Catalog

Stephen Paulus' Voices was premiered in November, 1988 by the Minnesota Orchestra and the Dale Warland Symphonic Chorus. Commissioned by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education, Paulus fund the most difficult part was finding words which would impart a spiritual message with power and purpose while not alienating anyone because of his or her own particular religious faith. He turned to the words of Rainer Maria Rilke, which seemed to him to impart both a timeliness and power that was fitting. Songs of Eternity was composed by James Hopkins in memory of David Lee Shanbrom whose life was tragically cut short in an automobile accident. The text is a poem by Indian author Rabindranath Tagore. Although the poems relate to some aspect of death, the prevailing mood is one of subdued joy in eternal life. Commissioned by the Orange County Philharmonic Society to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pacific Chorale, the work was given its premiere by these forces. Two major choral-orchestral works by two very significant American composers.

The presence of the great Marilyn Horne and the late Henry Lewis on this CD is a special treat. Songs of Flowers, Bells and Death; Contextures IV was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment of Music Composition at Brigham Young University. The premiere took place on March 8, 1994 with Ron Brough conducting the Brigham Young Concert Choir and Percussion Ensemble. The meaning of the work is best expressed in its text which embraces approximately 2600 years of sadness and anger. Silent Boughs "To Jackie" was written in 1963. This song cycle for mezzo soprano and string orchestra on poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay was commissioned by Marilyn Horne and Henry Lewis. It received its first performance on November 15, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Contextures II is based on nearly 3000 years of anti-war poetry, from Homer to Fanta Bass (1930-1944). A line of oscillating major seconds hovering over a static harmony and funereal bell sounds conclude Contextures: Riots Decade '60, and overlap into the opening of Contextures II. The major seconds refer to the opening of the African-American spiritual We Shall Overcome, so closely associated with Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement.

Henry Cowell wrote songs for the half century spanning 1914-1964. They constitute a central part of his compositional profile and there are more than 180 of them out of his 966 known compositions. His songs are a vital, if sadly unknown, part of the rich history which is the American art song and in them, Cowell used some of his most forward looking and experimental ideas. His songs clearly delineate the several periods of his stylistic evolution - the naive, youthful works, the early avant-garde and "ultra modernist" works, the folk and modally-influenced music, and the late works which synthesize all these earlier styles. Most of Cowell's songs, however, have remained under-performed and virtually unknown, for they exist only as manuscripts in the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. To date only sixteen of Cowell's songs for voice and piano have been published. During his lifetime, his songs were premiered by many of the finest singers of the day including Roland Hayes, Eva Gauthier, Radiana Pazmor, Charles Holland and Theodor Uppman. Most often, he composed single songs but there are a few exceptions including the sets by Catherine Riegger, Mother Goose, Padraic Colum and Langston Hughes recorded here. As editor for many years of the ground-breaking New Music Editions, Cowell selflessly advanced the songs of many other composers including Ives, Copland, Charles Seeger, Vivian Fine, Paul Bowles, Elie Siegmeister, Ernst Bacon, Leo Ornstein, Otto Luening and Ben Weber. In all this time, he only published two of his own songs.

Soprano Jean Danton has performed extensively throughout the United States in recitals, oratorio and opera. She has appeared as soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society under Christopher Hogwood, the Oregon Bach Festival under Helmuth Rilling, the Boston Pops and the Boston Baroque. She is a graduate of the opera program at the Hartt School of Music. Dominick Argento's Six Elizabethan Songs exists in two versions: the first written in Florence in 1957 for tenor and piano and the second, revised by the composer in 1962 for soprano and Baroque ensemble (the version presented here). Songs About Spring for soprano and piano is a setting of five poems by e.e. cummings on the theme of spring. The third song of the group, "in Just spring" was a favorite of cummings himself. The English composer Arnold Cooke was born in Yorkshire in 1906. He studied with Edward Dent and in Berlin with Paul Hindemith. He taught at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College. In Three Songs of Innocence, Cooke has set three poems from William Blake's "Songs of Innocence" (1789) for soprano, clarinet and piano. For Nocturnes the composer has selected texts by five British poets. Appropriately, they all describe night scenes. William Moylan holds the Doctor of Arts degree from Ball State University, Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto, and the Bachelor of Music degree form the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University, all in music composition. He composed his For a Sleeping Child - Lullabies and Midnight Musings especially for Jean Danton. The four songs were composed in October of 1995 and revised in January 1996.

