Catalog

"With the arts we can keep faith with our ancestors, speak for justice, and even address the most tragic and painful issues. If you are hurt and angry don't use violence — write a poem or a song. Use your feelings to create something." These words by late composer Philip Koplow (1943-2018) perfectly encapsulate both his life mission as a composer and the mission of FOR THE PEACE OF CITIES. Released posthumously, this collection features Koplow’s masterpieces for orchestra as well as three 20th-century works that commemorate the lives lost in war tragedies.

Richard Brooks’ PLACES IN TIME travels through the acclaimed composer’s personal history with each piece representing a different period in the composer’s life. Many of these recordings were originally released by Brooks’ label, Capstone Records. Each piece gains new life as Brooks and Ravello Records team up to share this fascinating work in tonality, soundscapes, and emotional sway with a new generation of music lovers.

Although Don Gillis (1912 – 1978) is most known for his Symphony No. 5½, A Symphony for Fun (1945), premiered by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1947, the American composer, conductor, and educator wrote prolifically in nearly all contemporary styles and genres, with a catalog of more than 150 works including ten symphonies and six string quartets. Near the beginning of his career, between 1938 and 1939, he composed three suites for wind quintet, which have never been recorded – until now.

This album features works by composer Michael Sidney Timpson that combine three different "spheres of influence:" European avant-garde, American jazz and pop, and various Asian musical traditions. These spheres "collide" with inventive friction, often fuse to "reinvent" convention, and merge to "fertilize" the mind with inspirational seeds for further hybrid creativity.

CHIAROSCURO, Chamber Music by Richard Lavenda is a bright and engaging new album of some of composer Richard Lavenda's favorite chamber works–all written for personal friends. The title track refers to the visual art technique of a strong contrast between dark and light, and this motif aptly describes the listening experience.

Written in the summer of 2011 for David J. Martins and the Boston University Wind Ensemble, Boston-based composer Ketty Nez's thresholds is a piano concerto inspired by music of different eras, including the canonic manipulations of Renaissance vocal music, piquant harmonies of Elizabethan virginal composers, Stravinskian reinterpretations of Baroque idioms, and occasionally, a huge barrel organ. As a kind of musical actor, the piano soloist theatrically leads the ensemble in abrupt changes of style and character so as to create a fractured world with sonic allusions changing rapidly and repeatedly.

THROUGH THE REEDS is a collection of woodwind concerti from American composer Walter Ross. Ross, a lifelong musician and composer, has historically worked most closely with instruments in the woodwind family; the four concerti on this album, all of which feature a woodwind solo, highlight his preference for the family and his keen ability to compose works for oboe, bassoon, and flute.

This release from Robert Baksa was originally released in 1991 and was lauded as “brilliantly stated” (Phoenix Gazette) and “courageously and attractively retrograde” (Arizona Daily Star). Featuring stunning interpretations by The Virtuosi Quintet and pianist Aeree Kim, this album is a highlight in contemporary collections of accessible classical music.

PIPING THE EARTH was originally released in 2003 and was lauded as “strong and original” (Fanfare) and “a major release” (New Music Connoisseur). Featuring perfectly interpreted performances by pianist Gayle Martin Henry, flutist Renee Siebert, and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prism Chamber Orchestra, PIPING THE EARTH provides listeners with an adept sampling of Judith Shatin’s orchestral prowess.

Daniel Adams’ SHADOW ON MIST was originally released in 2002 and was lauded as “unique and non-predictable” (Percussive Notes) and “delightful” (Twenty-First Century Music). Featuring stellar performances by the New Music Tampa Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the McCormick Percussion Ensemble, SHADOW ON MIST provides a cross-section of Daniel Adams’ works for wind ensemble, large percussion ensemble, and solo instruments.

“What music encapsulates the 90s?” This question is usually answered with grunge, alt-rock, manufactured pop, hip-hop, or any combination thereof. With 90S TIMEFLOW, composer Alan Schmitz steers us in another direction with a collection of contemporary classical works that represents the overarching themes of his work throughout the decade. The melodic, evocative, and accessible works on this release cap off a revolutionary century of classical composition with the perfect balance of influence and ingenuity.