Deep-dives into works by JS Bach (featuring the late conductor Sir Andrew Davis, a Lyric Opera of Chicago legend), as well as music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Alan Hovhaness. Plus, meet a lesser-known — but influential — Polish composer: Zygmunt Noskowski. And take part in a richly immersive vocal compendium by Minneapolis-based Cantus.
New Releases Aug. 5: Bach, Coleridge-Taylor, Hovhaness
Sir Andrew Davis (Photo: Dario Acosta)
Sir Andrew Davis was a talented keyboard player as a child and teenager, and after study with Peter Hurford at St Albans he spent four years at the University of Cambridge as organ scholar at King’s College, under Sir David Willcocks. It was this period of his life that sparked his love for the organ works of J.S. Bach, which remained a lifelong passion. Sir Andrew made all the transcriptions on this album for the BBC Philharmonic, and four of them were recorded in November 2023. He died before the final recording sessions for the album could take place the following September, but Martyn Brabbins stepped in to complete the recording of Davis’s completed arrangements.
Michael Repper leads the National Philharmonic in a celebration of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – an album of world-premiere recordings commemorating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.. The program features new performance editions of Toussaint L’Ouverture, Ballade in D minor, Op. 4, and the Suite from 24 Negro Melodies. Grammy-nominated violinist Curtis Stewart is featured in the Ballade and in his own arrangements of three of Coleridge-Taylor’s 24 Negro Melodies.
“My intent with these arrangements is to acknowledge the impact of those melodies on current popular culture, and reflect that influence onto the orchestral stage – to create moments where listeners may participate vocally, with movement, or rhythmically clapping along – to maintain a sense of belonging and recognition – to create community around this music in the classical concert hall – to embrace where all contemporary American Concert music extends from, in my belief – America’s mother-music: the Blues.” – Curtis Stewart
The mother-daughter team of violinist Zina Schiff and conductor Avlana Eisenberg present the music of Alan Hovhaness, one of America’s most prolific composers, with music characterized by a signature synthesis of East and West. Influenced by his Armenian heritage and a fascination with nature and spirituality, he sought to create music “for all people, music which is beautiful and healing.” This collection of works featuring the violin includes world premiere recordings of Les Baux, Op. 261 (1973) and the Violin Sonata, Op. 11 (1937), plus a premiere commercial recording of Concerto No. 2, and a world premiere arrangement of Oror (“Lullaby”), Op. 1. Evocations of Armenian liturgy contrasted with Scottish jigs can be heard in the Violin Sonata, while Concerto No. 2, one of a series of ten concertos for various instruments, requires both soloist and ensemble to play using effects associated with Henry Cowell, including unmeasured sections and tone clusters.
The Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic led by Antoni Wit music by the Polish conductor’s countryman Zygmunt Noskowski (1846–1909).
Although Noskowski is less well known than his teacher Stanisław Moniuszko or his students Karol Szymanowski and Mieczysław Karłowicz, he was nonetheless the primary exponent of modern symphonic music in Poland for most of the 19th century. He also introduced the idea of the symphonic poem to colleagues who would follow in his footsteps. This program of his Third Symphony and the symphonic poem The Steppe blends sweeping Romanticism with Polish folk spirit. The symphony is a journey through the seasons, while The Steppe evokes Poland’s vast landscapes with hints of Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia.
Minneapolis-based low-voice ensemble Cantus presents a program of five choral song cycles, including four premiere recordings. The album is anchored by the recently rediscovered Fields of Wonder by Margaret Bonds set to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Three featured works have been written specifically for Cantus by contemporary composers Gavin Bryars, Melissa Dunphy, and Griffin Candey.
“These contrasting song cycles share an embrace of change, growth, acceptance and renewal, and through the collective experience of their journeys – great and small, painful and magical – we gain a clearer picture of life and of ourselves” – Cantus
