Groupe de Recherches Musicales de L'ortf Xenakis Bohor, Diamorphoses, Orient Occident & Concret PH Hi Res

Iannis Xenakis’ commitment to musique concrete is a lesser-known aspect of his work but had a decisive influence on many composers. He notably worked with Pierre Schaeffer’s Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) at the French national radio at the end of the 50s and created memorable electroacoustic works, first put on record a few years later, and which we have digitized and remastered in high resolution!

„Electroacoustic Works“ celebrates the 100th anniversary of Iannis Xanakis (on May 29th, 2022), one of the most influential 20th century avantgarde composers. For the first time, the complete electroacoustic works of Xenakis are now available on record! All tracks have been newly mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer Martin Wurmnest and mastered by Rashad Becker and finally reveal their full sonic range and dynamics. Booklet with English / German liner notes by R. Friedl (zeitkratzer) and rare photos from the Xenakis archive.

ANNIS XENAKIS (1922-2001) is one of the most important composers of the 20th century avantgarde whose influence on music can be traced to the present day – not only in the world of conservatory-trained composers but also in various streams of current non-academic underground aesthetics such as experimental electronic music, noise and industrial.
After he arrived in Paris in 1947, XENAKIS not only studied composition with MESSIAEN and later became a member of the famous GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales), he also worked as assistant to the famous architect LE CORBUSIER and realized a.o. the Philips Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels 1958. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and “shocking otherness” (The Guardian).

BMG proudly presents the 50th anniversary reissue of Les granges brûlées, an original soundtrack written and performed by Jean-Michel Jarre shortly after his work experience at G.R.M (Groupe de Recherches Musicales).

Passion, Grace & Fire is the second album by John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucía released in 1983. Unlike their first album Friday Night in San Francisco, this album consists entirely of studio recordings.

Here is the box containing Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos performed by Hannes Minnaar and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend. So far two single volumes had been issued: while the one including Concertos nos. 4 & 5 was acclaimed by Gramophone as: "beginning a Beethoven cycle with the Fourth and Fifth Concertos is a bold move but one that pays off in all sorts of ways", the same magazine welcomed the disc with Concertos nos. 1 & 2 for “its pleasing mix of finesse and drive”. Now the box also offers the so far unissued Concerto #3. Despite the very large number of recordings already made of this musical corpus, Minnaar and de Vriend have proved that they have something new and totally their own to say about this collection of masterpieces. And it is indeed the peculiar blend of sheer energy and esprit de finesse that can be identified as the distinctive brand or these recordings.

Even in scholarly explorations of French-Baroque harpsichord repertoire, the name of Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier (1734-1794) is mentioned only in passing. Previous albums of his music have been dedicated to his organ output; this new album will attract any collectors of French Baroque music, who will be rewarded by memorable and colourful portrait pieces every bit as vivid as the likes of d’Anglebert and Couperin.

Barcelona was born with little time difference, two important composers in whose lives, despite having no relationship with each other, we find many commonplaces in their artistic corpus, with a very close aesthetic despite developing very personal styles : Miguel Asins Arbó and Carles Suriñach. These two musical creators also agree in dedicating part of their valuable production to the world of music bands, wind and percussion orchestras to which they have been able to extract their timbre potential and have been able to place them in the a natural place of equality that corresponds to the cultivation of contemporary musical art.