Composition / All styles

A breathtaking journey into Arvo Pärt’s sacred minimalism. This LP features rare and moving renditions—including a radically slowed performance of Silentium—that illuminate the composer’s most intimate, time-suspending work.

'Frames that lean, pictures that roam’ is a collection of instrumental works by Ailie Ormston for tape, electric guitar, cello and double bass. This ensemble of instruments achieves a complex sound ranging from fully electronic (tape) to fully acoustic (strings), with the guitar occupying space in-between. The freeing of fixed material is the common thread throughout these six works – riffs and motifs are established before being reinvented and reimagined, bending and twisting within the bounds …

Big tip! *300 copies limited edition* First LP in the ‘Signature Series’, a small new series in the Metaphon catalog, documenting previously unreleased archive works of less known composers. Metaphon presents their ‘signature’ in the most personal and elementary way. Raoul De Smet (1936), mainly known for his numerous instrumental and chamber music works, started composing in the early 1960’s. Between 1974 and 1989 he also recorded several electro-acoustic compositions at the IPEM in Ghent, one …

1990 release ** "This superb collection of works by 20th century minimalist composers spotlights works written for string orchestra. It opens with John Adams' Shaker Loops, a piece with strings set on rapid tremolo throughout -- creating a beautiful, shimmering quality counterbalanced by an aggressive scrubbing sound. Steve Reich's Eight Lines -- a reworking of his incredible 1979 work Octet, scored this time for string orchestra and piano -- is a real gem. The orchestra moves like a well-oiled …

1993 release (RARE) ** "This disc, which brings together recent works with two pieces from 1981, allows for a very interesting journey. It is here with Bernard Noël, a relentless questioner of our language, that these Mémoires d’oubli open. With a philharmonic orchestra at its best, which is not always the case when playing contemporary music, the singer Helen Merrill and Bernard Noël himself bring to life a text that goes from simple phonemes to a beautiful poem on the theme of the face. Instru…

1999 release **

1990 release ** Music by young French-Italian composers or performers of contemporary music: Griffith Rose, Enrico Correggia, Fabrizio De Rossi Re, Giulio Castagnoli, Mauro Cardi.

1989 release ** Chamber works: Louis Andriesses, Hoketus; Elliott Carter, Enchanted Preludes, Espirit Rude, Esprit Doux; Karlheinz Stockhausen, Dr. K Sextet; Michael Torke, The Yellow Pages; Rand Steiger, Quintessence; Arthur Jarvinen, Egytian Two Step. Personnel: Erika Duke, Lorna Elder, Arthur Jarvinen, Amy Knoles, Robin Lorentz, Gaylord Mowry, James Rorig, Rand Steiger, Dorothy Stone, Tony Holmes, Teresa Tunnicliff.

2025 stock ** Flute player Michelle Zurria plays music by Gyorgy Kurtag, Salvatore Sciarrino, Heinz Holliger, Toshio Hosokawa, Peter Ablinger, Yan Maresz, Pierre Jodlowski,  Mary Jane Leach,  Giuliano D'Angiolini, Laurence Crane, Noah Creshevsky, Beat Furrer, Howard Skempton, Michel Van der Aa. "It is not so much the case of choosing more or less appropriate sounds, to decorate the house, as it is a case of 'building new universes with new sounds'. Composer Salvatore Sciarrino comments, without …

*Italian language edition* This volume presents fully translated into Italian the landmark texts of the post-World War II musical avant-garde. Master John Cage revolutionized the traditional and academic concept of music and pushed into new frontiers of sound experimentation by applying the method of composition through consultation of the I Ching. And without forgetting to fascinate the reader with the narration of episodes from his life, which rise to the role of Zen parables.

