-concerto?srsltid=AfmBOorfd_sRrmBkGU4lTPTu1g8Pan7Z22yPK9WgTNblk_VDHF3eERnt).

The Aurora Orchestra has been pioneering the performance of orchestral works from memory since 2014, but this is the first time they have done so for an instrumental concerto. It doesn't translate into a noticeably different sound, but from the opening hard-stick timpani strokes this is clearly a performance with spirit and lightness. There’s no sense of bravura virtuosity from Benedetti, who dances through the finale after a slow movement that feels almost like a private meditation – you almost hold your breath listening to it.

The very different first movement cadenza is “rearranged and adapted” by Petr Limonov from the cadenza with timpani that Beethoven wrote for his own arrangement of the concerto for piano and orchestra.

On Milestones violinist Philippe Quint presents world-premiere recordings of three works written for him during pivotal moments of his artistic journey. Andrew Litton conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as well as joining Quint as pianist for the two final works (Pentatone PTC5187408 pentatonemusic.com/product/milestones).

The two concertos here are remarkably effective and simply stunning works. Lera Auerbach’s four-movement Violin Concerto No.1 from 2003 contrasts outright aggression (she describes the opening as “apocalyptic Deathclusters”) with lyrical richness and beauty. Errollyn Wallen’s 2024 Violin Concerto references Quint’s childhood memories, especially in the lovely Lamenting middle movement. Both works are essential listening for anyone interested in contemporary violin concertos and will richly reward deeper acquaintance.

The Odyssey Rhapsody for violin and piano by Quint’s mother, the Russian composer Lora Kvint was inspired by her fascination with Greek mythology.

Florence Price’s brief but lovely Adoration completes an outstanding release.

Just when you think you probably won’t hear a better recording of the Sibelius concerto along comes the German violinist Lea Birringer performing works by Sibelius Szymanowski and Järnefelt on her new CD, with Benjamin Shwartz conducting the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie (Rubicon RCD1193 rubiconclassics.com/release/sibelius-jarnefelt-szymanowski).

Hers is a full-blooded, full-bodied approach to the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op.47 – no icy landscape in the warm opening here – and her thrilling virtuosity and huge tone combined with the outstanding orchestral support result in a heart-pounding performance to rank with the best available on disc.

Much the same can be said of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No.2, Op.61, a lush, Romantic work overflowing with brilliant orchestral colours reminiscent of Scriabin. Birringer’s shimmering tone and technical mastery again combine with superb orchestral support in a captivating performance.

The brief Berceuse in G Minor by Armas Järnefelt completes an exceptional CD.

There have been two recent releases featuring violinist James Ehnes. The Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate is the focal point on a CD of the music of Lalo, Saint-Saëns and Sarasate, with Ehnes supported by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena (Chandos CHAN 20333 chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020333).

Sarasate lived in Paris from his early teen years, and two of the French works here – Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, Op.21, a work bristling with Spanish themes, rhythms and influences, and Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No.3 in B Minor, Op.61 – were written for him. Sarasate’s own Concert Fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen,” Op.25 completes the disc.

Ehnes’ playing is all that we have come to expect – technically flawless, warm and instinctively musical.

On the 2CD set J. S. Bach: The Complete Violin Concertos, James Ehnes and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra fulfill Ehnes’ longtime desire to present Bach’s violin concerti in their entirety (Analekta AN28893-4 nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/recordings/ehnes-bach).

In addition to the three standard works – the Violin Concertos in A Minor BWV1041 and in E Major BWV1042 and the Double Concerto in D Minor BWV1043 – Ehnes also presents the three concertos – in D Minor BWV1052R, in G Minor BWV1056R and in D Major for Three Violins BWV1064R – that were “reverse-engineered” from Bach’s own harpsichord transcriptions of now-lost originals. The Concertos in A Minor for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord BWV1044 and in C Minor for Oboe and Violin BWV1060R are also here. 

The other soloists are Yosuke Kawasaki and Jessica Linnebach (violins), Charles Hamann (Oboe), Joanna G’froerer (Flute) and Luc Beauséjour (harpsichord), all contributing to performances of warm, beautiful playing on a set that has the feeling of close friends making music that they love.

The Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman studied with – among others – Philippe Hirschhorn, Ivry Gitlis, Igor Oistrakh, Aaron Rosand and Herman Krebbers, so with such a legacy it’s not surprising to find her giving a technically flawless and engrossing and towering performance of one of the great Romantic concertos on her new CD Brahms – Suk, with the Brussels Philharmonic under Elias Grandy (Rubicon RCD1120 rubiconclassics.com/release/9189).

The Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major Op.77 is a pure delight from start to finish, with a warm, rich tone, beautiful phrasing, rhythmic bite in the outer movements and lovely orchestral support.

The Fantasy in G Major Op.24 by the Czech composer Josef Suk dates from 1902-03 and is described as being infused with heavy doses of melancholy. Showing clearly the influence of Dvořák (Suk’s father-in-law) and Brahms, it makes a perfect pairing for the main work, drawing more beautiful playing from all concerned. 

The Estonian violinist Hans Christian Aavik, who won first prize in the 2022 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition, pairs two concertos written 150 years apart on Max Bruch – Erkki-Sven Tüür, with Gemma New conducting the Odense Symphony Orchestra (Orchid Classics ORC100380 orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100380-hans-christian-aavik).

Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G Minor, Op.26 is a perennial favourite, and Aavik shows us just why with a beautiful performance full of simply gorgeous playing on the Giovanni Paolo Maggini violin from c.1610 that he has on loan. 

Tüür’s Violin Concerto No.2, “Angel’s Share” was written in 2017. The title refers to the small amount of whisky that evaporates during the aging process in wooden barrels, Tüür believing that for humans, maturity can also lead to a deepened sense of goodness. It’s a really interesting soundscape full of dynamic contrasts and scored for strings and percussion, including vibraphone, bass drum, tam-ta, crotales and temple blocks.

On Tchaikovsky the London-based Russian violinist Natalia Lomeiko performs Tchaikovsky’s complete music for violin and orchestra, the latter being the Russian State Philharmonic under Valery Poliansky (Orchid Classics ORC100195 orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100195-natalia-lomeiko).

The Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.35 is a lovely performance, technically assured and with a crystal clear, glistening tone. Tchaikovsky replaced the concerto’s original Méditation slow movement, re-working it for violin and piano and making it the first of the three pieces that comprise his Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op.42, heard here in the customary orchestration by Alexander Glazunov. There’s more beautiful playing here and in the Sérénade mélancolique, Op.26, written in 1875 for Leopold Auer.

The Valse-Scherzo, Op.34 from 1877, written for Iosef Kotek, Tchaikovsky’s former student who was closely involved in the writing of the concerto, ends an immensely satisfying disc.

Cello Tango, the new 2CD set from cellist Ophélie Gaillard is a crossover album on which she presents new arrangements of her favourite Argentinian pieces – timeless hits and lesser-known gems. The ensemble comprises Juango Mosalini and William Sabatier (bandoneons), Tomás Bordalejo (guitar), Romain Lecuyer (double bass), the Debussy Quartet, singers Nahuel dí Pierro, Inés Cuello and Agnès Jaoui and pianist Émilie Aridon-Kociolek (Aparté AP368 ophliegaillard.bandcamp.com/album/cello-tango).

Instrumental combinations vary from solo cello to full ensemble, with the bandoneon tracks obviously adding the most evocative sound. Of the 26 tracks 12 are by Astor Piazzolla, including his Oblivion and Milonga, and eight by Alberto Ginastera, including his Puneña No.2, Op.45 for solo cello. Other composers are Osvaldo Pugliése, Carlos Gardel, Alfredo Le Pera, Rosita Melo, Julián Plaza, Mercedes Sosa and Gerardo Matos Rodrígues, whose La cumparsita closes a highly entertaining and delightful set.

On Images: Hommage à Marcel Tournier the French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson pays tribute to one of the greatest harpist/composers, who lived from1879 to 1951. Quatuor Voce provides the various string additions, and Véronique Gens is the soprano in the four lovely songs included (ALPHA1133 outhere-music.com/en/albums/images-hommage-marcel-tournier).

Most of Tournier’s compositions – and all of the ones here – were originally for solo harp or harp and voice, with Tournier often adding additional instruments at a later date. The works represented are from his mature years and include several previously unpublished pieces from recently discovered manuscripts.

The centrepiece of the disc is the Sonatine Op.30, a 1924 harp solo to which violin and cello were added in 1939. The CD’s title comes from the four Images Suites, No.1 Op.29, No.2 Op.31, No.3 Op.35 and No.4 Op.39 that are spread throughout the disc.

