Oswald

Some of the Italian musicians who came to London to ‘make their fortunes’ found themselves influenced by the Celtic lands and their rich tradition of folk music. They were in their turn admired and sometimes even copied by their counterparts in the British Isles. This recording shows the outcome of that encounter. Lorenzo Bocchi was probably the first Italian cellist to settle in Edinburgh, in 1720. Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) arrived in Dublin in 1733. Since 1714 he had been resident in London, where he performed with Handel, but his passion for art dealing landed him in prison. The Earl of Essex then took him under his protection in Dublin, where he swiftly acquired a high reputation. In 1749 he published in London a collection of songs and tunes arranged as sonatas for several instruments combined with a treatise that gives us much useful information on how to play this music.

Robert Normandeau - Figures (1999) {empreintes DIGITALes ‎IMED 9944}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 344 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 205 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1999 empreintes DIGITALes ‎| IMED 9944
Electroacoustic / Electronic / Modern Classical / Musique Concrète / Acousmatic Music

Normandeau is one of the leading contemporary musique concrète artists, and this, his third solo release, makes it easy to see why. His attention to sonic detail is unmatched, and each of his pieces amply rewards repeated and careful listening. The opening piece continues a cycle started on his previous Empreintes Digitales release Tangram. "Le Renard et la Rose" is the third part of a cycle that includes Tangram's "Éclats de Voix" and "Spleen," based exclusively on the use of the human voice. Each of its five parts associates an emotional state with a sonic framework, from the opening laughter of Babbling and Rhythm to the closing Serenity and Texture.

This programme reflects the full flavour and richness of English music and the instrumental and vocal repertory it inspired in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The rhythmic impulse of this repertory – sometimes making use of ostinato – culminates in the grounds, jigs, contredanses and so on that were all the rage at the time and led to the publication of John Playford’s collection The English Dancing Master in 1651. Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, showing their familiarity with early sources from England, Scotland and Ireland, also emphasise the melodic aspect of these dances, which in the course of time became sung airs – the soprano Fiona McGown and the baritone Enea Sorini complete a colourful instrumentarium.

Slated as the final volume in Sub Rosa's long-running, much-lauded series, An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music #7 collects 39 additional rare and unreleased pieces, focusing on electronic experiments, tape loop manipulations and works of musique concrète. Although the anthology contains just a handful of known names (Henry Cow, Justin K. Broadrick and John Oswald), the compilation focuses more on the performance and process than the artist.

The concept of The Romantic Piano Concerto series was born at a lunch meeting between Hyperion and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra sometime in 1990. A few months later tentative plans had been made for three recordings, and the first volume, of concertos by Moszkowski and Paderewski, was recorded in June 1991. In our wildest dreams, none of us involved then could ever have imagined that the series would still be going strong twenty years later, and with fifty volumes to its credit.