Lee Hoiby is widely recognized as one of the most significant composers in the genre of the American art song -- a genre to which he has been contributing for more than half a century. His affinity for setting texts of great literary value, and of considerable variety, is evident in the songs recorded here. From the haunting melodies of Winter Song to the tongue-in-cheek drama of Jabberwocky; from the biting ironies of The Message to the sweet simplicity of The Shepherd; and from the densely chromatic textures of Evening to the charming humor of The Serpent -- Hoiby's prodigious gifts for lyricism, atmosphere, and characterization as a song composer are much in evidence in this collection. Exquisitely performed by Ursula Kleinecke-Boyer and Maria Perez-Goodman, this is the only recording available dedicated exclusively to Hoiby's songs.

Adolphus Hailstork's interest in the voice dates back to childhood, when he became a member of a boys' cathedral choir in Albany, New York. This recording of his songs is the first volume of a series and includes his first set of songs, Lollipops, written in 1959. Hailstork utilizes a variety of styles in his song writing, changing style to suit the texts. Soprano Louise Toppin has received acclaim for her performances throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. Her discography includes 17 recordings of music by American composers. A professor of voice at the University of Michigan, Ms. Toppin is director of the George Shirley Vocal Competition and the non-profit organization, Videmus. Her collaborators include pianist John O'Brien, harpist Lydia Cleaver, double bassist Rick Robinson, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Julius P. Williams, conductor.

The songs heard on this recording are the outgrowth of several recital projects by Valerie Errante and Jeffry Peterson. Both artists are professors of music at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and have collaborated with all of the composers whose works are represented. Richard Faith (b.1926) was professor of piano at the University of Arizona in Tucson until his retirement in 1988. John Downey, who died in 2004 was on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Henry Mollicone is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and is currently teaching at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. Yehuda Yannay is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is the creator of more than 100 works for virtually all musical media. Stephen Paulus is one of America's most prolific and accomplished composers, with more than 200 works to his credit.

Originally written as a song cycle, Timothy Nelson re-composed Songs of the Fisherman for the forces seen on this video. Tenor Brian Arreola and choreographer Gretchen Alterowitz hoped to find a way to synthesize the lyrical power of operatic singing with the kinesthetic narrative potential of dance. The singer-dancer relationship is fluid throughout the work, with the dancer taking on shifting roles of lover, rival and society. A three-movement piece for solo violin, Jorge Grossmann’s La Ricerca della Spiritualità Transcendente deals with the subject of spirituality and even symbolizes an open-ended journey in search for inner growth. The work is performed by Wei-Wei Le, who has performed around the world and won numerous international violin competitions.

British born composer Clara Kathleen Rogers spent most of her compositional life in Boston where she contributed to the role the Second New England School played in the development of American classical music. She trained as an opera singer and studied piano with Ignaz Moscheles and Hans von Bülow. This recording provides a survey of 24 art songs showcasing Rogers' range of musical styles and influences. Admired by Opera News as "a superb singing actor with a clear, ringing instrument and peerless diction," tenor Bryon Grohman has received international recognition for performances of opera, oratorio, and ensemble repertoire. He studied at Indiana University as well as the New England Conservatory of Music and is currently on the faculty at Wake Forest University. Pianist Peter Kairoff has performed throughout the US, Europe, South America, and Asia and has seven recordings in his discography. He is also on the faculty at Wake Forest University.

In 1941, the Nazis began deporting Jews to a concentration camp in Theresienstadt (former Czechoslovakia). An unusually high number of artists and musicians were deported there, and the camp was intended to demonstrate to the world, after a visit by the International Red Cross, how well the Jews were being treated by Hitler's regime. The musicians living in Theresienstadt composed hundreds of vocal and instrumental works, as music was their means of coping with the uncertainty and constant fear that marked life in the camp. This recording offers songs written by inmates of Theresienstadt: Adolf Strauss, Viktor Ullman, Carlo Taube, Ilse Weber, Gideon Klein, and James Simon, all of whom perished in the camps. Composer Norbert Glanzberg, a Polish Jew who survived World War II by hiding in unoccupied France until 1944, composed hits for Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, and Maurice Chevalier, before launching a successful film music career after the war. In his later life, inspired by a collection entitled, "Death is a Master of Germany," writings of both Jewish victims and non-Jewish resistance fighters in the camps. Glanzberg went on to compose his "Holocaust Lieder" in memory of those who perished.