Ceysson was principal harp for the Opéra national de Paris for 15 years and the Metropolitan Opera New York for five years; he has been principal harp of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra since 2020. His superb playing anchors a really beautiful CD.

The Spanish guitarist Ricardo Gallén dedicates his latest CD, Preludes & Dances from Brazil to the works of the legendary Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, honouring his contribution to the classical guitar repertoire (eudora EUD-SACD-2501 eudorarecords.com/shop/catalogue/preludes-and-dances-from-brazil).

Villa-Lobos' five Préludes W419 and the five-movement Suite populaire brésilienne W020 are paired with the first recording of Sérgio Assad’s 12 Colloquial Preludes, commissioned by Gallén and dedicated to him.

The Villa-Lobos works naturally celebrate the folk and traditional music of Brazil, the Suite also incorporating European dance elements, while the Assad work is described by the composer in his booklet notes as exploring a broader spectrum of Brazilian popular music.

Gallén’s playing is of the highest quality throughout a delightful CD.

Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd 
Makaris
Olde Focus Recordings FCR924 (newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/makaris-allan-ramsays-the-gentle-shepherd)

Throughout the 18th century, Allan Ramsay’s The Gentle Shepherd (1729) was a smash hit on Edinburgh and London stages, and continued to be performed by amateur companies until late in the 19th. Robert Burns himself praised the poetry, and the story inspired over 40 paintings. Now, 300 years after the libretto’s publication, Scottish Baroque ensemble Makaris has given us the opera’s very first recording, and it is a delight— brimming with humour, verve, and accomplished musicianship.

This was not only the first Scottish opera but also the first ballad opera, an original libretto set to popular airs and songs of the day. These have no composer in the usual sense; the poet would simply indicate the name of the air to which his words should be sung. For this reason, much of the compositional responsibility fell on the musicians, who operated in a liminal space between oral and written traditions. For this recording Makaris had to create their own arrangements, drawing from a bare-bones score made after Ramsay’s death and digging into archives. They admit to taking some liberties for the sake of bringing the songs alive by choosing unexpected or atypical harmonies. This is all for the better; it springs off the recording so vividly that one longs for a live production.

This recording will appeal to those who enjoy theatre music by Boyce or Arne and works such as the Beggar’s Opera. It might also intrigue those who are familiar with some of the traditional tunes that show up here, in sparkling arrangements and with words added. The Waulking of the Fould is played much the same as it is now in Cape Breton or Scotland, and the O’Carolan’s beloved Sí Beag, Sí Mór is very recognizable, too. 

Ramsay’s work has one more relevant element for Canadian listeners in 2025: one of his motivations in writing and publishing was to champion Scotland’s culture and identity, and he was a vocal opponent of the Union of 1707 (which incorporated Scotland into Great Britain). Now, where is OUR Gentle Shepherd?

John Weldon - The Judgement of Paris
Academy of Ancient Music; Cambridge Handel Opera; Julian Perkins
AAM AAM046 (aam.co.uk/product/john-weldon-the-judgment-of-paris)

This lesser-known masque is a rarity. In an era of prequels The Judgement of Paris is certainly not performed frequently, and never before recorded. It would do well to remember that the story this masque tells is a prequel to Homer’s epic of the Trojan war, the Iliad. 

The Judgement of Paris, an important augury of the Trojan war, appears in Book 24, Verse 22 (ff) of the Iliad. In that event Eris, the goddess of discord, not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, extracts revenge by tossing a golden Apple of Discord, inscribed, "To the fairest one," amid the wedding guests. This results in a dispute between demigoddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to who the “fairest” is. Aphrodite bemuses Paris into kidnapping Helen of Sparta as the most beautiful mortal woman in the world, carrying her off to Troy. Thus, Eris' casus belli precipitates the Trojan War.

John Weldon (1670-1729) “won” a contest to compose music to William Congreve’s libretto. His succession of short arias are executed masterfully. These all feature eloquently crafted ritornellos and an attractive variety of instrumental writing. Each of the performances by the seven principal characters, chorus and instrumentalists is stellar. The Academy of Ancient Music and Cambridge Handel Opera Company’s period piece helmed by Julian Perkins runs at white heat when Jonathan Brown’s Paris takes the stage. Meanwhile Anna Dennis’ masterful Venus sparkles in every phrase.

Art Choral Vol.6 - Moderne 
Ensemble Artchoral; Matthias Maute
ATMA ACD2 2425 (atmaclassique.com/en/product/art-choral-vol-6-moderne)

Five previous “Volumes” by Montreal’s Ensemble ArtChoral traversed the Renaissance-to-Romantic musical eras. Vol.6, Moderne, offers 11 pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries, their impact enhanced by the CD’s reverberant acoustic, making the 12-member ensemble sound much bigger. 

Two movements from Quatuor Antiphonae Marianae Selectae by Slovenian Ambrož Čopi (b.1973) are engagingly cheerful and rhythmically playful. Unicornis Captivatur by Norwegian Ola Gjeilo (b.1978) alternates reverential solemnity with joyful celebration in a tale of animal death and rebirth.

Three stirring works evoke medieval chant – Præter rerum seriem by Canada’s Andrew Balfour (b.1967), the somber Kyrie eleison from Missa Regensis by Latvian Ugis Prauliņš (b.1957) and, most movingly, the haunting, lyrical O magnum mysterium by American Morten Lauridsen (b.1943). These soul-searching pieces receive appropriately slow, reflective treatment from conductor Matthias Maute. This contrasts with Maute’s very rapid tempi that compromise the noble gravitas of two beloved favourites, heard here in alternative settings – Agnus Dei, Samuel Barber’s own arrangement of his Adagio for Strings and Lux Æterna, a transcription by John Cameron of Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

The CD closes with two austere motets – Pablo Casals’ O vos omnes and Aaron Copland’s Help Us, O Lord (composed as an assignment while studying with Nadia Boulanger). A more fitting ending, I think, would have been the disc’s seventh track – Nyon Nyon by American Jake Runestad (b.1986), the singers propulsively mimicking electric guitars, synthesizers and drums. It’s a perfect encore piece!

Rufus Wainwright - Dream Requiem
Meryl Streep; Anna Prohaska; Maitrise, Choeur and Orchestre Philharmonique di Radio France; Mikko Franck
Warner Classics 5021732500601 (warnerclassics.com/release/dream-requiem-rufus-wainwright)

Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem was surely made for this moment – even though the Canadian composer, pop songwriter and singer wrote it during the throes of COVID. We feel a sense of foreboding right from the beginning, when the narrator tells us, "I had a dream, which was not all a dream.” With that, we are plunged into the nightmare of Lord Byron’s aptly named poem, Darkness. 

A Requiem deals with loss. Yet what’s described is total annihilation. Wainwright artfully transcends the utter devastation by layering sections of the Latin Mass for the Dead into Byron’s apocalyptic poem. Hope comes in the final section, the In Paradisum, when the sublime children’s choir offers the consolations of eternal rest.  

Wainwright’s musical language here is not the most daring. But it is imaginative, personal, and highly expressive. Sumptuous melodies, catchy rhythms, rich harmonies – all inescapably Wainwright’s.

Conductor Mikko Franck calibrates the huge forces for both expressiveness and clarity. Soprano Anna Prohaska soars with the exquisite presence of a divine spirit, while the dramatically charged choir honours Wainwright’s deep connection to the words. 

Actor Meryl Streep catches every nuance in Byron’s text. Her sober narration reins in Wainwright’s heart-on-sleeve romanticism – that is, until the Dies Irae. Streep, as the voice of retribution, tears through it in a frenetic, virtuosic tour de force.  

Wainwright is undoubtedly better known for his singing and songwriting than his classical compositions. But Dream Requiem should be heard.

Electric Fields
Barbara Hannigan; Kati and Marielle Labeque; David Chalmin
Alpha Classics ALPHA 980 (outhere-music.com/en/albums/electric-fields)

By now my editor knows full well just how mesmerised I am by Barbara Hannigan. How – in my eyes – she can do no wrong. He also knows that if there is a new Hannigan recording – as sure as day follows night – I will make a beeline for it and likely find no fault in it whatsoever. The reason? There will be no fault with a Hannigan recording. That’s just the way it is. 

Let’s put aside Hannigan’s prowess as an actor and conductor for now. As an operatic star she is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of artist who does everything right, by any composer, in any repertoire from any era. This is how things go on Electric Fields (or might I say, “eclectic fields”?).

Her soprano instrument is lustrous throughout, whether she is interpreting Hildegard von Bingen (c.1098-1179) – O virga mediatrix and O vis aetrnitatis – or Barbara Strozzi (1619-1977) – Che si può fare – or two works by Bryce Dessner (b.1976). Hannigan also contributes one composition – Che t’ho fatt’io based on a fragment of Latin texts by Francesca Caccini (1587-c.1640).

Admittedly Hannigan shines alongside such star power as the piano-playing heavyweights, Katia and Marielle Labèque, and the wizardry of composer/performer David Chalmin’s ambient atmospheric contributions. But Hannigan’s performance is flawless – again. Each work is a priceless sound-painting. Each phrase has its own tinta; each vocal section a distinctive character. It’s exciting to wonder what comes next. One can only dream.

Christopher Tyler Nickel - Mass; Te Deum
Catherine Redding; Vancouver Chamber Choir; Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Clyde Mitchell
Avie Records AV2748 (avie-records.com/releases/christopher-tyler-nickel-mass-•-te-deum)

“Beauty-filled music” – that’s what I called Christopher Tyler Nickel’s Requiem (The WholeNote, Summer 2024), praising Nickel’s “distinctive melodic gift” that consolidated influences from Gregorian Chant to Bruckner, Fauré and Carl Orff. Along with his many scores for film, theatre and TV, the B.C.-based Nickel continues his commitment to sacred texts with Mass and Te Deum, composed concurrently between 2019 and 2024. Around 26 minutes each, they’re modest in scale compared to the 70-minute Requiem and minuscule measured against his seven-hour setting of The Gospel According to Mark.

“I’m always finding the melancholy in things,” writes Nickel. Here, his unusual scoring combines, in addition to strings, the plaintiveness of oboe, English horn, oboe d’amore and bass oboe with the sepulchral sonorities of four horns and tuba in Te Deum, two Wagner tubas replacing two of the horns in Mass. The pervading disquiet is heightened by continually shifting, irregular meters, including measures of five, seven and ten beats.

Nickel supplants Requiem’s stylistic eclecticism with a hyper-emotional, near-cinematic spin on Renaissance modes and harmonies. Mass begins with a plea of desperation in Kyrie, followed by a joyous Gloria, but solemnity reigns throughout the remaining sections. Te Deum is even darker. Canadian soprano, Catherine Redding, soloist in the Requiem recording, adds fervent entreaties to Te Deum’s intense anguish. Clyde Mitchell, conductor of the Requiem CD, draws urgent drama from Vancouver’s Chamber Choir and Contemporary Orchestra in these latest examples of Nickel’s truly “beauty-filled music.” 

Benedict Sheehan - Ukrainian War Requiem
Axios Men's Ensemble; Pro Coro Canada; Michael Zaugg
Cappella Records CR432 SACD (axioschoir.com)

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022 American Benedict Sheehan received a commission from Edmonton’s Axios Men’s Ensemble, performers of Eastern European sacred music, many of its singers sharing Ukrainian roots. Sheehan was asked, he writes, for “a new composition in honor of those fallen in Ukraine’s struggle for freedom.”

Sheehan’s Ukrainian War Requiem was premiered in Edmonton on April 14, 2024 with the Axios Men’s Ensemble and the tenors and basses of Edmonton’s Pro Coro Canada conducted by Pro Coro’s artistic director, Swiss-born Michael Zaugg.

In keeping with Ukraine’s mixed religious heritage – Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish – Sheehan drew texts from the Ukrainian Memorial Service, hymns of St. John of Damascus, Psalms 50 and 90, the New Testament Gospels and the Latin Requiem Mass. He combined, he says, “a variety of musical influences, including Ukrainian and Galician plainchant (somoilka), Gregorian chant, a Ukrainian Jewish psalm tone (nusach) and an array of original melodies,” as well as Shche Ne Vmerla Ukraïna (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished), Ukraine’s national anthem.

Throughout the work’s 67 minutes, the richly sonorous men’s chorus sings with fervent urgency in Ukrainian, Latin and English, several choristers contributing solos; the major solos are sung by Ukrainian soprano Yuliia Kasimova and Canadian tenor John Tessier. Based on traditional church modes, Sheehan’s powerful, often heart-rendingly beautiful score is a loving tribute to the Ukrainian dead that deserves to be heard everywhere in remembrance of all victims of all wars.