Mantua and the Gonzaga family represent one of the summits of European humanistic and Renaissance expression. This project addresses one of the city's greatest periods with sacred works by the leading musicians of the Gonzaga court, at a time when music was the primary tool employed by the Gonzaga dukes to assert their prestige over other Italian cities; this golden age began with the foundation of the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara and its cappella under Giaches de Wert during the rule of Guglielmo Gonzaga in 1565 and lasted until the sack of Mantua in 1630. The Ensemble Biscantores specialise in the performance of late Renaissance and Baroque music; here, thanks to the research, study and transcriptions made by its director Luca Colombo, they explore the Mantuan court of the Gonzagas and the liturgy specific to the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara.
Hindemith was not only a composer but also a hugely talented viola player who wrote a number of remarkable, innovative works for his instrument. The piano-accompanied sonatas are relatively wellknown, so too the Trauermusik composed in a single evening to mark the death of King George V. The solo viola works have had less attention: Hindemith referred to them as Gebrauchsmusik, by which he meant compositions with simple, linear structures, often intended for amateur players: music that responded to a particular need or use.
The 7th annual collection for Blind Raccoon (third in partnership with Nola Blue) has been a favorite with DJs and attendees at the International Blues Challenge, with funds raised to benefit The Blues Foundation's HART Fund. The Blind Raccoon and Nola Blue Collection Volume III contains 32 compositions. An array of Blind Raccoon clients, including both independent and label artists, are represented as noted in the song credits.
It’s that time of the year to make a list and check it twice to make sure you’ve added the brand new The Puppini Sisters Christmas EP: Dear Santa, I Can Explain… Featuring four never-before-released original Christmas songs that are bound to become classics played every year from now on! This fantastic quartet of songs are the perfect addition to Christmas with The Puppini Sisters, their all-time best-selling festive album, and to the classic single Jingle Bells, which Universal Music are re-releasing as a remastered track to coincide with Christmas 2021! Christmas At Home is a limited edition live album that the Puppini Sisters put out in December 2020. This was only available through their website and was made when ordered.
X: The Godless Void and Other Stories appeared at a timely point in …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's career. It arrived six years after the release of 2014's IX, during which time Conrad Keely returned from Cambodia to the band's home base of Austin, Texas, and also coincided with their 25th anniversary. It makes sense, then, that their tenth album finds them taking stock. As …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead explore how people become more themselves over time while everything else changes, they deliver their most emotionally direct music in quite a while. Their need to follow their hearts – even if they get a little broken along the way – has dominated their music since Source Tags & Codes, and the tension between cathartic freedom and poignancy is as powerful on X: The Godless Void and Other Stories as it was on that landmark album.
From his first appearance on the radar back at the turn of the century, when a handful of Danish blues pub-crawlers discovered a diamond in the rough on the circuit of Copenhagen, Thorbjorn Risager's meteoric rise has rarely allowed him the time to look back over his shoulder. Instead, for this critically acclaimed songwriter, once-in-a-generation singer, expressive guitarist, and bandleader of the mighty Black Tornado, it has been a career with his eyes fixed on the horizon, the next town, the next show, the next song, the next album. Comprising two volumes and 25 songs, representing the best of Risager's eleven studio and live albums to date, this compilation invites you to take the scenic route through the career of a fascinating modern bluesman.