Project Harmonia Mundi - Part 19

Milestones of 20th-century music. The extraordinary rhythmic power of Les Noces is in many respects descended from The Rite of Spring. Yet it took Stravinsky more than ten years to complete this supreme masterpiece, which turned its back on orchestral hyperinflation to pioneer a new approach to timbre and musical time. An approach that was constantly renewed in his subsequent career, whatever the language employed – as can be seen in the Mass of 1948 and the Cantata of 1952. A tribute to Stravinsky at his finest from the combined talents of the RIAS Kammerchor and MusikFabrik.

Night Songs. Whether it be cheerful, melancholy, amorous or piously contemplative, the night - a favorite source of romantic inspiration if ever there was one - is the unbroken thread running throughout this recording on which we will find monumental pieces like the Gesang der Geister uber dem Wasser side by side with more descriptive pieces like Der Gondelfahrer. The composer of an abundant body of chorale music, Schubert is here in his element, and yet, it is astonishing how little importance he attached to these masterly pieces! Their stunning beauty reveals that they are in no way inferior to the finest of his solo songs.

'Ah! Clara, what a pleasure to write for the voice!'
Robert Schumann’s enthusiasm for the world of the lied must have been catching, for his wife Clara also turned to the genre. Brahms, for his part, was to cultivate a lifelong love of folksong. His meeting with the Schumanns opened up new horizons for him: this CD relates an astonishing musical conversation between the three of them. Here in songs and letters is a musical and literary journey into Romanticism at its most exalted.

With their renowned purity of sound ANONYMOUS 4 mark the millennium by exploring in chant and polyphony dread of the Last Judgment and fear of the end of the world which pervaded late tenth-century thought.

“An ethereal clarity that is absolutely captivating.” – BBC Music Magazine

“The ensemble's singing has a sensual kind of purity.” – The Times, London

Editor’s Choice – Gramophone

“The Newberry Consort gives an ideal performance, nicely balanced between instrumental and vocal pieces, with spirited playing and fine expressive singing …not to be missed.” – Stereophile

Telling stories in song – this is the vocation of Joel Frederiksen, a deep bass with an exceptional timbre. Accompanying himself on the lute or surrounded by his own ensemble based in Munich, this extraordinary musician invites us to discover popular ballads belonging to both English and American traditions. He transcends his scrupulous musical and historical research to bring back to vivid life a whole forgotten world, sometimes redolent of the age of chivalry, sometimes firmly rooted in everyday reality. A spellbinding experience!