This collection of American art song honors two intensely personal yet universal aspects of the human experience: love and loss. The composers featured here each treat a different facet of life -- from earthly joy, to contemplation of the divine, to heady courtship, to the agony of bereavement -- but each provides testament that poetry and music, the fruits of the creative impulse, are death's very antithesis. The centerpiece of this recording, Scott Wheeler's Songs to Fill the Void, is the result of a collaboration between poet-vocalist Robert Barefield and the composer. Barefield's intimate poetry commemorates his beloved partner, Stephen Mazujian, who died in 2014, while they were vacationing in Cambodia. Baritone Robert Barefield has performed as soloist with organizations throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has appeared with numerous opera companies and with orchestras as an oratorio soloist. An accomplished recitalist, his wide-ranging repertoire includes premiere performances of works by contemporary composers. He is on the faculty at The Hartt School. Pianist Carolyn Hague has been an active member of the musical community in Vienna, Austria for more than 30 years. She currently heads the Master's program in Lied und Oratorio at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien.

Matthew Quayle's varied and eclectic compositional output ranges from concert orchestral works to cabaret songs. His music has been performed by the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Avalon String Quartet, Arditti String Quartet and eighth blackbird, among many other distinguished new music ensembles. Quayle is on the faculty at NYU Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He is a graduate of Oberlin, the University of Cincinnati and the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science. The 21 short pieces in this collection were written in a span of just over a decade, from 2002 to 2013. Together they amount to an homage to the joys of the piano miniature: the type of unassuming little piece that one can play through countless times, until it feels like an old friend.

John Marcellus is the current chair of the woodwinds, brass and percussion department at the Eastman School of Music, and has been professor of trombone and director of the Eastman Trombone Choir since 1978. He was formerly principal trombone of the National Symphony Orchestra and adjunct professor of music at Catholic University, where he was founder of the Catholic University Trombone Choir in 1969. He has been a soloist and clinician with orchestras, music festivals, and college and high school bands, and has led many brass workshops and master classes throughout the world. Marcellus has premiered numerous contemporary works for trombone and trombone ensemble. He is a member of the Eastman Brass Quintet and principal trombone of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He is also past president and a founding board member of the International Trombone Association. All of the other performers on this CD have had some association with the Eastman School of Music, having either taught there or graduated from the School.

This recording is the long-awaited second release on Albany Records of the famed New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. Conducted by Frank Battisti, the Wind Ensemble performs the significant literature for brass, woodwind and percussion instruments composed from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Many of its performances are broadcast over the National Public Radio network. This disc will be a must for all wind ensemble enthusiasts. (Volume 1 is TROY340.)

Twentieth century Latin American composers of various generations and aesthetic persuasions have contributed substantially to a piano literature that remains undiscovered by most music lovers. In the last few years, the Cuban born pianist, Martha Marchena, has endeavored to reveal the many wonderful facets of this repertoire and appears now to be one of the foremost Latin American-Caribbean pianists specializing in this very rich area. She has also been very interested in making known the music of women composers from this part of the world. This compact disc includes pieces by older composers like Castro, Aretz, Terzian and Peixe, as well as a generous sampling of composers from younger generations. There are extensive notes about the composers and their music included with this CD. IT is a pleasure to have Ms. Marchena, a specialist in this repertoire, performing on this most unusual album.

Recently hailed for her "unparalleled artistry," Julianne Baird, soprano, is "one of the most extraordinary voices in the service of early music." Her busy recital and oratorio schedule includes recent appearances in Lincoln Center, Philadelphia's Academy of Music, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Severence Hall, and the Kennedy Center. James R. Oestreich, in his comprehensive survey of New York's seasonal performances of Handel's Messiah for The New York Times, recently concluded with special praise for Julianne Baird's interpretive skills: "in that respect, Ms. Baird remains the model." Darin Kelly enjoys a reputation as one of the Philadelphia area's foremost soloists in the Baroque repertoire. Stephen Alltop enjoys a busy career performing with modern and period ensembles as a keyboard artist and conductor.

Practice in the Art of Elocution, An operina for soprano and piano was adapted by the composer-librettist from The Standard American Speaker and Entertainer published in 1901, while Sorry, Wrong Number was adapted from the play by that name by Lucille Fletcher. Both of these witty one-act operas are given delightful performances by the cast and orchestra of the Center for Contemporary Opera. Beeson, inspired to write operas while still a teenager, has 10 operas to his credit, as well as music for orchestra, concert band, vocal and choral groups. In addition to composing, Beeson has had a distinguished career at Columbia University where he is the MacDowell Professor Emeritus of Music.

