Catalog

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.

Unlike much of his other chamber music, Alec Wilder's solo piano works are miniatures, delicately balanced, and succinct. More than half the pieces and movements are under a minute in length as Wilder chose brevity in his expression, making his musical points in concise and contrasting musical statements. Given the rich, grand repertory for solo piano, Wilder never presumed that he could add to the huge output of the grand masters. Instead, he created little gems that challenge the artistry of the performer. The music on this CD, beautifully and elegantly performed and interpreted by pianist John Noel Roberts, marks the debut recording of many of Wilder's solo piano works. They are a treat to hear. John Noel Roberts is a consummate pianist and teacher who has demonstrated his interpretive skills, technical ability and his wide-ranging repertoire in solo and concerto performances in Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Italy, Great Britain, Canada and the United States. Formerly Artist in Residence and Head of Music at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music, Roberts has also served on the faculties at Furman University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Mercer University. Currently he is Professor of Piano and Director of the School of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University.

As the composer says, "No question about it, this is a curious sort of opera. There's no orchestra, just seven singers, singing 41 roles and providing their own accompaniment on- and off-stage, with voices, hand bells, bird whistles, drums, and occasional sound effects." This DVD presents the world premiere recording of Westergaard's Alice in Wonderland. A professor emeritus at Princeton University, Westergaard has been making operas -- his own and others -- happen for 55 years. He directed the Princeton University Opera Theatre and founded the Opera Festival of New Jersey. His opera, Moby Dick, has been released on Albany Records.

Composer James Lee III, an associate professor at Morgan State University, cites Michael Daugherty, William Bolcom, Bright Shen, Steven Mackey and Osvaldo Golijov as some of his major composition teachers. Maestro Leonard Slatkin began to champion Dr. Lee's work in 2006, performing his music with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. Lee has been commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony to compose a work on the life of Harriet Tubman and was the third winner of the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium. Dr. Rochelle Sennet, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has established herself as a well-known performer, teacher, scholar and advocate of contemporary African-American composers. She performs these world-premiere recordings of James Lee's works for piano with sensitivity and grace, ending the program with a work composed for her, the Piano Sonata No. 2.

Composer Allan Blank has written two song cycles for voice and piano with double bass, both of which are given world premiere recordings on this disc. One cycle uses poetry from the Holocaust and the second is based on poetry by Jane Kenyon. Allen Blank is Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Many of his more than 300 compositions have been published and recorded. Three of the performers are affiliated with West Virginia University (Catharine Thieme, mezzo-soprano, Robert Thieme, piano, Andrew Kohn, double bass). Soprano Jennifer Miller is an active performer in the Pittsburgh area and pianist Robert Frankenberry is a member of New York's Phoenix Players.

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.

Over the past few years, Albany Records' progressive releases of the piano music of Allen Shawn have made it clear that this is one of the most substantial and memorable bodies of work for the instrument of any living American composer. Because Shawn is one of the major American composer-pianists, someone who can take on fearsome technical demands and deliver real interpretive value as he surmounts them, these performances are especially important as documents not only of the music but also of the interpretation and performance of the works. In addition to his five piano sonatas, Shawn performs his Etudes and Five Piano Pieces. On the faculty of Bennington College, Shawn grew up in New York City. In addition to his piano music, his works include a Symphony; concertos for piano, cello, violin, and oboe and a double concerto for clarinet and cello as well as numerous chamber works for varied ensembles. This is the sixth recording on Albany Records devoted exclusively to his music.

Allen Shawn grew up in New York City and started composing music at the age of ten. He received his B.A. from Harvard where he studied with Leon Kirchner and Earl Kim, spent two years in Paris where he studied with Nadia Boulanger, and received his M.A. in music from Columbia University where he studied with Jack Beeson. Until 1985, he lived in New York City where he taught at the Mannes School and the Elizabeth Seeger School. He also worked as a pianist in pit orchestras on Broadway and at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Since 1985, he has lived in Vermont where he is on the faculty of Bennington College where he teaches composition. The bulk of his output is Chamber and piano music. He has also composed orchestral works, two operas with libretti by his brother, playwright Wallace Shawn, much incidental music for the theater and music for the film "My Dinner with Andre."

