Number Five: Alora Crucible – Thymiamatascension VIDEO
Number Four: Ensemble Dal niente – Confined. Speak. VIDEO Confined. Speak is a byproduct, in many ways, of the global pandemic that hit in 2020 and that is still ongoing. Taking compositions from all around the world, the Chicago ensemble recorded them for that album. And what an impressive bunch of compositions! A superb album!
Number Three: Anna Gadt, Zbigniew Chojnacki, and Krzysztof Gradziuk – Renaissance Gesualdo VIDEO Renaissance Gesualdo is an almost daunting experience for the listener. On that double album, Anna Gadt adapted some works of ⅩⅥ century composer Carlo Gesualdo into modern European jazz. So, this isn’t so much a classical album as a jazz album, but it’s important for me that it features in the classical category. Indeed, if classical music can be interpreted note for note just as it was written and intended, it can also serve as inspiration for new music, and be warped into something new, even unrecognizable, and this is a perfect example of this!
Number Two: Patricia Kopatchinskaja – Pierrot lunaire VIDEO
Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a formidable violinist, musician, and composer. However, amidst all her releases this year, I’ve chosen her rendition of Arnold Schönberg. Why? Pierrot lunaire has a special place for me. It’s a piece I was introduced to when I was far from ready for it, but I kept being pulled back to it, like a moth to a lamplight, not knowing what attracted me so. When it finally clicked, it felt like a realization, and Patricia’s recording is just another opportunity for me to recommend this life-changing piece!
Number One: Taylor Brook & Tak Ensemble – Star Maker Fragments VIDEO Star Maker Fragments from its lofty place as classical music AOTY. Well, it seems that, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find another album that worked so perfectly for me… Using extended composition and playing techniques, well beyond my knowledge or capacity, Taylor Brook & the Tak ensemble have crafted a truly fascinating alien soundtrack. It is just the best!
Notable Releases Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Friday, 8 January Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sol Gabeta, Francesco Coll, and Camerata Bern – Plaisirs illuminés 74:10Switzerland α
Tracklist (click to display)
1. Musica concertante per 12 archi: I. Improvisation [0:10:58]
2. Musica concertante per 12 archi: II. Meditation [0:08:04]
3. Musica concertante per 12 archi: III. Action [0:04:46]
4. Games, Signs and Messages: Jelek VI [0:00:53]
5. Concerto per corde, Op. 33: I. Variazioni per i Solisti [0:08:11]
6. Concerto per corde, Op. 33: II. Scherzo fantastico [0:04:00]
7. Concerto per corde, Op. 33: III. Adagio angoscioso [0:06:28]
8. Concerto per corde, Op. 33: IV. Finale furioso [0:04:46]
9. Duo Pizzicato [0:01:10]
10. Baladă şi joc [0:02:55]
11. Les Plaisirs illuminés: I. Praeludium – Dialog – Postludium [0:04:12]
12. Les Plaisirs illuminés: II. Wiegenlied [0:05:45]
13. Les Plaisirs illuminés: III. Alegrías – zweiter Dialog [0:04:57]
14. Les Plaisirs illuminés: IV. Lamento – Epilog [0:03:11]
15. LalulaLied [0:02:20]
16. Camerata’s Birds (Improvisation) [0:01:41]
Wednesday, 3 February Utsav Lal & Nitin Mitta – Visangati 76:16New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Raga Lalit – Alap Jod Jhala [23:46]
2. Raga Lalit – Vilambit Teentaal [13:20]
3. Raga Lalit – Drut Ektaal [06:14]
4. Raga Bihag – Lat Uljhi [11:49]
5. Neer Bharan Kaise Jaon [09:50]
6. Yaad Piya Ki Aaye. [11:17]
Tuesday, 2 March Ensemble Super Musique – Commutation 55:42Montréal, Québec
Tracklist (click to display) 1. L’éveil d’une ville (Luigi Russolo) [07:03]
2. Seuils (Émilie Girard-Charest) [13:17]
3. Pour l’heure (Anestis Logothetis) [11:06]
4. Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire — Graphic Scores: High Tension (Fred Frith) [03:03]
5. Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire — Graphic Scores: Vlissingen (Fred Frith) [03:31]
6. Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire — Graphic Scores: Reykjavík (Fred Frith) [02:59]
7. Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire — Graphic Scores: Dry Stone (Fred Frith) [03:37]
8. Collision (Maxime Daigneault) [11:06]
Wednesday, 3 Taylor Brook & Tak Ensemble – Star Maker Fragments 55:23New York, New York
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Star Maker Fragments [44:27]
2. Star Maker Postlude [10:56]
Friday, 5 Pat Metheny – Road to the Sun 56:19United States
Tracklist (click to display)
1. Four Paths of Light, Pt. 1 [0:04:14]
2. Four Paths of Light, Pt. 2 [0:06:21]
3. Four Paths of Light, Pt. 3 [0:05:30]
4. Four Paths of Light, Pt. 4 [0:03:10]
5. Road to the Sun, Pt. 1 [0:04:22]
6. Road to the Sun, Pt. 2 [0:06:45]
7. Road to the Sun, Pt. 3 [0:03:29]
8. Road to the Sun, Pt. 4 [0:04:05]
9. Road to the Sun, Pt. 5 [0:06:44]
10. Road to the Sun, Pt. 6 [0:03:23]
11. Für Alina (arr. by Pat Metheny for 42-string guitar) [0:08:30]
Monday, 29 March Astragalo – Ⅰ 54:27Siena, Italy
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Go I Know Not Whither And Fetch I Know Not What [14:20]
2. Per Pål Espen [08:29]
3. The Bright Falcon [06:37]
4. Skeleton The Deathless [07:31]
5. Lillekort [10:35]
6. Mrile [06:55]
Friday, 9 April Patricia Kopatchinskaja – Pierrot lunaire 72:18Switzerland α
Tracklist (click to display)
1. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: I. Mondestrunken [0:01:55]
2. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: II. Colombine [0:01:56]
3. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: III. Der Dandy [0:01:28]
4. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: IV. Eine blasse Wäscherin [0:01:36]
5. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: V. Valse de Chopin [0:01:22]
6. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: VI. Madonna [0:01:58]
7. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: VII. Der kranke Mond [0:02:45]
8. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: VIII. Nacht (Passcaglia) [0:02:09]
9. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: IX. Gebet an Pierrot [0:01:12]
10. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: X. Raub [0:01:09]
11. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XI. Rote Messe [0:01:57]
12. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XII. Galgenlied [0:00:19]
13. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XIII. Enthauptung [0:02:15]
14. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XIV. Die Kreuze [0:02:14]
15. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XV. Heimweh [0:02:28]
16. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XVI. Gemeinheit! [0:01:12]
17. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XVII. Parodie [0:01:20]
18. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XVIII. Der Mondfleck [0:00:56]
19. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XIX. Serenade [0:02:49]
20. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XX. Heimfahrt (Barcarole) [0:01:44]
21. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XXI. O alter Duft [0:01:45]
22. Emperor’s Waltz, Op. 437 [0:12:38]
23. Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 [0:09:28]
24. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7: I. Sehr langsam [0:01:19]
25. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7: II. Rasch [0:01:23]
26. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7: III. Sehr langsam [0:01:18]
27. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7: IV. Bewegt [0:01:04]
28. Little Viennese March [0:03:20]
29. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: I. Leicht, zart [0:01:23]
30. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: II. Langsam [0:00:53]
31. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: III. Sehr Langsam [0:01:00]
32. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: IV. Rasch, aber leicht [0:00:28]
33. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: V. Etwas rasch [0:00:33]
34. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: VI. Sehr langsam [0:01:14]
Wednesday, 5 May Sean Hayward – Inquiline 49:33Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Descendancy [08:24]
2. Beneath the Bay Trees [06:01]
3. Ameles Potamos [05:37]
4. Grasp [05:31]
5. Khora [06:20]
6. Complaints [03:45]
7. Inquiline [13:55]
Friday, 21 Christopher Cerrone – The Arching Path 52:18Brooklyn, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Arching Path: I. Musmeci’s Concrete [07:47]
2. The Arching Path: II. Sul Basento [03:58]
3. The Arching Path: III. [03:18]
4. Double Happiness: I. Self Portrait, Part 1 [03:31]
5. Double Happiness: II. Interlude [01:01]
6. Double Happiness: III. Self Portrait, Part 2 [03:39]
7. Double Happiness: IV. Interlude [00:51]
8. Double Happiness: V. New Year’s Song [02:58]
9. I Will Learn To Love a Person: 1. That Night With The Green Sky [05:01]
10. I Will Learn To Love a Person: 2. Eleven Page Poem, Page III [03:05]
11. I Will Learn To Love a Person: 3. I Will Learn How To Love A Person And Then I Will Teach You And Then We Will Know [03:38]
12. I Will Learn To Love a Person: 4. When I Leave This Place [02:39]
13. I Will Learn To Love a Person: 5. Are You Ok? [03:25]
14. Hoyt–Schermerhorn [07:40]
Wednesday, 26 Sissel Vera Pettersen & Randi Pontoppidan – Inner Lift 38:22Copenhagen, Denmark
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Come [03:50]
2. Ethereal [03:19]
3. Mazuu [05:43]
4. Inner Lift [00:57]
5. Raindrops [11:33]
6. Traces [01:36]
7. Ohro [01:57]
8. Swimmingly [04:14]
9. Still Safe [05:13]
Friday, 28 May Wavefield Ensemble – Concrete & Void 69:56New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Jen Baker: Lightsicle Sirens [12:01]
2. Jessie Cox: Space Travel From Someplace Else [12:29]
3. Victoria Cheah: A wasp, some wax, an outline of the valley over us a fall [20:09]
4. Greg Chudzik: Silo [14:10]
5. Nicholas DeMaison: Untitled 1, for Wavefield [11:07]
Friday, 4 June MMMD & Alem – L’Âge de l’absolutisme 31:37Athens, Greece
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Sarabande [10:14]
2. Adagio [07:06]
3. Air [14:17]
Friday, 11 Ofer Pelz & Meitar Ensemble – Trinité 52:00New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Backward inductions [07:56]
2. Chinese Whispers [10:59]
3. Convergence [07:23]
4. marchons, marchons [12:05]
5. Blanc sur Blanc: First movement [08:23]
6. Blanc sur Blanc: Epilogue [05:15]
Wednesday, 30 June Augustin Lusson – Playback 63:55Poitiers, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. T. Baltzar: Prelude in G major, Division violin (1693) [03:24]
2. T. Baltzar: Allemande in G minor, Mus. Sch. F. 273 [03:54]
3. T. Baltzar: Courante in G minor, Mus. Sch. F. 273 [01:49]
4. T. Baltzar: Sarabande in G minor, Mus. Sch. F. 273 [02:01]
5. T. Baltzar: Allemande in B flat major, Mus. Sch. F. 273 [02:24]
6. T. Baltzar: Sarabande in B flat major, Mus. Sch. F. 273 [02:59]
7. JH. Roman: Ouverture in E flat major, BeRI 321 [04:34]
8. LG. Guillemain: Gracioso in G major, Op. 18 [02:30]
9. LG. Guillemain: Gracioso in E minor, Op. 18 [03:20]
10. LG. Guillemain: Minuetto in D major, Op. 18 [04:37]
11. LG. Guillemain: Aria in G major, Op. 18 [04:00]
12. JS. Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Allemanda [04:57]
13. JS. Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Corrente [02:50]
14. JS. Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Sarabande [04:04]
15. JS. Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Giga [05:12]
16. JS. Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Ciaccona [11:20]
Friday, 23 July Elisabeth Harnik – Superstructure: Holding Up a Bridge 45:41Vienna, Austria
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Superstructure [27:25]
2. Holding up a bridge [18:16]
Friday, 20 August Alora Crucible – Thymiamatascension 40:43Connecticut
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Livanomancy in Jasper [09:24]
2. Synaxarion of John Isangelous [06:00]
3. Synaxarion of John Abject [07:29]
4. Bottomless Madrugada [05:54]
