Crystalline, a four-track EP for two pianos, written and performed by Alex Heffes and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, releases on 1 December 2023, in partership with Platoon. Two singles from the EP, Celestina and Obsidian, are releasing on 6 October and 3 November.

Alex Heffes writes:

'When I learned that Ryuichi had died, I went back through my archives and discovered a number of previously unreleased and unheard pieces that I had written and played with Ryuichi. Each track is like a miniature piece of crystal broken from a larger stone with its own unique character - Celestine, Obsidian and Amethyst. The final track, After, was created posthumously by taking a loop of us both playing and combining it at different speeds and pitches to create the dream-like texture of the piece. Crystalline is a tribute to Ryuichi and the inspiration he was to me and so many others.'

Streaming links will be published here.
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Nimbus Alliance releases the Wiener Schubert Trio's album, with works by Pfitzner and Smetana, on Friday 3 November 2023 (NI.6441).

'Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949) and Bedřich Smetana (1824-84) hold special places in music history as ardent nationalist composers and creators of significant stage works. Pfitzner’s operas and incidental music culminated in his Palestrina (1917), while Smetana established a canon of eight national operas incorporating traditional Czech dance and song into much of his mature oeuvre. Both composers also contributed widely to other genres, including significantly, if not extensively, to the chamber music repertory. Although written more than forty years apart, these two piano trios share notable common ground. Both were written during troubled times for their creators and count among their composer’s first mature artistic achievements; moreover, both resort to motivic recall or transformation between movements with the intention of realising structural unity, and both received hostile critical receptions.' Robin Stowell.

The Wiener Schubert Trio (Vienna Schubert Trio) was founded in 1985 and performed as a full-time ensemble until 1993. From the outset the Trio appeared regularly in the music centres of Europe, North America and Asia, and established rapidly a reputation as one of the foremost piano trios. After its first United States tour in 1986, the Trio was named the year’s ‘Best New Visiting Chamber Ensemble’ by The Washington Post. The Ensemble devoted itself to both the established masterpieces of the repertoire and many less familiar works, often presented in the context of concert series designed to demonstrate relationships between various composers and styles.

Boris Kuschnir (b.1948) studied violin at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory but his artistic development was profoundly influenced by Dmitri Shostakovich and David Oistrakh, who also taught him. He was a founding member of the Moscow String Quartet, where he played for nine years. He was a co-founder of the Vienna Schubert Trio and later the Vienna Brahms Trio, making numerous recording for record labels such as EMI, Naxos and Nimbus Records. He has received numerous awards at international violin and chamber music competitions in Paris, Belgrade, Sion, Trapani, Bratislava, Florence, Trieste and Hamberg.

Claus-Christian Schuster (b.1952): Taught initially by his father, he went on to study at the Vienna Musikhochschule, Indiana University School of Music and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He has won numerous international piano and chamber music competitions, and until 1984 he performed worldwide as a soloist. After he founded the Vienna Schubert Trio he made regular guest appearances. However, immediately after the break-up of the Vienna Schubert Trio in 1993 he formed the Altenberg Trio Vienna, where he continued his international chamber music activities with increased intensity.

Martin Hornstein (1954–2009) was most influenced by his teachers Valentin Erben and Harvey Shapiro as well as by members of the Alban Berg Quartet, who stirred his early interest for chamber music. He has performed as a chamber musician with numerous colleges including Christian Altenburger, Thomas Christian and Eszter Haffner as well as with ensembles like the Aron Quartett, the Artis Quartet and the Orlando Quartett. Between 1985 and 1993 he was the Vienna Schubert Trio's 'cellist, and from 1994-2004 a member of the Altenberg Trio Vienna. With these two ensembles he gave more than 1,000 performances across the world.

Electronic press kit for reviewers available from Ulysses Arts.

