Catalog

The focal work on this recording of chamber works by David Patterson is #Ferguson. Patterson lived in Ferguson, attending high school there. #Ferguson is a suite of seven scenes contrasting the innocence of his boyhood with a city that has been changed forever. Other compositions on the recording include a work for solo harp, two works for Native American flute; a work for solo piano; and a choral work. Petterson is a professor and former department chair at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Award and the Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award. A student of Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris, he received his PhD from Harvard. His music appears on the Vienna Modern Masters and Albany Records labels.

In 1945 George Walker became the first black graduate of the renowned Curtis Institute of Music. The centerpiece of his graduation recital was the Liszt Sonata in b-minor, newly recorded here as an anniversary celebration. Along with this work are representative examples of Walker's art as a highly expressive, original composer who writes in a "tough," sinewy modern style but whose works reveal a distinct, American lyricism. George Theophilus Walker was born in Washington. His early years were notable for his performances in New York's Town Hall, and his appearances with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3. His first composition, the String Quartet No. 1, appeared in 1946 and the second movement, Lyric for Strings, is performed on this new CD. Walker has composed over 90 works for orchestra, chamber orchestra, piano, strings, voice and solo instruments. In 1996 he was the first black recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Lilacs, for Voice and Orchestra. Walker is a true American treasure, and we are proud to release this latest disc in a series devoted to his compositions and performances from the piano repertoire (these can be heard on TROY 117, 136, 154, 252, 270, 411, 523 and 697).

William Matthews began studying and performing music as a flutist in Springfield, Ohio, then studied composition formally at Oberlin, the University of Iowa, the Institute of Sonology and the Yale School of Music. He has taught at Bates College since 1978. His creative time is divided between acoustic and electro-acoustic compositions and both types are represented on this first recording devoted to his music.

Cuban born composer Ileana Pérez Velázquez has had her music heard in concerts and international festivals all over the world. Awarded a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation, she has written works for numerous performers and ensembles that include a Who's Who of musicians in the field of new music. Ms. Velázquez studied in Havana as well as at Dartmouth and Indiana University. She is on the faculty at Williams College. Her music appears on the Albany, Innova, and Urlicht AV labels. There are four works on this recording, which show a creator's posture facing innovation, and the relationship between humans and the totality of creation. Velázquez's music invites us to meditate on the universal problem of existence. Her music is frequently imbued with natural phenomena, culture, and the relationship established by humans with their environment. Nunc, a new music ensemble founded in 2007, performs on two of these works -- joined on the first by Nunc's director violinist Miranda Cuckson. The renowned Momenta Quartet is heard on the string quartet Alma de Guije.

This 2-CD set features performances by the renowned Boston Musica Viva of large chamber works by Bernard Hoffer. Born in Switzerland, Hoffer came to the U.S. in 1941, studying at Eastman He was an arranger and pianist for the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, DC for several years. He came to New York in 1962 where he worked as a freelance musician, composer, conductor, and arranger, writing extensively for films, television, and commercials for which he received several Clio Awards and Emmy nominations. This is the fifth recording of his music for Albany Records. Founded by Richard Pittman in 1969, Boston Musica Viva was the first professional ensemble in Boston devoted to contemporary music and is distinguished today as the oldest new music ensemble in the U.S. Boston Musica Viva enjoys an international reputation for innovation and excellence and has performed more than 750 works by 320 composers.

Clarinetist Dennis Nygren has recorded a wonderful program of music written especially for him, music that he has arranged and works that have not been previously recorded on clarinet. Dr. Nygren was on the faculty at Kent State University from 1983 to 2012, receiving the Distinguished Honors Faculty Award in 2008. He has been in demand as a guest soloist, recitalist, orchestral player, chamber musician, clinician and lecturer. A graduate of Michigan State University and Northwestern University where he earned a Doctor of Music degree, he is an acknowledged expert on the clarinet music of Debussy and Berg, Nygren is also known for his arrangement of Victor Babin's Hillandale Waltzes for clarinet and wind ensemble. His arrangements on this disc include the Mozart Church Sonatas, originally scored for violins with organ continuo, the Montbrun Six Pièces and the Debussy Four Songs.

Michael Horvit (b. 1932) is Professor of Theory and Composition at the University of Houston School of Music, where he has chaired that department since 1967. For 25 years he served as Director of Music at Temple Emanu El in Houston. During his studies at Yale, Harvard, Tanglewood and Boston University, his composition teachers included Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Walter Piston, Quincy Porter and Gardner Read. His works range from solo instrument and vocal works to large symphonic compositions, choral cantatas and operas, many written specifically for the Jewish liturgy. Among the numerous ensembles and organizations that have commissioned his works are the Houston ballet, the Houston Symphony, the National Symphony of Mexico, the Chicago Chamber Brass, and the Esterhazy String Quartet. He is the recipient of awards from organizations that include BMI, ASCAP, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fridge Trust, and the University of Houston.