The presidents honored in this album fundamentally altered the structure and development of the United States. Composer Victoria Bond, in collaboration with librettist Myles Lee, MD, has written four concertos for soloist and narrator: "Soul of a Nation" (from which the title of the album was derived) is a portrait of Thomas Jefferson; "The Indispensable Man" illuminates Franklin Roosevelt; "The Crowded Hours" presents Theodore Roosevelt; and "Pater Patriae" honors George Washington. As portraits of personal character, each piece illustrates the inner turmoil each man endured on his journey to immortality. Soloists from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Frank Almond, Concertmaster), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (John Bruce Yeh, assistant principal clarinet and Mark Ridenour, assistant principal trumpet), and Gabriela Vargas (flute) join narrators Adrian Dunn, Henry Fogel, Ray Frewen, and David Holloway. Emanuele Andrizzi and Stephen Squires conduct the chamber orchestra and wind ensemble from the Chicago College of performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Jamaican-born Canadian pianist Maria Corley gave her first public performance at age eight. Since then, she has appeared on radio, television and concert stages in Canada, the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Europe. She completed her education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where she studied with Alexandra Munn. Maria Corley received both Masters and Doctorate degrees in piano from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Gyorgy Sandor. Aside from being an accomplished pianist, Corley is an author, whose first novel, Choices, was published in Kensington's Arabesque line. She is also a composer and arranger of music for both solo voice and chorus. Formerly an assistant professor at Florida A&M University, she currently serves as staff accompanist at Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Of this CD she writes, "Ethnicity and gender are not determining factors of ability, and if not for the potent combination of sexism and racism, perhaps more of the music on this recording might be better known. Included are two award-winning works: Kinney's Mother's Sacrifice and Price's Sonata in e-minor. The other composers, Valerie Capers, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Undine Smith Moore and Zenobia Powell Perry, have all achieved long and successful careers in their chosen field of endeavor. In short, these are first and foremost fine pieces of music, regardless of the race and gender of their creators."

This second recording of orchestral works by Narong Prangcharoen on Albany Records includes three works, one inspired by the composer’s experiences in Orange County, California; the second by the relationship between humans and fire; and the third by the relationship between sound, echo, and silence. Narong Prangcharoen enjoys an international reputation and is recognized as one of Asia’s leading composers. His music has been performed in Asia, America, Australia, and Europe by many renowned ensembles. Prangcharoen is a dean of the College of Music at Mahidol University and composer-in-residence of the Thailand Philharmonic.

Steven Holochwost (b. 1978) studied at Yale and Rutgers University, where he was under the tutelage of Charles Wuorinen. He has received awards and citations from the National Association of Composers, the Fisher Foundation and ASCAP. His music has been performed throughout the United States and in England, France, Austria and Japan. In addition to his career in music, Holochwost is active at the intersection of developmental psychology and public policy, having earned a doctorate from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. This first recording devoted to his music includes pieces composed between 2002 and 2010. They feature modal sonorities and lyrical melodies on their "sounding surface," which are supported by a structural architecture developed through the application of Charles Wuorinen's "nesting" method of composition — an approach that reflects the self-similar nature of musical sound and references the broader tradition of Western art music.

The Nature Project, begun in 2005, was inspired by cellist Madeleine Shapiro's love of outdoor activities and concern with the environment. Ms. Shapiro has commissioned and performed more than 20 works specifically for this project, and it continues her career-long interest in electronics and multi-media. This recording features five of these works by pioneering composers. Called a "cello innovator" by Time Out New York, Madeleine Shapiro has long been a recognized figure in the field of contemporary music. She performs extensively as a solo recitalist throughout the U.S., Europe and Latin America with a focus on recent works by living composers. In addition to her recordings for Albany Records, Ms. Shapiro appears on the Naxos, New World, Stradivarius, CRI, Mode and HarvestWorks labels.

