Catalog

The wild, exotic music of Heitor Villa-Lobos, the most famous 20th century Brazilian composer, conjures up the impetuous, frenzied spirit of his country. At an early age, he studied folk music and absorbed its heady sounds. Throughout his symphonic works, such as the famous series of Choros and the Bachianas Brasileiros, which fused the Brazilian style with the formal structure of J.S. Bach, he demonstrated a remarkably free nature, never enslaving himself to any trends or "isms." The liberal use of multiple rhythms and harmonies simultaneously in the same work gave his music a wonderfully tangy sound. Though best known for his orchestral music, he did commit himself to that most sophisticated of chamber music forms, the string quartet, producing 17 remarkable works from 1915 to 1957. All three of these works reveal the sheer genius of his technique and the way he was able to use his unique style to "open up" the usually introspective world of the string quartet. These authoritative performances, recorded in the 1960's, are by the Brazilian String Quartet, founded in 1952. Over the years they have performed hundreds of concerts in Brazil, North, Central and South America and in Europe, performing at many important festivals. Known for their championing of Brazilian composers, they have performed and recorded works by Claudio Santoro, Alberto Nepomuceno, Jose Siquera and many others. They have received numerous awards for promoting Brazil, and the Quartet has been hailed as "Ambassadors of Brazilian Music." The President of Brazil has bestowed his nation's highest decoration on the Quartet, the Order of Rio Branco.

What a coup it is to have this significant live performance from 2003 performed by the music department at Curtis Institute where Ned Rorem first studied in the 1940's and has been a faculty member for over 20 years! As a major addition to the opera, we have a new work, Aftermath, where Rorem, as have so many other composers over the past four years, responds to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As Rorem writes, "In the wake of the September 11th shock, I asked what a thousand other composers must have asked: what is the point of music now? But it soon grew clear that music was the only point. Indeed, the future will judge us, as it always judges the past, by our art more than our armies- by construction more than by destruction. The art, no matter its theme or language, by definition reflects the time: a waltz in a moment of tragedy, or a dirge during prosperity, may come into focus only a century later. As a Quaker, I was raised to believe that there is no alternative to peace. Perhaps it's wrong, perhaps right, but I am not ashamed of this belief..." Rorem, born in 1923, is one of our great lyrical composers, described by Time magazine as the world's greatest composer of songs. His output encompasses far more than that, of course: three symphonies, four piano concertos, chamber music, other works for orchestra, all of which display a wealth of melody and a distinctive, unique instrumental sound (listen sometime to the Symphony No.2, whose brief second movement is essentially an instrumental song). Rorem's prowess as a vocal writer (and author of 14 books) lead him, naturally, to this adaptation of the classic play by August Strindberg, presented here in a remarkable, vivid performance and recording.

Alec Wilder was a man of many parts, in every way unique and unforgettable. Always in coat and tie, possessing an almost Edwardian sense of courtesy, he lived a nomadic existence, traveling with most of what he owned in two suitcases. Enigmatically sophisticated to a degree impossible to describe, he could sit and talk to young children with a kind of innocent gravity, leaving them wide-eyed and attentive, then later he might blow bubbles down a staircase at a formal dinner party. Unspeakably well read, he would breeze through the London Times crossword puzzle (in ink), yet he never held himself above anyone, a genuinely humble man - albeit with no tolerance for pretension in anyone. As a musician, his discerning ears reacted immediately to a performer's style: a moment of his approval would remain a treasured memory for life. After all, he was revered by the likes of Eileen Farrell, Charles Mingus, and Frank Sinatra, and he really did know what was "right" and what was not. A composer of hundreds of songs and huge catalog of chamber music, Wilder created an oeuvre that is unusually diverse yet characteristically American. Categorizing his work has not been an easy task for musicians and critics, as it does not clearly "fit" into any one slot. That, along with his frequent use of popular and jazz elements and a penchant for writing lighthearted divertimento-like movements or entertainments, has often led to his being dismissed as not being a "serious" composer, while his craftsmanship and lyrical sentiment went largely ignored. In a society quick to put labels on things, he has been an enigma. While his music was championed by many of this country's leading performers during his lifetime, Wilder did little to further his own cause and shunned every opportunity to gain further recognition. Most of his chamber music was unpublished until the last years of his life. Now, nearly 25 years since his death, it is heartening to see new recordings by a whole younger generation discovering his music for the first time. This new Albany disc is just such an example.

