This is the first ever recording of Arvo Pärt’s wonderful vocal music performed by a boys’ choir. The year of release of this album is also the year when the Estonian composer celebrates his eightieth birthday. More than four decades ago, the musician Arvo Pärt fell silent, and went into retreat for eight years. His silence gave rise to a new kind of music, which has gained him international fame. “I have discovered that it is enough if a single note is beautifully played,” Pärt once said. Based on his study of the cathedrals of sound of the Renaissance or even earlier periods, the composer has developed a very personal and original style: music inspired by spirituality, striving to accomplish the ideal of perfect simplicity, of laying bare the pure essence. An everlasting stopping and pausing: eternity. At the same time a continuous flowing and being carried away: the transitory nature of time.

Bomb! Box set on Nonesuch with 27 discs (26 CDs + 1 DVD) in wallets, plus two booklets (132 + 120 pages). Nonesuch Records releases Steve Reich Collected Works, a twenty-seven-disc box set featuring music recorded during composer Steve Reich's forty years on the label, on March 14, 2025, available to pre-order here. The collection represents six decades of Reich’s compositions, ranging from It’s Gonna Rain (1965) to first recordings of his two latest works: Jacob’s Ladder (2023) and Traveler’s Prayer (2020). Two extensive booklets contain new essays by longtime Nonesuch President Robert Hurwitz, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, Steve Reich and Musicians percussionist Russell Hartenberger, producer Judith Sherman, and composer Nico Muhly, as well as a comprehensive listener’s guide by pianist and composer Timo Andres.

2 CD set The Art of the Recorder Instruments of the Middle Ages (excerpts) The David Munrow Recorder Consort Members of The Early Consort of London Recorded in STEREO.

As the Manhattan Transfer went on, so did the legacy of the jazz vocal ensemble. In that regard, though the competition was scarce, this group did elevate the art form to a higher level without much compromise. This two-CD, 39-track compilation represents many of the high points of the group. If anything is missing, some of the vocalese influenced by Eddie Jefferson should have been included. Still most fans will recognize "Ray's Rockhouse," "Route 66," "Four Brothers," "Tuxedo Junction," "That Cat Is High," "(Sing) Joy Spring," and their immortal take of the Jon Hendricks lyric to "Birdland." Unless it is a complete collection, you'd be hard pressed to find a better grouping of the Manhattan Transfer's prime body of works.

Philip Glass's breakthrough achievement in 1976 with Einstein on the Beach proved a milestone in contemporary opera, and Glass has been remarkably prolific–as well as uneven–in his various mutations of the genre ever since. This is the premier recording of one of Glass's more "operatic" ventures. The "Rome Section" is the fifth, final act of the CIVIL warS, originally conceived by Einstein director-designer Robert Wilson for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as a multinational collaboration on themes of war and peace. Wilson's trademark theater of images–as opposed to narrative–took its inspiration from Matthew Brady's grimly eloquent photographs of the American Civil War and mixes figures from classical mythology with iconic representations of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Robert E. Lee, and the Italian revolutionary Garibaldi.

Colors of Love is a Grammy Award winning 1999 album of contemporary choral music by Chanticleer to a concept designed by Frank Albinder. The album won Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. On COLORS OF LOVE the versatile 12-voice mail vocal ensemble Chanticleer - exclusive to Teldec - sings eight distinctive works by contemporary composers. Five of the compositions were written specifically for Chanticleer, notably John Tavener's "Village Wedding," a frequent encore and one of the group's favorite works. Prominent composers from both Eastern and Western traditions are represented, including Steven Stucky, Zhou Long, and the young America woman composer, Augusta Read Thomas.

23 fabulous, evocative tracks from the various movies of Clint Eastwood, Hollywood antihero extraordinaire. Whether it's out on the range or deep in a criminal underworld, Eastwood's directing and acting are always accompanied by the very best instrumental soundtracks.

Philip Glass' soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's Dalai Lama epic Kundun captures the grace, beauty, joy and melancholy within the film. Glass uses familiar minimalist structures, but works with traditional Tibetan instrumentation and monks, giving the music an alluringly otherworldly feel. It's an entirely original, evocative score, and one of Glass' high-water marks in the field.

The piano may not be the ideal medium for capturing the expressive possibilities of Glass' style of minimalism, but pianist Bruce Brubaker selects pieces that work well on the instrument. Part of the problem with hearing Glass on the piano is forgetting the sound of his ensemble, and the variety of colors (and volume) they have imparted to similar music. Brubaker begins his recital of works by Glass and Alvin Curran with his transcription of "Knee Play 4" from Einstein on the Beach. It is in fact a lovely piece on the piano if one can put the spectacular power and tonal range of the instrumental version out of one's mind. "Opening" from Glassworks, originally scored for piano, works beautifully on the instrument, and flows as naturally as the C major Prelude from Book I of The Well Tempered Clavier. The two pieces by Curran, Hope Street Tunnel Blues III and Inner Cities II, use a syntax similar to Glass, with a more dissonant tonal vocabulary. Hope Street Tunnel Blues III has ample kinetic energy that gives it an exhilarating momentum.