Tenor Jos Milton relocated to Oxford, Mississippi to teach at the University of Mississippi in 2011. Since moving to his new home, he has become curious and fascinated by the sheer volume of culture that flows from the South. The creation of Southern poetry and literature thrives today and these vibrant writings prove ideal sources for transference to contemporary classical song. The songs on this recording all contain some pertinent connection or thread to this Southern theme. James Sclater's songs are set to texts by Ovid Vickers, a well-known Mississippi writer, teacher, and folklorist. Price Walden's song cycle reflects the experiences of his young life -- growing up in Mississippi and attending the Free Will Baptist Church. Dan Locklair's texts are words of three Southern African-American women transcribed by Emily Herring Wilson, while John Musto's Shadow of the Blues draws on the inspiring words of Langston Hughes, who serves as a voice of hope in African-American culture. A graduate of Trinity University, University of Massachusetts and Peabody, Jos Milton enjoys an active career as a recitalist, chamber musician, and opera singer, in addition to his work as an educator. His collaborator, Melinda Coffee Armstead has performed as recitalist and chamber musician in the U.S., Canada, England, France, and Israel.

Roberto Sierra notes in his comments that "The unifying factor of all the works on this CD is that in one way or another they relate to variation form, as is the case of Antonio Soler's Fandango. This work from the Spanish Baroque has always fascinated me for its strange and whimsical twists and turns. My Fandangos is an orchestral fantasy that takes as a point of departure Soler's piece." Sierra's Reflections on a Souvenir and Variations on a Souvenir both take as their inspiration Gottschalk's Souvenir de Porto Rico. Ian Hobson serves as both pianist and conductor for these inspired performances.

The Suite for Organ (1933-34) is a collection of four works unrelated in form or theme: Choral and Fugue, Fantasy for Flute Stops, Air with Variations and March. Nevertheless, Sowerby recommended that the movements not be played separately, but together, as an organic whole, as Dr. Freese has done on this recording. Although the composer wrote many solo organ works, he also composed pieces that combined the organ with other instruments, such as Fantasy for Trumpet and Organ (1961). At the head of the score, Sowerby wrote: "The organ registration must be bright and carefully balanced to the trumpet; it should be very clear, avoiding too much foundation tone and, except perhaps in the closing sections, all celestes. A liberal use of 4', 2' and Mixtures is suggested in the quicker sections." Sowerby's Symphony No. 4 was premiered by Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on January 7, 1949. The composer was so impressed by the playing of the English hornist Louis Speyer, that he wrote his Ballade for him. It was premiered by Speyer and E. Power Biggs on a CBS radio program on June 12, 1949. Dr. Freese makes a major contribution to the Sowerby recorded legacy with her performance of Rhapsody. This seldom heard work is huge; a major work of heroic proportions. During his Prix de Rome stay, Sowerby was impressed by the playing of the young Italian virtuoso, Fernando Germani, organist at the Vatican. When Sowerby returned to the U.S., he wrote Pageant, a pedal extravaganza, as a challenge to this sure footed performer. Germani accepted the challenge and said after seeing the score; "Now write me something really difficult."

This recording is a joint effort between American composers with ties to the Midwestern states and Russian performers associated with the Moscow Conservatory Studio for New Music, and as such represents a unique collaboration meant to deepen artistic and cultural bonds between the two nations in this early portion of the 21st century.

The sound of Rodney Mack's trumpet has reverberated throughout the world; whether playing baroque piccolo trumpet or interpreting works commissioned especially for him. He was born in New Orleans where he began his musical studies at the age of six. When he was eleven, he began taking classical trumpet lessons with his cousin, Wynton Marsalis. He made his solo debut with the New Orleans Symphony at the age of fifteen. At the age of nineteen, he performed as a soloist with the Boston Pops. Classical concert pianist Karen Walwyn made her New York recital debut at Merkin Hall. The concert was quickly followed by her debut performance on National Public Radio. She has served on the faculties of the School of Music at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.

Lucius R. Weathersby was born in Houston and raised in Louisiana. He is an assistant professor of music and chairperson of the music department at Dillard University in New Orleans where he teaches piano and lectures in music theory. He is the founder and co-director of the Dillard University String Ensemble. For more than five years , he was employed as full-time director of music in two churches where he founded and managed the First Congressional Concert Series in Waterloo, Iowa and the Second Sunday Concert Series at the Church of the Beatitudes in Phoenix, Arizona. He has given recitals in the United States and worldwide. The organ used for this recording was originally built and installed at Sherwell Chapel in Plymouth, Devon by Henry Willis in 1864. The sound of the instrument was influenced by the French organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll. The chapel was damaged by a bomb during the War. It was restored in 1951 and moved to Torrington where it was first used there during Easter services 1991.