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.

Anyone who is familiar with the earlier Albany releases of Wilson's chamber music (TROY074, TROY389) or his Piano Concerto and Symphony No.1 recorded elsewhere, recognize him for his refreshingly unusual style, often reminiscent of Berg or Schoenberg. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard, Mr. Wilson studied composition there, in Rome and at Rutgers University with Robert Moevs. He is also an accomplished pianist (having studied with Leonard Shure and Friedrich Wuhrer) and has performed Mozart concertos with the Hudson Valley Chamber Orchestra and the American Symphony under Leon Botstein. He currently holds the Mary Conover Mellon Chair in Music at Vassar and is Composer-In-Residence with the American Symphony Orchestra. His orchestral works have been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Here is an assortment of chamber works composed over the past twenty years, exhibiting his bracing, expressionistic style, featuring many of the performers he has associated with for years, including Rolf Schulte, one of the major performers of contemporary violin music in this country. Listeners who appreciate modern music that is accessible yet has plenty of personality will greatly enjoy this new release.

Larry Nelson was born in Broken Bow, Nebraska in 1944. Since 1971 he has served on the faculty of the School of Music at West Chester University, where he teaches theory and composition. He is also co-director of the Evenings of New Music Series that has served since 1972 to bring new music to the college campus. He has established close ties with musical audiences throughout the country but with a particular focus around Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania. He has composed works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, orchestra and the electronic medium. In describing his music Nelson says, "I utilize mathematical strategies or formal systems and I use computer technology in the creation of my music while, at the same time, my music is very much grounded in traditional concepts of lyricism and harmonic motion." A reviewer described Nelson's music as "having an open and easy approach to tonality- neither insisting on it nor rejecting it. Musical intuition is supplemented by the exploration of formal systems but always in a songful manner." Here's another, specific description of one of the works on this new release, Danceable Haze: "This one movement work expresses some of my recent explorations of body-felt rhythm, our natural foot-tapping connection to the music. The music moves from fast, highly syncopated ensemble chords to slow vamp-oriented music under virtuosic solos and duos."

The Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum has reached the venerable age of 60, and it is very appropriate indeed that the Conference celebrates, at least in part, with a new recording of music played by members of its outstanding and musically vibrant faculty. Every summer for these past six decades, the Conference itself has been a celebration of the love of music making, involving Conference faculty and participants from around the world in a heady fusion of musical activities: public concerts, including frequent world premieres, professionally-coached rehearsals and intensive study sessions, lectures and seminars addressing a wide range of topics. From the beginning in 1945, participation by composers has been an integral feature of the Conference. Among the founders were composers Otto Luening and Richard Donovan. Among the many distinguished composers who have been in residence over the years are Henry Brant, Elliott Carter, Stephen Hartke, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen and Steven Stucky. The recording presents a small but highly representative sample of what the Conference is all about. Vermont composer and Bennington College faculty member Allen Shawn (brother, incidentally, of playwright/actor Wallace Shawn) has been a Resident Composer and frequent guest at the Conference. His string quartet Sleepless Night and the Wind Quintet (a commission by long-time participants) are fine examples of his lyrical style. Donald Crockett, from Los Angeles, was in residence at the Conference in 1999, and since 2002 has been the Conference's Senior Composer-in-Residence. The Ceiling of Heaven was commissioned by the Conference. Fans of contemporary American chamber music will recognize many of the performers from their recordings (cellist Maxine Neuman, a member of the Conference faculty, is a specialist in this material) and will greatly enjoy this significant release.