This CD of recent piano music by Allen Shawn provides the opportunity for repeated consideration of his very personal, confessional approach to the piano, as well as the sequel to musical topics more implicit than explicit in his first piano solo recording on Albany Records. Shawn's music reveals a unique and complete musical universe, the result of perfect fusion of the musical sensibility of the composer and the intellectual image of the work. Shawn's rare gift is his ability to confide his innermost thoughts and feelings through music that is at once well-crafted and emotionally accessible.

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.

Slowly, over the past few years, Albany's progressive releases of the piano music of Allen Shawn have made it clear that this is one of the most substantial and memorable bodies of work for the instrument of any living American composer. The series showcases a composer whose range of expression, technique and tone are enviable. A multi-faceted artist, Allen Shawn (b.1948) was raised in a literary millieu and has carved out an additional significant career as a writer, but he is a composer first, and one of the major American composer-pianists. His output includes many orchestral works, three chamber operas, songs, choral music, chamber music and works for piano. He is on the music faculty at Bennington College. This is the third volume on the Albany Records series devoted to his music for piano.

Colleagues at the University of Arizona, flutist Brian Luce and harpist Carrol McLaughlin perform a program of original compositions and arrangements for their instruments. Known as an expert on Soviet-era Music, Dr. Luce has given lectures and recitals based on his award-winning dissertation on the subject of Edison Denisov's music for flute. A prize-winning performer, his recordings appear on the Albany and Citadel record labels. Ms. McLaughlin has performed in al the major concert halls of the world and as concerto soloist with orchestras from Russia to Japan. A prolific composer and writer, McLaughlin has published books, music and has 15 recordings in her discography.

Critically acclaimed clarinetist Christopher Nichols has recorded a cd of some of his favorite individual and consortium commissioning project, which are core pieces of his repertoire. In addition to works for clarinet and piano, there is a composition for woodwind quartet and one for countertenor, clarinet, and piano. Nichols is on the faculty at the University of Delaware. He performs regularly with orchestras such as the Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist at national and international conferences and in 2015, was recognized with an Established Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. His collaborators include pianist Julie Nishimura, who is also on the faculty at the University of Delaware; countertenor Augustine Mercante, who performs to great critical acclaim; composer/pianist Jennifer Margaret Barker; and the Christiana Winds.

This recording of works by four composers highlights the diversity of America. Edmund Thornton Jenkins came from Charleston, South Carolina. He studied at Morehouse and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His artistry encompassed classical music as well as jazz, but he died prematurely, cutting short his career. John Wineglass is an Emmy-Award winning composer who is currently composer-in-residence with the Monterey Symphony. Beth Denisch music has been performed around the world with her music drawing inspiration from artist and authors, nature and astronomy, and unexpected places: real and imaginary. Born in Russia, Elena Roussanova is a composer, pianist, and educator, whose career includes a long list of accomplishments, including Composer-in-Residence for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2020. She was awarded the American Prize in Composition for Orchestral Music in 2017-18 and her works have been performed by both American and international orchestras.

Award-winning composer Alvin Singleton has written music for theatre, orchestra, solo instruments and a variety of chamber ensembles. A composer-in-residence with the Atlanta Symphony in the late 1980s and a student of renowned Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, Singleton's works have been performed by the orchestras of Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit and many more. Sing to the Sun is a set of five chamber works ranging from solo flute to large ensemble with chorus. Singleton exhibits in the recording of these five works the patience, appreciation of quiet subtlety, and psychological control that make for fine chamber music. Traditionally, chamber music is players' music and in that, traditionally "serious" (as are all five of the present works). But Singleton fans also expect to be caught up in the Singleton wit on one level or another - be it some unusual title or a certain odd presentation of notes laid out, usually early, in the piece itself. Both average listeners and cognoscenti find themselves caught up in wondering "what's next?" With this composer the listener is given clues that he or she is invited to participate fully in the musical experience about to unfold, something thought anathema by many recent composers.