Nimbus Alliance releases the world première recording of Philip Sawyers, Mayflower on the Sea of Time, on Friday 3 November, with soloists April Fredrick and Thomas Humphreys, the English Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Kenneth Woods.

Philip Sawyers, Mayflower on The Sea of Time

World Première (NI6439)

April Fredrick, soprano
Thomas Humphreys, baritone 
English Symphony Orchestra Chorus
English Symphony Orchestra 

Kenneth Woods, Conductor

'The 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's sailing to New England was in 2020. My task as a composer was to write a substantial choral and orchestral work to celebrate this event and the challenges the Pilgrims faced in the New World. My librettist wrote an imaginative piece that incorporated both a narrative and a reflection on the wider implications the story contained. Human attributes and frailties, moral, religious and political questions are touched upon. The resulting oratorio, Mayflower on the Sea of Time, is in four parts. The soprano and baritone soloists take on multiple roles as both narrators and different characters from the story.' Philip Sawyers 

This recording captures the debut performance of the English Symphony Chorus. Assembled for this project, the group brings together some of the finest professional singers from across the UK. Ensemble members appear as part of elite groups such as The Sixteen, performers on the operatic stage, working as lay clerks at cathedrals across the UK, as well as working with leading orchestras and new music ensembles.

'Given the strong narrative of the work's source material, it will be no surprise to listeners to hear music that strives forward purposefully. In his symphonies, Philip takes care to highlight structural moments, punctuating musical sentences and paragraphs with great precision and clarity, whereas Mayflower is a study in constant transition and transformation.' Kenneth Woods

'All praise goes to the four very impressive soloists and the [English Symphony] Orchestra and chorus and not least to [Kenneth] Woods, whose commitment to Sawyers has enabled this music to reach a much wider audience, which it thoroughly deserves.'
Gary Higginson, British Music Society, 25 October 2023

'Attractive and tonally vibrant ... Strongly recommended.'
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, November 2023

John Quinn, Music Web International, 17 January 2024

Electronic press kit for reviewers available from Ulysses Arts.

NEOS releases lovemusic collective's album plastic love, by Santiago Díez Fischer, on 17 November 2023.

lovemusic 

Emiliano Gavito - flutes / plastic box
Niamh Bradbury Dell - oboe / plastic box
Adam Starkie - clarinets / plastic box
Christian Lozano Sedano - guitar / electric-guitar
Léa Legros Pontal - viola
Lola Malique - cello / plastic box

Santiago Díez Fischer - composition
Christophe Egea - recording and mixing
Murat Çolak - mastering

lovemusic is a collective of musicians specialised in new music based in Strasbourg.

Working with composers on new and exciting works that will enrich the musical world is at the heart of what we do. This means collaborating with artists who wish to create new music together in which both the composer and musicians are actively involved in the creative process. We want to dismantle the patriarchal and hierarchical systems engrained in the new music world, creating a safe and inclusive environment in which musicians can decide for themselves how they contribute to each project, the music they want to perform and the composers they wish to work with. 

The members of lovemusic have diverse backgrounds and tastes which nourish the choices of the music we perform. We welcome the multiplicity of aesthetics that new music today offers and our programmes are the result of extensive research which allows us to programme creatively, bringing new voices to new audiences. Diversity is important and we strive to programme music that takes into consideration ethnicity, gender and sexual identity. 

The way in which we present music on stage is always taken into consideration. We perform un-conducted, which creates not only intimate bonds between the musicians but also an active and exciting connection with the public. We like working with lighting, video and scenography which contribute to creating an immersive listening experience. lovemusic concerts are colourful, fun and innovative drawing the public into our diverse musical world. 

www.collectivelovemusic.com

'Le disque se révèle passionnant dans sa quête de sonorités organiques nouvelles.'
Hervé Lévy, Magazine Poly, 30 Oct 2023

Santiago Díez Fischer’s music searches for an organic sonority that combines instrumental acoustic sounds and objects, with a very personal use of electronics: a “tactile” music that invites the listener to explore its plasticity.