David Sampson, born in Charlottesville, Virginia, makes his Albany Records debut with a disc of exciting, highly original music. In the past you may have heard such orchestral works as Hommage: JFK, Simple Lives, and Reflections on a Dance (for brass and percussion); you then know his music is rhythmically charged, intense in its emotions and dramatic in its orchestration, comparable to such composers as William Schuman and Benjamin Lees. One of his specialties is writing for brass; among his trumpet teachers were such stellar names as Gerard Schwarz, Gilbert Johnson, Robert Nagel and Raymond Mase. His composition teachers included Karel Husa, Henri Dutilleux and John Corigliano, so you have some idea of the exciting sounds to be heard here. This is an important disc for those with an interest in contemporary American music; brass fanciers will obviously find this very attractive too!

And now something for those who like string chamber music. Eric Sawyer, who has held fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Harvard, was founding director of the critically-acclaimed contemporary ensemble Longitude. His undergraduate training was at Harvard and he completed his graduate studies at Columbia University and the University of California. His teachers included Leon Kirchner, Ross Bauer, Andrew Imbrie and George Edwards. He currently teaches at Amherst College. Composed from 1999 to 2002, this music reflects Sawyer's belief in the expressive power of harmony; as he writes "While new sonorities, textures and physical rhythms that have infused much recent music are all marvelous additions to the musical lexicon, it is the domain of harmony that can most provide a context of emotional resonance." This is a major discovery for listeners who especially enjoy the modern string quartet form.

Here we have an international collection of bassoon music, recorded in Edvard Grieg's house. The highly original wind music of Maslanka is surely known to you through his many releases on Albany, and this recent work is a significant contribution to the bassoon literature. James Lassen, born in Montana, has family roots in Scandinavia. Active in jazz and classical circles, he currently lives in Bergen, Norway and is co-principal bassoonist in that city's Symphony Orchestra, alongside principal Per Hannevold. Lassen's work shows the influence of special techniques he learned while playing the Japanese shakuhatchi and bamboo flutes. Oivind Westby, a trombonist and arranger, has composed a delightful work that shows influences from British light music. Per Hannevold has been with the Bergen Symphony from 1979 and is a member of the Bergen Wind Quintet. His performances have taken him all over the world and he is recognized as a preeminent authority on bassoon technique. This is a wonderful disc for wind specialists and those looking for something out of the ordinary.

Here's some music that proves that it's okay to write in a recognizably American style that's reminiscent of the recent past and fresh at the same time. Many of Zaimont's works have won prizes; she composes in all media; and is one of the most recognizable among today's composers. Her chamber and symphonic works have been widely recorded, and her orchestral works have been performed by the orchestras of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Mississippi and groups in Europe. As she writes about this collection, "...I've been fortunate throughout my teaching career to have experienced performance collaborations with a good number of top-rate faculty colleagues-including the past fourteen years at the University of Minnesota...This disc celebrates several mostly "Minnesota" collaborations, centering on more recent solo works. Several of these pieces received their premieres in vital interpretations by the same artists heard here."

You'll remember Joel Brown from all those wonderful discs with the late Bill Crofut from Albany's "early years." Now he's back with a delightful Christmas disc with his celebrated friends and family. This album was inspired by a concert and TV show featuring Brown's arrangements of Christmas tunes for a student guitar ensemble. It was such a success that he was encouraged to create this recording. All right, it took more than a decade but it was worth the wait! As with those great Crofut albums, the arrangements are jazzy, folksy and often times plain-old traditional. Of course you've heard these tunes a lot of times in the past, but they've never sounded so fresh as they do here. As Joel writes, "Christmas music has always been my favorite part of the holiday season. I still feel a flood of excitement and joy when I think of standing in our little hometown church singing in unison with family and friends. I hope the music on this recording will bring some of that same feeling to you. Merry Christmas!"