The hook for this terrific recording of three of Steve Reich's most attractive works is the use of alternate versions of the several pieces that differ from the original recordings on Nonesuch. This recording has Reich's imprimatur; he enthusiastically recommends the performances in a program note. The most radical departure from the original version is Piano Counterpoint, Vincent Corver's arrangement of Six Pianos for a single live pianist with the other five parts prerecorded. This allows the piece to fit nicely into Reich's "Counterpoint" series, which includes Vermont Counterpoint for flutes and New York Counterpoint for clarinets. Corver also speeds up the tempo so the piece has an even more propulsive aural energy, although in live performance it's hard to beat the visceral excitement of six pianists on-stage. The London Steve Reich Ensemble version of the Triple Quartet, unlike the Kronos Quartet's premiere recording, uses three live quartets, and is one of three performance options that Reich specified in the score, the third being an orchestral version with 36 players. This is the first commercial recording of this version.

La-La Land Records, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, EON Productions and Universal Music Enterprises mark the 35th Anniversary of the sixteenth 007 film Licence To Kill, with a remastered and expanded 2-CD re-issue of composer Michael Kamen’s original motion picture score. Produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the 1989 film stars Timothy Dalton as James Bond in his second turn as 007 and is helmed by John Glen, directing his fifth Bond film. Oscar® nominated composer Michael Kamen joins the Bond music fold and unleashes a robust and propulsive score to Licence To Kill, a perfect complement to the harder-edged story, which sees Bond seeking revenge for the maiming of his friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) and the killing of his new bride Della (Priscilla Barnes). Kamen’s thematic work honors the series’ iconic musical legacy with exciting variations of the classic “James Bond Theme,” while bringing his own unique style to the world of James Bond. Expanded beyond the original soundtrack album, Licence To Kill hits its target like never before within this deluxe presentation, which also includes two versions of the film’s title song, performed by Gladys Knight.

A wonderful view of what is "American" in contemporary American music from an Italian producer's perspective, with a nice cover photo of Joey's Navajo Cafe and Dining Room framed by several pickup trucks parked outside. Including rhythmic-based music and sound-text rhythms from ordinary speech (Allen Ginsberg's works), some dreamy electronic music by Pauline Oliveros, and solo jazz by Steve Lacy, this is an interesting collection of new recordings and reissues of tracks from out of print or hard to get vinyl releases. The recording contains Allen Ginsberg's "Hum Bomb" (1992), Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" (live, 1976), Michael Galasso's "Baroque" (live, 1992), Ben Neill's "Bal," John Cage's "Third Construction" (from a 1983 Italian studio recording), David Behrman's "A Traveller's Dream Journal (EWR-LAX)" (1992), Pauline Oliveros' "A Woman Sees How the World Goes With No Eyes" (from the Lovely Music release Crone Music), Steve Lacy performing Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica," John Zorn and Andrea Centazzo's "First Environment for Sextet" (recorded in New York on WKCR radio in 1978 and appearing on Environment for Sextet released by Ictus Records), and Allen Ginsberg's "Father Death Blues."

Passaggio, Lavinia Meijer's first release on Sony, is an album of the crossover music of Ludovico Einaudi, an Italian composer and pianist who encouraged the Dutch harpist to record some of his most popular pieces. The playing on this 2013 album is highly polished and appealing, and Meijer demonstrates considerable powers of concentration and precision in performances of her harp transcriptions of Einaudi's keyboard music. Some will find Meijer's renditions emotionally communicative and mood enhancing, and most of the credit for their effectiveness belongs to her, because Einaudi's modal harmonies and conventional patterns tend toward a bland prettiness, or pretty blandness, that's all of a piece. Simple melodies and repeated arpeggiated chords have the instant attraction of minimalist music, and simplicity is often a virtue in the proper context. Sony's recording is clear and close-up, and Meijer has presence in a fairly resonant studio space.

Celebrated for his vivid orchestral pieces and effective scores for such films as Altered States and The Red Violin, John Corigliano is somewhat less renowned for his chamber music and keyboard oeuvre. Yet his international career took off with the premiere of his Sonata for violin and piano (1963), and he has periodically composed important works for piano, all of which show the same expertise and originality displayed in his major concert works. These sophisticated but highly entertaining pieces are not insufficiently recorded, but they are usually scattered about on CDs with other composers' works, so it is good to find them together on this 2006 Black Box release, in lively performances and recorded with fine sound. Violinist Corey Cerovsek and pianist Andrew Russo deliver what is probably the most engaging and accessible performance of the program in the sonata, a neo-Classical work that evokes the Americana style of Copland as well as the academic counterpoint of Hindemith.

Steps to the Desert (2004) is an album by Shelly Manne, one of the most influential jazz drummers of his time. Known for his work with various jazz legends like Art Pepper, Chet Baker, and Miles Davis, Manne made significant contributions to the development of jazz, particularly in the realms of bebop and cool jazz. However, Steps to the Desert is a unique project that showcases his ability to experiment with sound and texture, bringing a more atmospheric and contemplative quality to his work.