His music has been performed by ensembles including collective lovemusic, Ensemble Dal Niente, Ensemble Distractfold, Eunoia Ensemble, Ensemble SurPlus, KNM Ensemble, Ensemble Soundinitiative, Vortex, Le Balcon, TM+, BIT20, CAIRN, L’imaginaire, amongst others. As a composer he has participated in residences and festivals such as IRCAM – CURSUS, Schloss Solitude Akademie 2011, Darmstadt Summer Course, Impuls Academy, Festival Borealis and many others.

He has been recipient of several commissions and awards from Siemens Foundation, Pro Helvetia, Borealis Festival, the French Embassy in Argentina, Argentinian Mozarteum, Cité Internationale des Arts, Clang Cut Book Berlin, Mixture Festival, and Joan Guinjoan Prize.

Díez Fischer is a professor of composition at the Conservatory of Pantin in Paris.  For five years, he was assistant professor in composition at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. He studied in Argentina, Germany, and France with Philippe Leroux and Rebecca Saunders.

Santiago Díez Fischer was born in Argentina and has German and Argentine nationalities. He has lived in France since 2009.

www.santiagodiezfischer.com 

'This album traces five years since establishing a wonderfully symbiotic artistic relationship with Santiago Díez Fischer. lovemusic had already played sólo verás ahora (2014), which received rapturous applause from the public, and no son más silenciosos los espejos (2010). We then commissioned a new piece for wind trio for a concert we were producing in Strasbourg. This resulted in plastic love (2020).

The essence and joy of creating music with Santiago is simplicity. The starting point isn’t a complicated or intellectual idea the music then tries to emulate or uphold, but something simple that changes and evolves as we go through the creative process together. The première of plastic love was a plastic party - plastic clothes, plastic cubes, plastic curtains and, of course, Santiago’s beloved boxes. During a rehearsal break, we began improvising using the instruments like pressure valves, creating air sounds. Santiago got involved exploring the possibilities and parameters of what we were doing - this became the album's intermezzo. This proved to all of us  the obvious mutual appreciation of working collaboratively and the value of creating more projects together.

From this first collaboration, a creaive process was established - Santiago proposes an initial idea and asks us to record samples. Sometimes it is a timbre; sometimes a particular pitch that he wants to see how we can manipulate with effects or blend with other instruments; sometimes a sequence of events. From these recordings, Santiago begins the work of moulding the music. It really feels like moulding rather than “writing”: something that belongs to the world of Plastic Arts rather than a written form, not rigid but curved and organic - malleable. The title and concept of this album also refers to this, fitting the philosophy behind this project, which we considered more as an object than a collection of pieces.' (lovemusic)

Track list

1. prologue
plastic box 

2. plastic love (2019) *
bass flute, oboe, contrabass clarinet and plastic boxes 

3. intermezzo i
plastic boxes 

4. sólo verás ahora (2014)
flutes, cello and plastic box 

5. intermezzo ii 
piccolo, oboe and clarinet

6. someone will remember us (2021-22) *
bass clarinet, e-guitar, cello and electronics 

7. intermezzo iii 
electric guitar, viola, cello and 3 plastic boxes 

8. Loud Voice (2011)
alto flute, guitar, viola and cello 

9. intermezzo iv 
Piccolo, oboe, clarinet, viola, cello and e-guitar

10. love fragments (2022) *
flutes, clarinets, e-guitar, viola, cello and electronics 

11. epilogue
e-guitar and contrabass clarinet 

* Commissioned by lovemusic 

Recorded at GRAME (Générateur de ressources et d'activités musicales exploratoires) in Lyon, France, the last week of September 2022.  Cover art by Niamh Bradbury Dell based on a watercolour by Santiago Díez Fischer.

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

Lovemusic is supported by DRAC Grand Est, la Région Grand Est and la Ville de Strasbourg.