Catalog

Works For Electronics & Piano Sidney Bailin composer "I write what is inside me," says Sidney Bailin. "To me, revealing the psyche’s vulnerable parts is the essence of serious art. With each piece I write, I am trying to tell my secrets." On his first Ravello release, 16-2-60-N-5: WORKS [...]

A CONCERT OF MUSIC BY ALLEN BRINGS was originally released in 2008 and features stunning performances by pianists Allen Brings and Eric Huebner, soprano Jennifer Foster, the Atlantic String Quartet, Talujon, and Flexible Music.

While it isn't entirely unusual for musicians to raise musical children, it is fairly rare for a composer to have not one, but two sons who also compose. This is the case for composition professor Alan Schmitz, who, together with his sons Christopher and Eric, presents of ACE COMPOSERS II, a curated selection of contemporary chamber music which proves that the apple sometimes does fall further from the tree, at least in some regards. It would be impossible to mistake either one's works for that of any of the others: too distinct are the individual idiosyncrasies – the swooping, late-Romantic phrases, the sober, experimental minimalism, and the jazzy groove. Nevertheless, they are all united by one commonality – aesthetic appeal seems to run in the family.

David William Ross, though considered a classical and jazz guitarist, consistently transcends both genres. He works extensively in collaboration with other accomplished artists, while also being a composer with an impressive library of works that accompany dance and performance art. Ross brings this multifaceted background to the fore in Ravello Records’ AMOR FATI.

Richard Crosby's AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT was originally released in 1999, and features stellar works by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Amy Beach, Lee Hoiby, William Grant Still, David Guion, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and George Gerswhin.

Musical idioms have changed and adapted over the centuries. AN EVOLVING CYCLE, Gheorghe Costinescu's second Ravello release features four works for solo piano in which the composer explores the transition of these idioms from Baroque to 21st-century contemporary, charting the evolution of form and technique with a deft control of style. Stephen Gosling, a ubiquitous NYC pianist hailed as "brilliant" and "luminous and poised" (New York Times), performs the four works: Theme and Variations, an energetic, virtuosic, and challenging piece with a chorale-like theme; Sonata for the Piano, a combination of classical sonata and variational forms with elements, toward the end, of ragtime and jazz; Evolving Cycle of Two-Part Modal Inventions for Piano, a multi-part piece whose character, from simple to complex and from traditional to innovative, sets the tone for the entire album; and Essay in Sound, a reflection of Costinescu's own experience, thoughts, and feelings regarding the piano.

Zvonimir Nagy’s ANGELUS is a singular journey into a meditative state. Like the commemoration of annunciation, Nagy’s album features music for thoughtful contemplation, using solo organ to create delicate space for inner exploration throughout the life of the album. Themes of spiritual reflection are evident in most of the tracks. Inspired by Philippians 4:13, “Prayer" features a melody that is moody, melancholic, and mournful, a plea for forgiveness. Later on, in the back half of the album, the seven movements of the “Preludes for a Prayer" embrace the ambience created by Nagy’s solo organ performance.

Ravello Records presents ANIMATED SOUNDS, a multimedia release from composer Gheorghe Costinescu. The album showcases works by Costinescu from a varied and illustrious career spanning more than half a century. The first half of the release is purely musical, with pieces such as the virtuosic Sonata for the Piano and Essay in Sound, performed by pianist Stephen Gosling, and the expressive Voices Within, performed by violinist Vesselin Gellev.

This solo piano album featuring Canadian pianist Jane Solose, presents works by American composers George Gershwin, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Amy Beach, Chen Yi, Deniz Ince, and James Fry.

New from Ravello Records comes AUTUMN WINDS, a collection of chamber music composed by Kirk O’Riordan. The music, which features pianist and PARMA recording artist Holly Roadfeldt along with soprano Ann Moss and Peter Dutilly playing viola, is as challenging as it is alluring; O’Riordan takes listeners to the outskirts of tonality in order to elucidate questions of beauty, existence, and mortality.

Indianapolis saxophonist Cecily Terhune dives headfirst into an exploration of heroism on her genre-defying debut album BOON BESTOWED. Harnessing the principles laid out in Joseph Campbell's seminal theory of mythology, Terhune creates a captivating, musical microcosm in which the listener is invited to take center stage as the audacious protagonist. The theory goes as follows: Most myths in human history have an archetypal heroine/hero who answers a call to journey through a supernatural world. After undergoing a transformation of strength and character, the heroine returns equipped with material and/or incorporeal boons to bestow upon her community. Marveling at the highly diverse and exquisite mastery of the saxophone on BOON BESTOWED, one is apt to wonder what supernatural landscapes Terhune might have traversed herself.