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.

Efra'n Amaya was born in Venezuela. He studied composition and piano at the University of Indiana and conducting at Rice University. He is on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and founder and conductor of the Point Chamber Orchestra. His children's opera, featured on this recording, was first performed by the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. The other work, Clepsydra premiered as part of the First Night celebrations in Pittsburgh as a collaborative multimedia performance.

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 collection of classic and original rags offered by Gary Smart on this recording celebrates the lyrical side of this quintessentially American music. The ragtime genre is diverse, more so than the casual listener might think. There is the folk rag tradition, the brilliant, aggressive Eastern rag tradition, and the many interesting takes on ragtime composition that span the entire twentieth century from Artie Mathews to Charles Ives to William Albright and beyond. But Scott Joplin's classical musicality remains the source of Smart's inspiration. Joplin's marriage of a singing African-American rhythmic polyphony with the harmonic and textural structures of the European classical tradition is dazzling in its effectiveness and Mozartian in its elegance.

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.

Peter Kairoff writes: "The music of George Whitefield Chadwick is not nearly as well known as it ought to be. Although widely respected and admired in his lifetime, his music fell into relative obscurity after his death, and is only recently performed once more with any frequency. His piano music, in particular, has suffered from neglect: very few of the pieces on this disc have ever been recorded before. Why this should be so remains something of a mystery, for many of Chadwick's piano works display the same inventiveness, charm and craftsmanship found in his orchestral and chamber works. The title of this disc - American Character - reflects the fact that all of Chadwick's piano music is written in the style of the 'Character Piece': brief, memorable evocations of one particular mood or image. Chadwick was certainly able to craft large-scale forms when he wanted to, as he did in his symphonies and chamber works to great effect. But his piano works are all on a smaller scale, like Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, Grieg's Lyric Pieces, and so many other piano pieces of the nineteenth century. And like those models. Chadwick's piano music often evokes the world of Art Song, that wonderful and evocative fusion of poetry and music which was so popular in the nineteenth century. Like Art Song, these piano pieces capture a single vivid mood or visual image: a rushing stream, an aspen tree shuddering in the breeze, or even a group of noisy frogs. At his death in 1931, Chadwick was hailed by the influential critic Olin Downes in The New York Times as the composer who "represents most completely the body of serious American music." Taste shifted, of course, and all too soon Chadwick's music was forgotten, or dismissed as old fashioned. But now taste seems to be shifting back, and we are better able to appreciate the creativity, craftsmanship, and charm of a composer who himself was something of an American Character."

2008 will mark the 150th anniversary of the internationally renowned Harvard Glee Club, the oldest college chorus in America. Originally founded by students to sing college songs and glees, it was in 1912, under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Archibald T. Davison, that the Club developed a repertoire of distinction and gained its reputation. Under the direction of Jameson Marvin since 1978, the Harvard Glee Club has only enhanced its reputation, continuing to draw upon six centuries of repertoire, including secular and sacred material. They have demonstrated a particular expertise for American choral music, and this retrospective, covering more than 20 years of performances, serves as a perfect example of why the Harvard Glee Club has been lauded throughout its history.

For their fourth recording on Albany Records, the Rawlins Piano Trio has once again uncovered gems of the American repertoire including three world premiere recordings of the Grasse, Risher and Wilson and a commissioned work from the brilliant young composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. Founded in 1987 the Rawlins Piano Trio performs regularly throughout the United States and abroad. They have formed a reputation as a preeminent interpreter of 19th and early 20th century American music.

