Ensemble Surplus

German composer Matthias Spahlinger (b. 1944) scored his Farben der Frühe (Colors of Morning) for the unusual, if not unique, ensemble of seven pianos. It's impossible to know the composer's motivation for limiting a work whose subject is "color" to the single color of the piano, but apparently it proved to be a daunting task, because it took eight years to complete. The six-movement, 45-minute piece falls squarely into the tradition of European modernism, with a spiky tonal language and loads of rhythmic complexity.

German composer Matthias Spahlinger (b. 1944) scored his Farben der Frühe (Colors of Morning) for the unusual, if not unique, ensemble of seven pianos. It's impossible to know the composer's motivation for limiting a work whose subject is "color" to the single color of the piano, but apparently it proved to be a daunting task, because it took eight years to complete. The six-movement, 45-minute piece falls squarely into the tradition of European modernism, with a spiky tonal language and loads of rhythmic complexity.

A high-art concept album about an overwhelming passion between two writers is a bold foundational choice on which to craft one’s debut, but Winnipeg-based duo Heavy Bell is composed of a seasoned indie rock veteran (Royal Canoe’s Matt Peters) and an actor/singer-songwriter (Tom Keenan), both of whom dream a little bigger than some of us.

Clérambault was born in 1676 in Paris in a musical family whose members had served the kings of France since the 15th century. His father Dominique was a violinist and a member of the 24 violons du roi. Louis-Nicolas probably received his first music lessons from him. His organ teacher was André Raison to whom he dedicated his Livre d'orgue. His oeuvre is not very sizeable, but of consistently high quality. He was a major contributor to the genre of the chamber cantata which became popular in the early decades of the 18th century under the influence of the Italian style. Five books of such cantatas were published between 1710 and 1726.