David Macbride has written numerous works, ranging from solo, chamber and orchestral music; to music for film, TV, dance and theater. Tim Page of Newsday writes: “In David Macbride’s music, one finds technical skills of a high order, a direct lyricism that informs the most complex passages, and a personal aesthetic that combines Western chromaticism with a fascination for the music of China.” Macbride is also an active pianist and co-founder, with Benjamin Toth, of Conundrum, a non-profit arts organization that presents concerts and recordings of musically diverse styles. He is on the faculty of the Hartt School, University of Hartford. About his selection of the poetry of Lorca to set to music, Macbride writes: “A composer, much like a poet, spends a lifetime trying to refine his or her voice into its essence. My music has always tried to find the silence, “a rolling silence.” In Lorca, many composers including myself have found the means to speak with their own voices. I am confident that Lorca himself, as musician, visual artist, and writer, would have been pleased to know that he created this safe haven.”

Thea Musgrave (b. 1928) grew up in Scotland, but has lived in the U.S. since the early 1970s. She is renowned for her ability to create dramatic, expressive music for any musical medium, from solo works and a huge output of varied chamber music, to the large scale concertos and operas with which she made her mark. This recording explores her music for oboe that was composed over a 60 year span. Oboist Elizabeth Sullivan is on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is active as a recitalist, orchestral musician and pedagogue. Sullivan is a graduate of Stetson University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her collaborators include flutist Rebecca Johnson, assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University, pianist Cara Chowning, and clarinetist Jessica Lindsey, also on the faculty at UNC Charlotte.

Hailed by the Atlanta Constitution and Journal as a "recitalist of great poise and technical security, dazzling precision and virtuosic flair," Alison Young has a diverse music career as an orchestral principal, soloist and teacher. A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, she holds degrees in music from the University of Southern California and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1998, composer David Diamond applauded Ms. Young's interpretation of his Flute Concerto as "some of the finest flute playing I have heard." She recorded the premiere of this work which can be found on Albany TROY308. For much of her life Alison Young has felt a desire to travel to Argentina and immerse herself in that culture. In 1998, she was invited to serve a six-week performing and teaching residency in Argentina in the regions of Patagonia, La Plata, Buenos Aires, and Corrientes. She continued to share her work and study of the music with a seven-week tour of the United States in 1999 presenting recitals and master classes on Argentinean flute music. This recording represents the culmination of that particular project with a cross-section of music for flute from Argentina.

Don Walker's fifth recording for Albany Records includes music for brass as well as four compositions for orchestra. Walker, born in 1941, is a graduate of Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley. He taught at Sonoma State, the University of South Florida, and Oregon State University. He was project archivist for the Dave Brubeck Papers at the University of the Pacific. His compositions including 10 symphonies, five operas, string quartets, songs, and many works for chamber ensembles.

Texas Christian University's Trio Con Brio performs two new works for clarinet, viola and piano. The first, by Russian-born composer Elena Sokolovski has an intriguing title--Venice Suite, Concerto Grosso for 3 Soloists & 9 Instruments. Indeed, each musician plays several instruments including glasses filled with wine. Eric Ewazen's Trio was commissioned by the Texas Christian University School of Music for Trio Con Brio and was premiered in March 2005. The three members of Trio Con Brio all serve on the faculty at Texas Christian University. Clarinetist Gary Whitman received the Chancellor's Distinguished Achievement Award as a Creative Teacher and Scholar and is a member of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Violist Misha Galaganov has performed as a soloist and given master classes in Russia, china, Italy, Israel, Czech Republic, Mexico, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the United States. Pianist John Owings has appeared as soloist with orchestras and given solo recitals throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Far East. He was gold medalist of the first Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition.