David Bennett Thomas' CHAMBER WORKS was originally released in 2005, and was lauded as "immediately engaging" (Philadelphia Music Makers) and "concise and comprehensible" (American Record Guide).

Turkish composer Hakki Cengiz Eren presents a selection of chamber and solo works on his debut album COLOR STUDIES, released on Ravello Records. Eren’s music epitomizes expressionism in contemporary music, utilizing an enormous range of sounds, forms and textures to create highly evocative and dramatic musical statements.

As ocean waves continue their usual cycle of meeting the shore and returning to the vast blue wholeness, a certain kind of freedom, along with a sense of comfort for the unknown, can be found within their consistent movements. Drawing inspiration from nature and meditation, flutist and composer Jennifer Borkowski presents her debut Ravello Records release COMPOSED. Borkowski creates a dialog between Western and Indian classical music with her adaptation of Anusvara by Shirish Korde, in which she uses a Western classical flute. Korde’s other work on this album, Tenderness of Cranes, offers imagery of nature: the playful dance of cranes, wings flapping on water, and birds taking flight.

COMPOSITIONAL IMPROVISATIONS: FROM THE MYSTERIA, VOL. 1 is Gregory Hall's debut collection of improvisational classical music based on contemporary music theory, performed by the composer himself. Hall's improvisations feature sprawling-yet-contained passages that weave in and out of harmonic motives, drifting away from centralized themes and seamlessly returning to the source material. The tracks on COMPOSITIONAL IMPROVISATIONS draw from Hall's live concerts of compositional improvisation, which harken back to the days when improvisation was commonplace in classical performance.

While New Zealand guitarist and composer Campbell Ross cites influences as varied as Claude Bolling, Manuel Ponce and Benjamin Britten when discussing the works featured on CONCERTANTE, it is clear that his own distinctive style is manifested throughout the album. The first of CONCERTANTE’s Modern Works For Guitar opens with the three-movement Concertante for guitar, jazz trio and strings - a work that allows all of the album’s performers to be featured as soloists. Its kaleidoscopic first movement reveals elements of Latin, Blues, Jazz, and Classical genres that, when combined with the Spanish touches in the final movement, encompass the major musical styles that have influenced Ross over the past 30 years.

Chilean-American composer Miguel Chuaqui presents beautifully crafted works for small chamber and solo instruments on his Ravello Records release CONFABULARIO. The American Academy of Arts and Letters says of Chuaqui “His music shows qualities attributable to his Latin-American roots; although he is not a ‘genre’ composer. He is a clearly integrated personality, which exhibits a unique and convincing sensibility.”

Montréal percussionist David Therrien Brongo dexterously creates dynamic musical worlds on CONFLUENCE, a highly melodic album of solo percussion compositions by French Canadian contemporary composers. Both meditative and stimulating, the album makes for an impressive demonstration of the possibilities of this rare genre. Brongo's world-class performance is not only highly virtuosic in the technical sense, but also emotionally rich, nuanced, and deeply saturated with empathy. There is a zen-like quality to his interpretations, in which the silences are given as much gravitas as the sound around them, and both notes and rests are searing with constant energy. It's a remarkable approach, and instantly recognizable.

Wide skies, whistling winds, and a love for the great outdoors take center stage on Karen Sunabacka’s CURLICUE, a collection of eight works for solo piano performed by Darryl Friesen. Each piece tells a story of Sunabacka’s wilderness adventures, from the titular Curlicue’s explorations of the twists, turns, and curls of a river, to Falling in the Water’s conjuration of girls jumping into water and sheets of rain pummeling tents, to Lost’s encapsulation of the fear and dread of losing one’s way. Friesen’s crisp performance brings each piece to life, transporting listeners to the Canadian woodlands and prairies for an adventure all their own.

Composer Joseph Koykkar, described by American Record Guide as writing “music with a crystalline kind of clarity and rhythmic urgency that places him among the more exciting of contemporary composers,” presents his debut full-length release on Ravello Records DOUBLE TAKES AND TRIPLE PLAYS. Featuring works spanning a 20-year period in the composer’s career, this album exemplifies Koykkar’s practical approach to writing, dictated by the bounds and the interplay within chamber ensemble combinations, occasionally using computer-generated sounds.