Dreams, American dreams in particular, are basic to our lives. Whether it is the desire to write the perfect love song to use as a serenade or the need to break away from the everyday, humdrum world and escape into the land of rhythm, these songs make those dreams immediate and very real. Every song in this collection speaks to the heart, as well as to the mind, of the singer and the listener. American in content and context, American voices sing these songs best. Vocal music written by young American composers is coming into its own here at the end of this century and more singers are including songs by American songwriters than ever before in their recitals and recordings. Many new works are being commissioned by singers every year. In this recording Jean Danton presents an overview of the heart of American song writing for the last 150 years. Beautiful Dreamer, for example, has the same poignant soul as All the Things You Are. That particular Kern song is as complex, musically, as anything by Charles Ives. Gershwin's and Carpenter's musicianship is the equal of Copland's. Romberg and Ganz, for all their European background, made their American music as truly native in appeal as Bernstein or Joplin. Carl Davis' song seems to sum up the whole spectrum of song writing on its own terms. There is much to love in this music; all songs, sad, sweet, melancholy or raucous, are about love and about dreams. Heart Songs really are American Dreams.

This disc of American duos for violin and piano represents many years of collaboration between the performers Jennifer Frautschi (violin) and John Blacklow (piano) and their composer-colleagues. Frautschi and Blacklow have always given serious attention to composers of their generation in their concerts and are particularly enthusiastic about fearless composers with undeniably individualistic voices. All five composers represented on this disc have written extensively for chamber music ensembles, but their compositions for violin and piano have not been performed nearly often enough and deserve to be heard more widely. Jennifer Frautschi and John Blacklow, both having achieved distinction in their careers, have been performing together since 1996 when they made their New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall. They have performed in Europe's most celebrated concert venues as well as in major cities around the United States. This is their second recording for Albany Records, the first being a recording of the three Schumann Sonatas for Violin and Piano.

The great beauty of this album is the variety of music by fine American composers. From the familiar by Copland and Barber, to the less so by the rest, this is an admirable disc. Robert Muczynski studied with Alexander Tcherepnin at DePaul University. His "Sonata" has been described as an energetic and optimistic work, reflecting the American "can-do" mood of the early 1960s. Leo Kraft's "Fantasy" incorporates some of the "new acquisitions" that were in the air during 1963, including the choice and chance scores of John Cage. About "Hexachords" Joan Tower has written that it is "divided into five sections, which are most easily differentiated by a sense of either going somewhere or staying somewhere." Meyer Kupferman's "Chaconne Sonata" was commissioned by Laurel Ann Maurer and composed especially for her. Only the first movement is cast in the traditional chaconne design. The remaining three movements reflect an ongoing setting of the thematic material drawn from the opening four bar phrase of the chaconne. Laurel Ann Maurer grew up in Seattle where she studied. Later she came to New York where she studied with Samuel Baron, Julius Baker and Jeanne Baxtresser. She has held principal chairs in the National Orchestra of New York, the New York City Symphony, Long Island Chamber Orchestra, Queens Philharmonia and the Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. She is currently principal flute of the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra and director of American Flute Works.

Just as a textilist weaves threads into a tapestry, a composer crafts a collage of timbres, rhythms and silence into a soundscape. Owning a fascination with creators and their art, distinguished flutist Jan Vinci has dedicated much of her career to commissioning composers and documenting their new works in performance and recordings. And, to give listeners a perspective, she has presented these works alongside classic flute literature. This cd highlights new and old works by some composers that Vinci most esteems. They are all Americans. First Prizewinner of England's International Electric Music Performance Competition and recipient of a Classical Recording Foundation Award, Jan Vinci has enjoyed an international career performing in famous venues in the U.S. and Europe. On the faculty at Skidmore, Vinci has served as president of the New York Flute Club and often presents master classes at colleges and flute festivals. This is her fourth recording for Albany Records.