Andrew Imbrie turned 80 on April 6, 2001, and twelve performances of nine programs were presented across the country between March 4th and June 3rd of that year. If you are familiar with the music of this independently-minded, rugged composer, this new release will be of a very special interest, where music by friends, students and colleagues are presented along with two fine examples of his art. Veteran collectors will be familiar with such works as the chamber piece Dandelion Wine and the powerful Symphony No.3, formerly available on CRI. And, maybe, someday we'll have a reissue of his masterpiece, the Violin Concerto, released on a long-gone Columbia LP of the late 1960's. Perhaps the most important of Roger Sessions' pupils, Imbrie has been making a major contribution to the musical culture of America as both composer and educator. From the time his String Quartet No. 1 won the New York Music Critic's Award in 1944 until today, he has produced work after work of the highest craftsmanship, integrity, and artistic merit. While his work has won numerous awards, its value to our musical community is beyond measure. As an educator at the University of California, Berkeley and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he has trained generations of musicians, musicologists and composers. The works presented at the birthday concerts were, in a small way, an attempt to say what could not be adequately said in any other way. This important new CD reproduces the second of such concerts, given on April 9, 2001 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The composers of these trios all were born within a ten year span, and were of considerable significance in the first third of the 20th century, when American music was first finding its voice. They are representative of different currents in the musical stream, and the details of their lives and interactions provide insight into the American classical world music world during a fascinating period in our history. Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts and studied with Chadwick at the New England Conservatory. He also studied in Europe with Ludwig Thuille. He was the conductor of the Seattle Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. His Piano Trio was composed in 1932 and is in a four movement symphonic form. Virtuosic string writing is evident throughout, as is Hadley's flair for lyrical melody. Daniel Gregory Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts into one of this country's most important musical families. His father Henry was one of the founders of the Mason and Hamlin piano company and his grandfather, Lowell was one of the most influential composer and educator of the 19th century. His uncle, William, studied piano with Liszt and played a major role in the development of classical music in this country. He studied with John Knowles Paine at Harvard and in France with Vincent D'Indy. He composed his Sentimental Sketches, Op. 34 in 1935. Bloch was born in Geneva but came to this country in 1916 to teach at the Mannes School. In 1920 he accepted the Directorship of the Cleveland Institute in 1920. He took the same position at the San Francisco Conservatory in 1925. He became an American citizen in 1924. He composed his Three Nocturnes in 1924. Cadman was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He studied music theory with Leo Oehmler and Organ with W.K. Skinner. He became very interested in music with American Indian themes. In 1916, after years of traveling, lecturing on American Indian music, he moved to Los Angeles where he composed operas, film scores and Orchestral works. He was a founder of the Hollywood Bowl and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Southern California in 1926. He composed his Trio in D Major in 1914. It was his very first venture into Chamber music. It demonstrates beautifully his love of melody. This disc fills an important gap in the catalog of early American Chamber music. Detailed and informative program notes.

Composer Robert Xavier Rodríguez has been hailed as "one of the major American composers of his generation." His music has been performed by organizations such as the New York City Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Seattle, Houston Dallas, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Boston, and Chicago Symphonies, among many others. His numerous awards include a Gugggenheim Fellowship and the Goddard Lieberson Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has served as composer-in-residence with the San Antonio Symphony and the Dallas Symphony. He is on the faculty at the University of Texas at Dallas and conducts its Musica Nova Ensemble. His sixth recording for Albany Records includes two works for string quartet and a work for violin and piano.

Composer Samuel Adler was born in Mannheim, Germany, and came to the United States in 1939. He holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University, an MA from Harvard and four honorary degrees. During his service in the US Army he founded and conducted the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and was awarded the Army's Medal of Honor for that orchestra's impact on the European cultural scene. In 2001, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His catalog of compositions numbers more than 400 published works, including five operas, six symphonies, eight string quartets, 12 instrumental concerti, many shorter instrumental works, much choral music and published books on choral conducting, sight singing and orchestration. From 1966 until 1995, he was professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music. He has served as guest composer or conductor at over 300 colleges and universities world wide. He is now a member of the composition department at the Juilliard School.

Samuel Adler was born in Mannheim, Germany, on March 4, 1928. A prominent and important educator, Adler has enjoyed what might be called the patronage of the American University, which is the 20th century equivalent of the 17th century's church and the 18th century's court. Just as composers in the past often owed their allegiance to and drew their salaries from religious leaders or noblemen, so a large number of professional composers today are employed by colleges and universities, where they have many duties besides writing music. Adler's career is typical. In addition to being the creator of over 400 published works, he has also been a teacher, administrator, and author of textbooks. In 1966 he became Professor of Composition at the Eastman School, a position from which he recently retired; in 1974 he became chairman of the Composition Department; in 1984 he was named Mentor of the University of Rochester. He has published books on orchestration, musicianship, and choral conducting. And, like his counterparts two and three centuries ago, he is an accomplished conductor. Acrostics is a concerto for harpsichord, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and cello. The work was written in 1985 as a Christmas present for the composer's good friends Barbara Harbach and Thomas George. Harbach had been performing the Harpsichord Concerto by DeFalla and Adler wanted to write a companion piece for that work for the same combination of instruments. The work was premiered in the fall of 1986 by Barbara Harbach, harpsichord, and members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Buffalo, New York. The Second Piano Concerto was commissioned by the Friends of Today's Music for the Music Teachers Association of California for the 100th Anniversary of the Organization in 1997 and premiered at their convention in San Francisco July 7, 1997. Choose Life , written in the summer of 1986, was commissioned by Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It is a celebration of life.