The Iranian-born Reza Vali is just now gaining much attention in the musical world, with works steadily appearing on CD. This recording by the renowned Cuarteto Latinoamericano presents significant contributions to the string quartet literature. Vali studied first in Vienna but came to the United States, receiving his Ph.D. in composition in 1985. He has been a faculty member of Carnegie-Mellon University since 1988. His music has been performed by the Seattle Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Orchestra 2001 and many other new-music ensembles. The works on this disc are a departure from his earlier, experimental works of the 1980's. Here, the music reflects influences of Persian folk music. Of special interest are the three Calligraphies; the material is derived entirely from Persian traditional music. The tuning, rhythm, form, as well as polyphonic constructions relate to the Persian modal system, the Dastgah. This fascinating music, combined with the performances of the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, one of the major exponents of new music today, should have strong appeal to the modern music specialist as well as the world-music listener.

Donald Martino may be one of the last modern American composers who writes tough, uncompromising music for adventurous listeners, and this disc spans many years and the different facets of his personality. Notturno is one of his best-known works, and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1974. He described this highly dramatic, colorful work as "a sort of 'night music' descriptive of the moments before I go to sleep, when I'm reviewing the day, when all the miseries and the beauties come together in a kind of chaotic swirl without pattern. It's about the diversity of feeling that I undergo daily when I contemplate my life at that moment before sleep." From the Other Side represents Martino in his "most sour mood, so disillusioned, so debilitated by the state of 'art'...that tears must turn to laughter." In between is the virtuoso, prize-winning flute work Quodlibets II. This is a disc that will reward the listener who really likes modern music.

The Scottish-born Judith Weir began her career as an oboist and took composition lessons with John Tavener and Robin Holloway. Her music is performed in Europe and the United States. Her works reflect her diverse interests in narrative, folklore and theatre, with British folk music a strong influence. This release is an excellent sampling for those unfamiliar with her work: The Consolations of Scholarship is a highly-compressed opera, based on 14th century Chinese Yuan plays, where all the characters are played by one multi-voiced singer. The Piano Concerto, where the soloist is partnered by nine solo string players, emulates the scale of the early Mozart concerti; King Harald's Saga, is a "Grand Opera in Three Acts" for solo soprano voice, depicting the attempted invasion of England by Norway in 1066. Inspired by Emily Dickinson, Musicians Wrestle Everywhere is a one-movement concerto for ten instruments, reflecting the "street environment" of Weir's own urban neighborhood. You'll find Weir to be a highly original compositional voice.

You may already be familiar with Mr. Martin from his collection of Preludes and Fugues that have appeared on other labels. He is currently professor of music at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and has pursued a career as a composer-pianist specializing in jazz and Western tonal tradition. His teachers have included Milton Babbitt and David Del Tredici. The works on this disc exemplify Martin's attraction to past influences and how tonality is still a viable form of expression. The Piano Trio is his own take on the Brahms works in that form; the Sonata for Solo Cello, which he describes as one of his darker works, was inspired by the Bach Cello Suites. A more "modern" work, This Living Hand is based on the writings of John Keats, which also influence Sweet Converse. The three members of Innisfree all have musical connections to the Northeast; all are members of or have performed with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and its associated String Quartet. This is an exceptional disc for those who believe that the Romantic impulse is still alive in today's music.

Joseph Waters writes, "I find this juxtaposition of contemporary electro-acoustic ephemera with a collection of musical instruments and a performance practice that predates the age of technology to be simultaneously anachronistic and engaging. It is my goal to create strong and deep tie lines that connect the present surface to the ancient seabed miles below. This is my celebratory reaction to our current milieu, which juxtaposes Mozart one minute with rap music the next. There are many connections between them, which I find fascinating and exhilarating." This music bears tribute to Debussy and Messiaen (Ocean Eyes), explores Afro-Cuban influences (Witches of the Unconscious) and the worlds of seabirds and exotic marine life (Ghosts and Aloiloi) as well as the phenomenon of intense fright when suddenly awakening from a deep sleep (Kanashibari) and the onset of morning (Loneliness). Born in 1952, Waters is Associate Professor of Music Composition and Director of Electro-Acoustic and Media Composition at San Diego State University. His first musical experiences included playing in a rock band, and the myriad influences of the world and its music figure in his own compositions.