5. Barriers Hymn [07:57]
6. Psalloed Illusions [03:59]
Saturday, 18 September Vincenzo Castaldo – Kairos 53:25Salerno, Italy
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Simba [02:08]
2. La Peste di Atene [05:57]
3. Melancholia [04:27]
4. Venganza [06:47]
5. La Nascita di Venere [03:23]
6. Vortice degli Amanti [04:45]
7. Narciso [04:31]
8. Sogno Polimetrico [03:34]
9. Sogno Microtonale [02:35]
10. L’attesa [04:31]
11. La Peste di Atene (orchestrale) [06:03]
12. Vortice degli Amanti (piano) [04:44]
Friday, 8 October Sol Gabeta & Patricia Kopatchinskaja – Sol & Pat 80:10Poland α
Tracklist (click to display)
1. Tambourin in C Major [0:01:31]
2. 24 Duos for Violin and Cello: XXIV. Toccatina all’inglese [0:02:58]
3. 25 Duos for Violin and Cello: XXI. Valse bavaroise [0:01:55]
4. Presto in C Minor, H.230 Wq.114/3 [0:01:51]
5. Rizoma [0:06:22]
6. Sonata in A Minor for Violin and Cello, M. 73: I. Allegro [0:04:45]
7. Sonata in A Minor for Violin and Cello, M. 73: II. Très vif [0:03:27]
8. Sonata in A Minor for Violin and Cello, M. 73: III. Lent [0:05:47]
9. Sonata in A Minor for Violin and Cello, M. 73: IV. Vif, avec entrain [0:05:57]
10. Interlude [0:01:39]
11. La fête au village, Op. 9: I. Dimanche matin [0:01:44]
12. La fête au village, Op. 9: II. Fanfare [0:01:27]
13. La fête au village, Op. 9: III. Discours du syndic [0:01:36]
14. La fête au village, Op. 9: IV. Filles et garçons [0:01:20]
15. La fête au village, Op. 9: V. Pont de danse [0:01:20]
16. La fête au village, Op. 9: VI. Soir [0:02:11]
17. Dhipli Zyia [0:03:46]
18. Hommage à Hilding Rosenberg [0:01:34]
19. Duo for Violin and Cello in D Minor, Op. 7: I. Allegro serioso, non troppo [0:09:19]
20. Duo for Violin and Cello in D Minor, Op. 7: II. Adagio – Andante [0:09:30]
21. Duo for Violin and Cello in D Minor, Op. 7: III. Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento – Presto [0:02:35]
22. Duo for Violin and Cello in D Minor, Op. 7: IV. Presto [0:05:51]
23. Prelude No.15 in G Major, BWV 860 [0:01:52]
Friday, 15 Luís Lopes’s Love Song – Emmentes 34:50Lisboa, Portugal
Tracklist (click to display) 1. VARIATIONS ON CEREJEIRAS [07:42]
2. EMMENTES VARIATIONS [03:44]
3. VARIATIONS ON SHE [07:42]
4. VARIATIONS ON EFFIGY [05:46]
5. VARIATIONS ON PASO [05:58]
6. VARIATIONS ON SHE IS [04:09]
7. CODA [00:48]
Saturday, 23 October Anna Gadt, Zbigniew Chojnacki, and Krzysztof Gradziuk – Renaissance Gesualdo 125:46Warsaw, Poland
Tracklist (click to display) 1. CD1: In Te Domine Speravi [08:55]
2. CD1: Madrygał [08:06]
3. CD1: Monumentum [06:34]
4. CD1: Moro Lasso [03:13]
5. CD1: A mountain doesn’t know it’s tall [05:04]
6. CD1: Dolora [10:40]
7. CD1: Tristis [07:29]
8. CD1: Gagliarda [05:15]
9. CD 2: Part I [18:33]
10. CD 2: Part II [20:05]
11. CD 2: Part III [08:12]
12. CD 2: Part IV [11:35]
13. CD 2: Part V [04:57]
14. CD 2: Part VI [07:08]
Friday, 5 November Ensemble Dal niente – Confined. Speak 63:30Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Igor Santos: confined. speak. [13:16]
2. Hilda Paredes: Demente Cuerda [15:02]
3. Tomás Gueglio: Triste y madrigal [07:53]
4. George Lewis: Merce and Baby [09:12]
5. Melissa Vargas: Es casi como el inicio… y comienza [05:36]
6. Andile Khumalo: Beyond Her Mask [12:31]
Friday, 19 Resina – Speechless 51:30Warsaw, Poland
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Mercury Immersion [05:18]
2. Horse Tail [04:39]
3. Failed Myth Simulation [05:44]
4. Darwin’s Finches [03:32]
5. Unveiling [03:19]
6. Manic [05:49]
7. Hajstra [02:17]
8. A Crooked God [04:22]
9. Recall [05:15]
10. Dessication (Bonus Track) [03:53]
11. Mercury Immersion – long version (Bonus Track) [07:22]
Monday, 22 November Karl Naegelen, Sylvain Darrifourcq, and Toma Gouband – Cartographie de rythmes #1 : Vitesses approchantes 33:30Paris, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Impacts [10:33]
2. Vitesses approchantes [01:37]
3. Déphasage circulaire [03:59]
4. Minimal [08:13]
5. Continuum – filtrage [09:08]
Best of 2021 01/01 – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal
