If you’re not familiar with Emilie Luise Friderica Mayer, this release provides an excellent introduction. Mayer studied composition with Carl Loewe in the 1840s. Mayer was prolific, and her works were often performed in her lifetime. After her death, Mayer’s music fell into obscurity. A renewed interest in women composers of the past has brought […]
CD Review
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Panufnik – Celestial Bird gives gift of song
“Celestial Bird” is more than an album — it’s a present. In celebration of Panufnik’s 50th birthday, this release brings together ten of her previously unrecorded choral works. The music is all fairly recent, dating from 2013 through 2018. And it shows the wide-ranging interests of the composer. St. Pancras Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis is […]
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Exceptional performances of Graupner cantatas
This release features three cantatas and two overtures by Christoph Graupner. Graupner was a contemporary of Bach, Handel, and Telemann, and their near-equal in talent. He spent most of his career at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt, composing over 1,400 works. The three cantatas on this release are early works, written between 1714 and 1725. Graupner […]
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Wilhelm Kempff Chamber Music – Worth a Listen
Wilhelm Kempff is best remembered as a piano virtuoso. But he was also a composer. This release features two youthful chamber works. The Trio in G minor for violin, cello, and piano dates from 1911, when Kempff was studying composition with a former student of Brahms. The lineage is easy to hear. Kempff develops his […]
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Paul Lansky – Idle Fancies Keep Gwen Dease Busy
Paul Lansky has been creating an impressive catalog of percussion music since the 1990s. This release features three exceptional works for solo marimba, written for some exceptional performers. “Three Moves” (1998) is the earliest (and most difficult) of the three works. Written for Nancy Zeltsman, the music hops across the broad expanse of a five-octave […]
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Baroque Wind Quartets – Come for the Telemann, stay for the Molter
This release brings together music by two Kapellmeisters of Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach. Georg Philip Telemann held the post first in 1709 and was succeeded by Johann Melchior Molter. The works presented on this release provide an interesting contrast in style between the two. The release features three of Telemann’s 1752 “Paris” quartets. These are […]
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Alan Hovhaness – Wind Music, Vol. 3
There’s still a lot of music by Alan Hovhaness yet to be recorded. With over 450 works in his catalog, there’s plenty to choose from — and many opportunities for world premiere recordings. This particular installment of Hovhaness’ wind music has four. Hovhaness’ style was fairly consistent throughout his career. I can always count on […]
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Villa-Lobos Symphonic Cycle Ends at Beginning
Naxos completes their cycle of Villa-Lobos symphonies by starting at the beginning. This final installment features Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. Both are early works, and both are strongly influenced by Vincent d’Indy. Villa-Lobos studied in France and used d’Indy’s book on composition as a guide. His first symphony, completed in 1916 bears a strong […]
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Johannes de Lublin Tablature – A snapshot of 16th Century keyboard music
The 1540 “Tablature of Jan de Lubin” is one of the largest collections of 16th Century keyboard music. It’s possible that a good portion of it was written, transcribed, and/or arranged by Johann de Lublin. The bound collection includes many other pieces that added after the fact (and possibly after de Lublin’s death). Corina Marti […]