Empress of a Thousand Sky

U.S. Cinematic outfit Whatitdo Archive Group returns to explore the worlds of Mid-Century Exotica and Library Music with “Palace of a Thousand Sounds,” out on May 5th.

When the New York Philharmonic fired conductor Artur Rodzinski in 1946, Leopold Stokowski saw an opportunity – he had long desired the post of principal conductor in New York and went to work trying to obtain it. From 1947 to 1950, Stokowski made himself available to New York on an on-call basis, conducting children’s concerts, fill in concerts for other conductors, anything that New York would assign to him, remaining visible until the long process of choosing a music director was finished. Alas, it became clear by early 1950 that Stokowski was not going to be New York’s choice for the position, awarded instead to Dimitri Mitropoulos.

The Utah Symphony is one of America’s major symphony orchestras and a leading cultural organization in the Intermountain West. It is recognized internationally for its distinctive performances, commitment to music education programs, history and recording legacy. Here they join with the internationally-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir to present a thrilling and authoritative interpretation of the immense Mahler Symphony No. 8, “Symphony of a Thousand.” This new release was recorded live in February 2016, from concerts in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, sponsored by the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music. This organization was founded over 30 years ago through the combined vision of Obert C. Tanner and Gordon B. Hinckley, to share performances of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Utah Symphony, as a gift to the community.

Performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra, conducted by Wang Yongji. Truly celestial and a different feeling than American / European performances of this famous piece. This CD also contains David Mingyue Lang's gorgeous Music of a Thousand Springs and his Zen (Ch'an) of Water. Highly recommended.

Friedemann - Echoes Of A Shattered Sky (2012) {Biber 76841 Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (qobuz.com) -> 285 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 108 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2012 Biber Records / in-akustik | Biber 76841
Jazz / Contemporary Instrumental Music / Nu-Jazz / Guitar

In the beginning there was the shattered sky. A window – slammed shut. The glass – broken. The view outside – obscured. Inside: destruction. The end. While scenes like these evoke some terrible drama, they are part of our lives. They occur in our individual biographies as well as in the world as a whole. Everywhere. All the time. Guitarist / composer Friedemann Witecka found an impressive account of sky-shattering on a national scale while reading »Stasiland« by the Australian writer Anna Funder. In this book, published 2003, he discovered the phrase: »pieces of a shattered sky«. The collaps of his own sky occurred in 2010. It was the end which marked the beginning of a new album entitled »Echoes Of A Shattered Sky«.