Richard Wilson was born in Cleveland. At Harvard he studied composition with Robert Moevs. Today he holds the Mary Conover Mellon Chair in Music at Vassar College and since 1992 has been the Composer-in-Residence with the American Symphony Orchestra for which he gives pre-concert talks. He is also active as a concert pianist. His music is also available on two previously issued Albany CDs: TROY074, which contains Persuasions, for soprano and instruments, Lord Chesterfield to his Son for solo cello, Fixations for solo piano, and the Sonata for Viola and Piano; and TROY 333, Stresses in the Peaceable Kingdom, that features ten choral works.

The music of composer David Dies (b. 1972) has been performed in venues around the world, including London, Lima, New York City, Chicago, Lenox, Massachusetts, Ithaca, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin, where he has been both student and teacher. Notable performances include sopranos Mimmi Fulmer and Judith Kellock, cellist Jakub Omsky, pianist Christopher Taylor and bassoonist Marc Vallon, among others, who are featured on this recording. He currently teaches music theory and composition at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dies comments that, "I titled the CD, agevolmente, because the complicated path I took to find the "simple" term reminds me of a central irony in my music. Generally, I want my music to sound comfortable, natural, elegant, and easy, but it takes a high level of skill, musicianship, and concentration to perform. I want the music to sound unlabored and simple when, for the performer, it can be exacting and complex."

Across the Ages features cello works written by the prolific American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-200). Inspired by elements of ancient Armenian, Japanese, and Indian music, the collection of works reflects Hovhaness' renowned ability to synthesize different musical traditions. Utilizing the cello's rich and expressive nature, Hovhaness' music reveals the timeless connection we have to past civilizations, to nature, and to one another. Cellist Christina Gullans is an avid performer with an interest in music semiology. A former member of the Boston String Quartet, she has participated in numerous festivals, including Aspen, Spoleto, and Music Without Borders. She plays an American cello made by Charles Albert in 1886.

Italian composer Alberto Patron is a composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher, and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music (aporetic music) and non-standard use of musical instruments, Patron is the leading composer of aporetic music as well as aporetic philosophy. This recording, performed by Lucius Weathersby, includes Patron's Ten Aporetic Tropes and two works from his Les Moments Musicaux. Weathersby (1986-2006) was an organist, composer, educator, and church musician who served on the faculty at Dillard University and Amherst College.

Alec Wilder was a major figure in the New York music world, equally at home writing for ballet and opera, or composing songs for Tommy Dorsey, authoring concertos or pop standards for Frank Sinatra. He was a composer who managed to bridge the worlds of serious and popular music, jazz and classical, the concert hall and the dance hall, maintaining credibility in all these areas. This second recording of Wilder's music for brass by Charles Tibbetts includes two suites for horn, tuba and piano; a world premiere recording of Wilder's Suite for Clarinet, Horn and Piano and a Jazz Suite for Four Horns, Harpsichord, Guitar, Bass and Drums.

Composer Allen Anderson, a member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and commissions, including the Goddard Lieberson Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005. The five works of his music on this recording were written between 1996 and 2008 and display Anderson's preoccupation with discursive line, counterpoint and their dramatic entanglement in the enactment of abstract narrative. Works for string trio, for solo piano, and for solo cello are joined by a work for saxophone quartet and one for a large chamber ensemble. The music is performed by noted performers of contemporary music including Curtis Macomber, Charles Curtis, Aleck Karis, David Russell, Thomas Warburton, the Rasa Saxophone Quartet, and the Empyrean Ensemble.

The fifth recording on Albany Records devoted to the music of Allen Shawn features his compositions for cello and includes works for cello duo, cello quartet, and cello and piano. Shawn attributes this recording to the influence of hearing cellist Maxine Neuman perform and her enthusiasm for contemporary music. Neuman participated in the world premiere performances of all of the works on the recording and all but one were composed specifically for her. Born in 1948, Allen Shawn grew up in a literary family. He has been on the faculty at Bennington College for 30 years. He is also an active pianist and the author of four books. He has been a recipient of both a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Composer Allen Shawn (b. 1948) has been on the faculty at Bennington College since 1985. His works include symphonies, concertos, works for large ensemble, choral, vocal and chamber music, as well as music for piano. He is also the author of four books. His works appear on numerous recordings on Albany Records. This recording is a collection of chamber music: a work for cello; a work for double bass and piano; a suite for trumpet and bassoon; and a work for chamber ensemble.

