D&s Vol. 32

With Harmonic Ascendant, released in 1979, Robert Schroeder has stamped electronic music (EM) with his own particular sound, a flowing synth with strident and melodious laments on a progressive minimalist rhythmic movement. At that time the musician from Aachen was building his own equipment, hence the singularity of his harmonies. This was followed by Floating Music, Mosaique and the sublime Galaxy Cygnus-A. A period strongly influenced by the Berlin School à la Klaus Schulze. And for some, it was his best phase. D.MO Vol.1, for demo, is a collection of unreleased tracks that retraces this era of the German synthesist who from 1978 to 1982 was experimenting with his new devices. And this is the spirit behind this compilation which is mainly addressed to the fans of this period…

Musica Alta Ripa was founded in 1984. The recorder player Danya Segal, two violinists Anne Röhrig and Ursula Bundies, cellist Juris Teichmanis, and harpsichordist Bernward Lohr, all outstanding, sought-after musicians in their fields, joined forces to form an ensemble that owes its special aura to the commingling of their individual personalities.

Vol. 2 in BIS' complete Sibelius Edition is given over the Finnish master's chamber music for strings and for strings and piano. Fifty years earlier, this release would've included only the "Voces intimae" string quartet. But BIS' 2007 release includes all four quartets and all four piano trios, plus 35 other works or substantial fragments lasting between 13 seconds to 32 minutes. One thing is instantly clear: Sibelius scholarship has made enormous strides since the mid-twentieth century.