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 COLLECTION OF WORKS from composer Jean-Paul Perrotte and Ravello Records encapsulates forces of nature with modern musical composition, interpreting the power of water, landscapes, and the human mind. With original works written between 2007 and 2021, this electroacoustic concoction blends traditional instrumentation with computer generated sounds in deep soundscapes, capturing the mysterious essence of dream states and the strength of flowing water and unifying classical and electronic music under one compositional canopy.

Christopher J. Keyes’s new album, Ravello Records’ A CONNOTATION OF INFINITY, speaks directly to why listeners should embrace the transgressive element of electronics in traditional classical music. Keyes, who wrote as much software for the album as he did music, employs what he calls a 3D audio for a more immersive listening experience. Keyes’s latest release, which features performances of select pieces on video, envelopes and entrances the minds of listeners from all walks of life.

Peeling back the complex layers of Bill Whitley's ethereal ABSENT LIGHT, one is astounded to see how this music could at once be so serene, yet technically intricate.

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.

On his Ravello Records release BALANCING ACTS, composer and sound designer Russell Pinkston showcases a selection of his compositions for acoustic instruments and electronic sounds. Most of these pieces combine the two, capitalizing on the absolute precision and unlimited sonic potential of electronic media, while still taking advantage of the spontaneity and expressivity of live performance. Several works feature interactive software written by the composer, which tracks a live performer and generates an electronic accompaniment in real time.

Composer Douglas Bielmeier’s BETTY AND THE SENSORY WORLD is an enveloping musical work that soothingly twists time into a languid river of sound. Along these lines, BETTY AND THE SENSORY WORLD unfolds as one massive work that, though it may be marked in seven constituent sections, flows with very little delineation from one movement to another. This is not to say, however, that BETTY AND THE SENSORY WORLD is static or overly repetitive. Rather, Bielmeier’s creation simply exists on an atypically large scale, which demands the kind of gradual, almost furtive, evolution of musical ideas that characterizes this work.

Jeff Morris presents his fourth Ravello Records release, this one focusing on woodwinds and employing his characteristic live sampling and electronics. CLOSE REEDING is the latest since HEARING VOICES, an album which set its sights on the most fundamentally-human musical instrument: the human voice. Now, Morris turns his attention to woodwind instruments, which he terms the “next most human” family of instruments. By way of digital manipulation and live improvisation, Morris gives this thesis a convincing exposition.

CLUSTERS features the computer synthesis-based compositions of New York-based Hubert Howe. Howe, who was one of the first researchers in computer music, uses his vast knowledge of the subject and his studies in sound to create sprawling, atmospheric works that help expose the world of inharmonic partials and nonconventional instruments. Each of his compositions uses the properties of sound in unique ways, leading to carefully crafted and planned soundscapes. Howe’s expertise is reinforced by his accompanying text, which offers detailed explanations of the composition and implementation of each piece.

Ken Walicki is an American composer and director of the Composition Program at California State University, Fullerton. He is widely recognized and acknowledged for his dramatic and engaging music, often using innovative instrumentation. Walicki was one of the first composers to use turntables in his music. Walicki conveys the effects of globalization and increasing dependency on technology with CYBERISTAN, a Ravello Records release. Each piece contains its own environment and its own space. The natural acoustic sounds juxtaposed against man-made sounds of electronic instrumentation supports a dichotomy of two worlds vying for supremacy but inevitably merging into one homogenous identity.

Welcoming the new day in the world of composer Maija Hynninen is not soft like early morning rays. In DAWN BREAKS, Hynninen does away with the cliches of warmth and comfort in the morning. Performing all of the electronics on this album, Hynninen characterizes everything in her world, presenting soundscapes that are truly unique.

Addressing the man who greatly contributed to the theory of our evolutionary ascent, DEAR DARWIN, the second release on Ravello Records by composer Scott Brickman, explores several themes relating to Charles Darwin's studies and interests including birds, love, world travel, and human boundaries. The song-cycle Dear Darwin is set to 26 poems by Kathleen Ellis and arranged as an abecedarium. Many of Ellis' poems discuss observations of nature and human behavior, some proposing questions and others suggesting answers, while Brickman's compositions consider different relationships between the piano and the soprano voice: he places the piano in three different roles in respect to the soprano - as an imitation, as a supplement, and as harmonic support.

New from Ravello Records is DECADE ZERO, a compilation of works for instruments and electronics by Christopher Biggs. The works integrate traditional instruments with live electronic processing and sound files. Biggs’ compositions focus on environmental, political, and scientific extra-musical concepts relevant to today’s world. Featuring the Western Brass Quintet, the title track, Decade Zero explores the last period in time when humanity can take decisive action to combat climate change without facing irrevocable changes to our world.

DEVIANT RESONANCES carries the concept of “creative listening" into new dimensions. In addition to the unconventional ways in which the everyday listener is called on to interpret the music, composer David Rosenboom literally uses the action of “listening” as an instrument.

Ravello Records is proud to announce the release of FIRST LIGHT, featuring performances of two innovative works by composer Jackson Greenberg. In FIRST LIGHT, human inspiration and the machine mind come together to produce music of startling richness and beauty.

On FROM A FAR-OFF WORLD (2006), saxophonist and bass clarinetist Demetrius Spaneas performs compositions for woodwinds and electronics. Along with two interludes for alto saxophone composed by Spaneas, the album includes Shaun Naidoo’s Walking in the Dirt for bass clarinet and Blood on the Pattern for alto saxophone, along with Jane Brockman’s Tagore Songs for soprano saxophone.

FROM MOOG TO MAC is a collection of Deutsch's compositions for and performances on the Moog synthesizer spanning the last 30 years, from works written using the original "portable electronic music studio" to those written on the modern variations. This historic release features developmental tracks tracking the genesis and improvements on the synthesizers, in which Deutsch frequently pushes the boundaries of both musical content and technological innovation.

GENETIC DRIFT, a 17-piece collection from electronic music composer Joel Gressel, is among the latest releases from Ravello Records. The various tracks featured on the album were composed over the course of 20 years, each using the same set of sophisticated compositional rules to produce their unique sounds.

Composer and sound designer Ted Moore presents his Ravello release Gilgamesh & Enkidu, a six-movement interpretation of the ancient Mesopotamian epic poem scored for string quartet and laptop. The work follows the friendship of Gilgamesh and the wild Enkidu, his enemy-turned-friend, as they defy the gods and defeat their beast, Humbaba, in the name of humanity. After the gods murder Enkidu as punishment, Gilgamesh falls into despair and wanders the earth in search of the secret of immortality so he can resurrect his friend. When an empty-handed Gilgamesh returns to his kingdom, he sees that, in his absence, his people have built great monuments in his honor. He realizes that humanity is destined for mortality, and that overcoming adversity is part of the full human experience.

GODS, DEMONS, AND THE EARTH was originally released in 1995 was lauded as "awesome" (ClassicalNet) and "surreal" (Twentieth Century Music).