Allen Shawn has composed a large catalog of chamber and piano music, 11 concertos and orchestral works, choral music, and several song cycles. He has composed incidental music for theater, two chamber operas to libretti by his brother, playwright Wallace Shawn, a one act children's chamber opera, music for ballet, and music for the film "My Dinner with Andre." He performs frequently as a pianist and has been a faculty member since 1985 at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont. He is also the author of the book, Arnold Schoenberg's Journey, as well as many articles about contemporary music.

Alvin Singleton studied at New York University, Yale and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He served as Composer-in-Residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and is the recipient of many fellowships and awards. Singleton was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2014 and recordings of his music appear on the Albany Records, ACA Digital, Elektra/Nonesuch, Telarc and Innova labels. His music is soulful, with an understated simplicity that glows with warmth and is honest and self-assured. This recording of his chamber music includes four works for solo instruments in a series titled Argoru (an African word meaning play), as well as a work for clarinet, violin and piano; a work for winds; and a work for solo piano titled In My Own Skin.

A student of H. Owen Reed, Vittorio Giannini and David Diamond, Adolphus Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, various chamber ensembles, band and orchestra (his Symphony No. 1 can be heard on Albany TROY104 and works for chorus can be heard on TROY156). Significant performances by major orchestras (Philadelphia, Chicago and New York) have been conducted by leading names such as James dePriest, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim and Kurt Masur. Dr. Hailstork resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia and is Eminent Scholar and Professor of Music at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He also has a connection to our area in upstate New York; he writes, "I began taking organ lessons in the 1950s as a member of the boy's and men's choir of the Episcopal Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, New York. During my last two years in high school I served as the organist/choir director during the summer. Several decades later I returned to the instrument as organist/choir director at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, Virginia. In the 1990s I also resumed organ lessons with Dr. James Kosnik (the soloist on this CD), a colleague of mine on the faculty of Old Dominion University. I have written several works for my own service use at the Unitarian Church and for concert use for advanced performers such as Dr. Kosnik."

Doug Bielmeier creates commercial and experimental music tailored for boutique audiences and media. His music has been described as an extension of Xenakis's early tape pieces by the American Record Guide. His music has been performed internationally and broadcast on radio stations throughout the U.S. He is a champion for experimental creators and recording and has designed and managed the C.L.E.A.R. Lab at Purdue School of Engineering. A graduate of the Hartt School of Music and Bowling Green University, he is currently on the faculty at Northeastern University. This new recording is a travelogue of experiments in the world of electroacoustic, ambient, and experimental music. The selection of works was curated to create a cohesive and fresh statement revealing Bielmeier's process of Windowing, which refers to the manipulation of found sound files.

The Pan Pacific Ensemble continues its series of recording works by American and Asian composers on Albany Records. This disc includes works by Naarong Prangcharoen, Kenji Bunch, Ho Kwen Austin Yip, Kee Yong Chong, David Jarvis, and Chen Yi. Musicians in the Pan Pacific Ensemble are building a bridge between China, Southeast Asia, and the Americas by introducing audiences to wind quintets from these regions. The ensemble, (Sophia Tegart (flute), Keri McCarthy (oboe), Shannon Scott (clarinet), Martin King (horn), Michael R. Garza (bassoon)) was awarded the 2022 American Prize in Professional Chamber Music. They have appeared at numerous festivals abroad, including the China-ASEAN Contemporary Music Festival and the Thailand International Composition Festival, as well as commissioning works from both Asian and American composers.

Amelia Kaplan is a composer whose music reflects the riotous mix of sounds and cultures cohabiting in our increasingly fragmented world. In recent years her music has mostly responded to the ecological and political crises besetting our plant. A winner of a Copland House residency, Ms. Kaplan has received numerous commissions and performances at festivals around the world, including the Mise-En Festival, the Thailand International New Music Festival, and Darmstadt, among many others. Kaplan has degrees from the University of Chicago and Princeton, with additional studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. She is on the faculty at Ball State University. This recording features her music for strings with a string quartet, work for guitar, piano trio, work for clarinet and viola; and a composition for violin and viola.

The Musical Arts Woodwind Quintet is the resident faculty wind quintet at Ball State University. They were awarded an American Masterpieces grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2010. The grant supported performances, educational activities, touring and this recording. Founded in 1957, the quintet has made eight cross-country tours, which have brought them an enviable reputation and high critical acclaim. This cd of works by American composers includes the world premiere recording of David Maslanka's Quintet No. 4.