Here is a welcome companion to the acclaimed release of Reza Vali's music for string quartet on TROY790. This time music for larger chamber ensembles is featured, with an emphasis on the Persian folk music Vali grew up with. Since 1988 he has been on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, and has received numerous awards and commissions from the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Kronos Quartet and many other ensembles. His early works indicated his interest in the avant-garde but in recent years he has composed works featuring strong influences from the music of his native Persia. The sets of Folk Songs and particularly the Calligraphy No. 4, with its use of the santoor (a Persian hammered dulcimer), derive almost entirely from Persian folk song. This is truly unique and highly original music.

Long before people began talking about postmodernism, Michael Sahl was living the postmodern life. Back in the 1970's there was a definite barrier between the Accepted High Art of modern classical music and the field of popular music (not so between jazz and rock-hence the fusion-jazz of Weather Report or Herbie Hancock). But Michael Sahl dared to write "classical" music with jazz chords and folk-music rhythms. Today, the Kronos Quartet plays rock music, and someone once even suggested that it would be perfectly normal for Sir Michael Tippett to write a piece for an established rock group. So, now we have Michael Sahl who is finally coming into his own, with his cabaret-style melodies riding smoothly over pungent jazz harmonies, and his rock-flavored rhythm section filling out his classical forms nicely. The music may strike some as "eclectic," but in Sahl's own mind, the contrasting elements fit perfectly together. The fusion is smooth, with its own personality: energetically syncopated, with a cool sense of restraint.

Flutist Margaret Swinchoski, clarinetist Donald Mokrynski and pianist Ron Levy make up the Palisades Virtuosi, a group of friends who wish to promote and enrich the repertoire for their instruments. They present concerts that include existing music for this trio, supplemented by solos, duos and larger works and include a new work for flute, clarinet and piano on each of their programs. This recording includes seven of the works Palisades Virtuosi commissioned and premiered during their first two seasons. What's appealing about this disc (apart from the wonderful sounds these instruments make) is the variety of composers presented. Some are familiar names (Godfrey Schroth, a pupil of Paul Creston, and Richard Lane, an Eastman graduate whose music was recorded by Howard Hanson) and others will be new to you. Nearly all of the works are based on traditional forms and feature strong folk and popular music influences. This is an ideal disc for those who love wind music and an absolute treat for performers who wish to hear new music for their instruments.

Established in 1972 as a resident faculty ensemble at Tennessee Technological University, the Cumberland Wind Quintet has built a solid reputation for unique programming and fine musicianship. The group has toured throughout the United States and in Europe, performing to a wide variety of audiences. Commanding a large repertoire of music from all periods, the Quintet offers the standards and classics, exciting modern works, and lighter popular music. The Quintet has also performed as guest artists at conferences for the College Music Society, Tennessee Music Educators Association and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. This CD demonstrates perfectly their range, with delightful arrangements of film themes and vocal and keyboard music by such composers as Ravel and Mahler, and in between highly entertaining original compositions by Ewazen, Uhl, Berger and Danner.

