The large-scale works of Hieronymus Praetorius (1560–1629) owe much to the great polychoral tradition mastered by Hans Leo Hassler and the great Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli. Hieronymus does not disappoint with his vivid expression of texts, intricate counterpoint, and sumptuously sonorous and inventive harmonies: this is Northern Germany’s noble response to the Italians, and to the Roman Counter-Reformation.
Fred Frith's solo performances are amongst some of his most fascinating, and this live album at Ateliers Claus in Brussels, 2018 does not disappoint, Frith using every inch of his guitar and an arsenal of objects, in tandem with his masterful creative intent, to present an extended and fascinating journey in sound, remarkable in its breadth and bold inventive power.
Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis first met in the summer of 1971 on Chicago’s South Side, where both musicians were born and raised. Mitchell and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, had just returned to the South Side after a two-year sojourn in Europe, and Lewis was back home too, taking a break from his undergraduate studies at Yale. Since then, they collaborated very regularly, pushing each time the limits of the possible in music. This album, the latest chapter of a creative partnership spanning five decades, is a major step in their collaboration and is thus much more than just the sum of the immense talent of each of them. Recorded live … at CTM Festival on February 2nd 2018 at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Germany.
The large-scale works of Hieronymus Praetorius (1560–1629) owe much to the great polychoral tradition mastered by Hans Leo Hassler and the great Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli. Hieronymus does not disappoint with his vivid expression of texts, intricate counterpoint, and sumptuously sonorous and inventive harmonies: this is Northern Germany’s noble response to the Italians, and to the Roman Counter-Reformation.
The present recording brings together various examples of night music from the European tradition and constitutes a kaleidoscope refracting the manifold facets of night. In tells of brilliant celebrations, nocturnal love dramas and desires, tender lullabies, ghosts, birds of the night and the most holy of nights. It is Antonio Vivaldi's music that is pivotal to our recording. Providing a bridge between his works and functioning as interludes are songs, diminutions, motets, madrigals, sommeils and chaconnes from Spai, the Netherlands, France, England, Italy, Germany and Austria.