In this extensive 50-disc set, Brilliant Classics presents 500 years of organ music. The pieces presented here offer a survey of diversity, value, and historical importance. The first portion of the set is devoted to pieces from the early period. Groundbreaking organ composers such as Cavazzoni and De Macque, who developed the capriccio and canzon forms and composed complex counterparts to the periods vocal music, are featured here. The Baroque and Classical eras are represented in this set by the likes of powerhouse composers Mozart, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Haydn.
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers' Koch release Smile continues, to some extent, from her previous Avie issue Birds in Warped Time in that she is attempting to expand beyond the constraints of typical classical CD programming combining a couple of big works, or collecting a bunch of little ones, "encores" into something more imaginative and in more keeping with her own taste and personality. With that, Meyers has invested some measure of muscle into developing repertoire that fits her generous, yet transparent tone with the same degree of comfort as one of her designer-made concert gowns. Here we have an arrangement of the Japanese melody "Kojo No Tsuki," made by Meyers herself in collaboration with Shigeaki Saegusa, for solo violin.
The debut album Pangea by violinist Lea Brückner combines the idea of expanding and illuminating the musical diversity of classical music. The selection of works takes the listener on a journey through 9 countries, musical styles such as impressionism, minimalism and jazz influences as well as the influence of folklore on composers.