Network for New Music is an award-winning chamber music ensemble widely acclaimed for its outstanding performances and its dynamic and diverse concerts. Led by artistic director Linda Reichert and conducted by Jan Krzywicki, Network's virtuoso musicians bring the sound of imagination to audiences eager for fresh musical adventures. In its first 20 years, Network has commissioned, premiered and presented a rich variety of more than 500 innovative new works. The three composers on this disc all share a lineage going back to George Crumb and Richard Wernick, connections to Philadelphia, a happy relationship with Network, and a commitment to renew the articulate, expressive power of melody, harmony and rhythm. In each composer, we encounter three very different approaches to form. Whitman offers emphatic sonic guideposts that locate us firmly - beginning, middle, end - in the discourse. Wagner (winner of the 1999 Pulitzer for Music) proposes a stream of consciousness narrative in which each moment suggests a continuation, leaving much of its past behind. Levinson interjects ritual, both athletic and ceremonial, arriving at healing states of contemplation remote from the every day activities. The high quality and diversity of these works are emblematic of Network for New Music's commitment to creating an art music for the future, today.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, of American parents, Davidson spent her first three years living in the town of Malmo on the Baltic Sea. She later lived in Istanbul, Turkey, and, as a teenager, in Wurzburg, Germany and Tel Aviv, Israel, finally settling down in Oneonta, New York. Her mother, a professor of English literature, recognized her musical talents and started her on piano at an early age. She studied later at the Wurzburg Conservatory and Tel Aviv University. In the early 1970s, she went to Bennington College, Vermont, where she studied with Henry Brant and Vivian Fine. Over the years Davidson's music has been commissioned and performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, Relache Ensemble and Orchestra 2001, among many other ensembles. She has created works of integrity and fascination, honing an individual and expressive style. She has an ear for vivid harmonies and colors. Full of tender, haunting melodies that grow expansively, generously and graciously, her music is real, harmonic and sophisticated. Here are three works performed by the renowned Cassatt Quartet, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. In Paper, Glass, String and Wood, all twelve parts are played, through over-dubbing, by the Quartet, revealing its famed virtuosity and commitment to challenging, original new music.

Michael Horvit is Professor of Composition and Theory at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. For 25 years he served as music director at Congregation Emanu El in Houston. During his studies at Yale University, Tanglewood, Harvard University and Boston University, Horvit's teachers were Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Walter Piston, Quincy Porter and Gardner Read. In other words, Horvit is one of the last links between the great American Symphonic School and today's music. Not surprisingly one can hear echoes of this illustrious past in such works as the Cullen Overture and Concerto for Brass Quintet and Orchestra (on TROY265, works for orchestra), resplendent pieces which conjure up great open vistas and exuberant optimism. This exceptional disc of chamber music further reveals his traditionalist style, particularly in the String Quartet No. 2, "The Wide Missouri," whose thematic material is mostly based on one of his favorite folksongs, Shenandoah. This is truly heartfelt American music. More of Horvit's music can be heard on TROY134 and TROY533.

Peter Ré studied at Juilliard and the Yale University School of Music, where he studied with Paul Hindemith, and received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1948 and at Columbia University for a Master of Arts Degree in 1950. In his 33 year career at Colby College, Professor Emeritus Ré taught courses in music theory and composition, music history and conducting. Ré has received commissions for works from the Portland and Bangor Symphony Orchestras and the Portland String Quartet (the String Quartet No. 3). He has received awards from the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities for his work as Conductor and Music Director of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. His twelve-year tenure in that position brought about major changes in the constituency, size and performing ability of the orchestra, which transformed it into a major cultural resource for Maine and which attracted guest artists of international reputation. The works on this recording have been performed by, among others, the Juilliard, Hungarian, Bay Chamber, Vaghy and Portland Quartets. The founding members of the Portland String Quartet have been together since 1969 and have performed in all the major venues of the world. They have received particular attention for their complete cycles of the chamber music of Bloch, Chadwick and Piston.

Born in Bad Gastein, Austria, Gernot Wolfgang is a graduate of USC's "Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV," and also holds degrees from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the Austria University of Music in Graz. He has received commissions from individuals and organizations such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Verdehr Trio, bassoonist David Breidenthal, flutist Susan Greenberg and the Jazz Bigband Graz. As a guitarist with the Austrian ensemble "The QuARTet," he has recorded two critically-acclaimed CDs. He currently resides in Los Angeles. He writes, "As a former jazz guitarist, rhythms are a top priority for me. Specifically, rhythms (grooves) that can be found in 20th century music styles such as jazz, rock, pop, world music, etc. I have made it my mission to find ways of organically incorporating grooves into orchestral or chamber music settings, hence the subtitle of this CD. That doesn't mean that all of the music is based on grooves all of the time, but grooves play important roles within the individual pieces. My goal is to allow them to have an equal standing among other compositional devices already established in contemporary concert music."

Joel Hoffman was born in Canada and received degrees from the University of Wales and the Juilliard School. Among his distinguished teachers were Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt, Alun Hoddinott and Easley Blackwood. Currently, Hoffman is Professor of Composition at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. His music has been commissioned and performed by the Cincinnati Symphony, the National Chamber Orchestra, the American Harp Society and the Atheneum Quartet of the Berlin Philharmonic. His compositions draw from such diverse stylistic sources as Eastern European folk music and bebop jazz. There are two qualities that are common to all of his works: a focus on melody and a pervasive rhythmic vitality. The three Piano Trios represent, in his words, "...a kind of central musical point for me, in that the medium incorporates three instruments with which I have the greatest and most intimate connection possible: my mother was a superb violinist, the cello is the instrument of my cellist-brother Gary and the piano is my instrument. So composing for this medium, for me, is about as natural an activity as composing gets. I find that my essential musical questions about sound, structure, harmony, melody and meaning in general are the ones I continually address when writing for the piano trio."

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."

Growing up in Buenos Aires, Pablo Ortiz took piano lessons from his mother and learned Gregorian Chant at the Universidad Catolica Argentina, where he also studied composition with Gerardo Gandini. At the age of 27 he came to the United States where he studied under Mario Davidovsky. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1994 he developed a particular fascination with Mexican culture, eventually employing texts by the famous Chicano poet and Mission artist, Francisco Alarcon for a collection of children's songs and the title work on this disc, Oscuro. Ortiz's output, comprising chamber music, vocal, orchestral and electronic works, has received international recognition and performances by the Arditti Quartet, Speculum Musicae, Les Percussions de Strasbourg and Continuum. During the early 1990s, Ortiz embarked on a series of works that find a connection between tango and memory. Although this exploration represents only one of many strands within his varied oeuvre - one that is well represented on this CD - Ortiz's association with the tango is apt, for he shares its Argentinean roots, its thoroughly cosmopolitan history, and its ability to mirror social interactions with controlled, dramatic flair.

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).

David Gompper is Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa. Butterfly Dance represents a response to and a re-imagining of a native-American Hopi Indian tune of the same name. Noel Zahler is director of the School of Music at the University of Minnesota. In his Trio, Zahler draws upon a conventional ensemble in order to create a composition with an intense drive, and possessing a full and varied sound palette. Marilyn Shrude is a faculty member at Bowling Green State University where she chairs the Department of Musicology/Composition/Theory. Secrets is a setting of nine Emily Dickinson poems, each of which are associated with one or more of the seasons of the year. Joseph Dangerfield is Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Waves Roll On...is drawn from the Russian lyric poet Fedor Tyutchev (1803-73), whose vivid imagery served as the impetus from which Dangerfield crafted his melodic, rhythmic and formal structures. Finally there is a major chamber work, Vox Balaenae, by one of America's most important composers, George Crumb. Founded in 1993, the Studio for New Music is one of the leading contemporary music groups in Russia. As a project initiated by Joseph Dangerfield, this CD showcases not only the varied styles of these American composers but highlights the universal nature of contemporary music.

Finally! This is undoubtedly the first commercial recording of the Virgil Thomson Cello Concerto (whose first movement provides the title for this disc) since the classic old Columbia recording with Luigi Silva from the early 1950s, and it's in SACD sound! This delightful work, wearing its Americana on its sleeve but couched in the framework of a classic work such as the Haydn, is full of the kind of joyful, melancholy and eccentric moods and hymn-tunes one hears in the classic Thomson film scores and orchestral works. The Four Portraits, adapted from the more than 140 piano pieces he wrote of friends, artists and acquaintances, were adapted by Silva; the Frederic James Portrait is an original by Thomson in this form. Charles Fussell has a link to the great American past as he studied with Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School, and his music maintains a traditional sound with somewhat more advanced touches. Hailed by John Williams and others as "an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist," Emmanuel Feldman has emerged as one of the most innovative cellists of his generation. Known for his intense, soulful playing and a broad range of repertoire, he enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and champion of new music, having given premieres of works by Aaron Kernis, Gunther Schuller, David Diamond and himself.