In 1619, twenty-two persons from different countries and tribes on the continent of Africa, landed in Jamestown, Virginia and were quickly bought and sold into the non-human existence of slavery. From this arduous and painful slave life sprang a poignant and powerful music genre that has become one of the most significant segments of American music. As you listen to this unique recording of unaccompanied Negro Spirituals, bass-baritone Oral Moses transports you into this deep dark world of bondage. Moses' deep resonant voice is well suited to command the strength, power and aesthetic beauty needed to maintain and support the strong tradition and characteristic elements that are so essential and inherent in the Negro Spiritual. The Negro Spiritual, sometimes referred to as plantation songs, sorrow songs or slave-songs, originated from the innermost being of enslaved Africans who were captured from the West Coast of Africa and transported to the Americas. While in bondage, they were forbidden to talk or make the musical instruments they had used in Africa, but they could sing whatever they felt. The gift of singing became an invaluable tool of expression and a relief from the cruel and brutal existence of the slave-life. It is in these simple African melodies, which, "sprang into existence," where the enslaved Africans expressed their pain, anger, grief, faith and joy. Just as Africans communicated among themselves using drum language in their own countries and tribes, so did the enslaved Africans continue to do so in America by using "cries," "hollers," "calls," "shouts," which eventually evolved into spirituals and work songs. This recording was made at Zion Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. Founded in 1856 by slaves, this historic church proved a fitting location for the recording.

In his heyday, Louis Spohr reigned as the leading contemporary representative of the great German tradition: the heir apparent of Mozart in his mastery of the forms of absolute music, particularly the symphony and the string quartet. As a professional violinist, Spohr was essentially self-taught, diligently studying the music of Haydn and Mozart in the 1790's. His initial concentration was composing for his own instrument, eventually writing fifteen concertos for the violin. He is also credited for being the first conductor to use a baton (albeit in rehearsals only) and make the use of reference letters in scores and parts (i.e., "we'll begin at letter C.") Spohr's style reflects the melodic influence of Mozart and an interest in more advanced harmony, resulting in an output that includes nine symphonies, several clarinet concertos, thirty-six string quartets, an octet, a nonet and much more. He also composed several oratorios, one of the most important being The Last Judgement (1826). Among his many operas were Faust (1813), considered a landmark in the path to German Romantic opera, and his most enduring work, Jessonda (1823). On the basis of Faust's popularity, Spohr was hired in 1817 to become director of the Frankfurt Opera. After discarding plans for an adaptation of the medieval story The Black Huntsman (Carl Maria von Weber had "beaten him to the punch" by adapting it as Der Freischutz), Spohr tackled the famous legend of Beauty and the Beast, as written by poet Johan Jakob Ihlee based on a four-decade-old French libretto, Zemire et Azor, originally meant for French composer Andre Gretry. In his score, Spohr aimed at something lighter and more winsome than Faust, a melodically attractive opera with some fashionable Rossinian elements that went on the receive performances throughout Germany and remained at least on the fringes of the repertory during most of the 19th century. The opera is cast in two acts, divided into seventeen numbers. The first performance was given under his direction on April 4, 1819. Needless to say, here is a story that has been passed down through many forms and to many audiences over the years, whether we speak of the classic French film based on Jean Cocteau's adaptation or the wildly popular Disney animated movie. Spohr's wonderfully melodic score combines with this beloved tale to provide a memorable listening experience for both aficionados of Romantic Opera and those who love the sheer fantasy of Beauty and the Beast.

An internationally celebrated soloist and chamber musician, clarinetist Nathan Williams has been praised for his "sublime control," "silky sound," and "dazzling technique." He is principal clarinetist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston and a founding member of Strata, a clarinet, violin and piano trio that has commissioned and performed music for this ensemble for the past 20 years. He is a frequent guest performer and teacher at conservatories, colleges and universities across the country and abroad. Williams has appeared at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Merkin Hall as well as having given concerts throughout the world including Europe, China, Israel, and Japan. His recordings appear on Albany Records, CRI, Naxos, New Dynamic Records and Arizona University Recordings. A graduate of Eastman and Juilliard, Williams is an artist/clinician for Vandoren and a Buffet Group USA Performing Artist.

This CD showcases works by five living American composers born between 1951 and 1977. A thread binds the pieces together, for each work was written in response to significant outside influences: Irish folk music, the environment, or literature. All of the music was written specifically for the duo of Wolfgang David and David Gompper.