2008 release ** Lohengrin, Salvatore Sciarrino's "azione invisibile", is both a gloss on Wagner's opera and a sly debunking of it. It was conceived by its composer as an opera with action invisible, for one singer/actress who assumes all the charactersn Sciarrino's monodrama, based on one of Jules Laforgue's Moralités Légendaires, episodes from the story are viewed through the distinctly jaundiced eyes and ears of Elsa, the woman Lohengrin marries and then deserts. A single voice narrates and ta…

2025 stock ** "British compositions dominate Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal. Both Gavin Bryars (born in Yorkshire, 1943) and Laurence Crane (born in Oxford, 1961) belong to the classic experimental scene in England, a scene that developed in the wake of the conceptual New York School music in the 1960s. The Englishmen draw inspiration from composers such as Cage and Feldman, as well as from earlier cult figures such as Eric Satie, who anticipated genres such as minimalism and ambient as far back a…

2000 release ** "“To awaken the ear well” was one of the goals of Luigi Nono in his last creative period, the 1980s and 20th century. Between pianissimo and complete silence, the listener is invited to unexpected sound adventures. Tense intensity with a sparse expression goes together with the breaking of clear coherence in a very concentrated and targeted manner. As one of his first works, the Variazioni from 1950 derives its substance from Arnold Schönberg, his posthumous father-in-law. The us…

2008 release ** "The composer Jørgen Plaetner (1930-2002) is well known as one of Scandinavia's electronic music pioneers. His electronic works from the 1960s remain among the most original of their kind. However, Plaetner also has a more traditional side and wrote a large number of acoustic works.One of the big chamber works from Plaetner's late period is the trio Episodes and Collisions. It was written in 1996 for LINensemble with its combination of clarinet, cello and piano. Jørgen Plaetner h…

1992 release **  Felix Werder - Three Night Pieces Op. 121 (1972)    Klaus Hinrich Stahmer - König Wiedehopf (1981)    Frank Michael - Trio Op. 58 (1985)    Wolfgang Hildemann - Suoni Serale XI/XII (1989/90)    Klaus Hinrich Stahmer - Hallo - Georg Philipp! (1981)    Wilfried Jentzsch - Paysages FI G Für Flöte Und Computerklänge (1984) Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo Flute – Hanna PatzeltFlute, Bass Flute, Alto Flute – Winfried Meier-EhratFlute, Piccolo Flute, Bass Flute – Frank MichaelGuitar – Andre…

1991 release ** "Electroacoustic chamber music. In the booklet Mikael Tosti is credited playing electroacoustic violin as well as Ko de Regt, obukano and Henrik Jespersen, electroacoustic saxophone."

1990 release **

1991 release **

1990 release ** ""In illo tempore" composed 1979 and recorded June 3-4, 1983 at WDR, Köln, Germany. "Je vis - Je meurs" composed 1979-80 and recorded November 15-16, 1984 at WDR, Köln, Germany. "Nomos protos" composed 1986-87 for piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, posaune, percussion, two violins, bratsche, cello and double bass. Recorded April 23, 1988 at Nedeltschev Sound-Studio."

1989 release **

1992 release (RARE) **  Aurel Stroe: L'Enfant et le Diable (Voix, instruments, percussions)Camille Roy: Discontinuo (Violoncelle, piano)Jean-BaptisteDevillers: Ucello le poil (Voix, percussions, instruments) Ensemble Aleph

1992 release **  Luciano Berio: DuettiBruno Maderna: WidmungGyörgy Kurtag: Eight Duos Maryvonne Le Dizès (Violin)Christophe Poiget (Violin)Michel Cerutti (Cymbalum)Alain Damiens (Conductor)

1991 release (VERY RARE) ** Rarely performed Italian contemporary compositions for guitar by Bruno Maderna, Goffredo Petrassi, Franco Margola, Carlo Mosso, Lorenzo Ferrero, Gilberto Bosco, Heitor Villa Lobos, Giulio Castagnoli, Fabio Vacchi, Daniele Bertotto, Davide Ficco.

2025 stock ** "Intolleranza 1960 was Luigi Nono's first work for the opera stage and is a flaming protest against intolerance and oppression and the violation of human dignity. The year in the title refers to the time of the work's origin. Nono himself said of this work that it "did mark a beginning for me, but in no sense did it constitute a tabula rasa or in response to 'divine inspiration'". It was commissioned for the 1961 Venice Biennale by its director Mario Labroca. The first performance …

1989 release ** Jeroen van Dijk - De tijd betrapt 11:54Chiel Meijering - Zou het pijn doen  09:09Huub de Vriend - Reggae 04:05Hans de Jong - Diaspora 07:02Charles E. Ives - Overture and March 1776 03:21.Dolf de Kinkelder - De Verloedering 2 13:29Mauricio Kagel - Fünf Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen 07:43

1991 release ** "Dutch composer Louis Andriessen is often spoken of as one of the great neglected minimalists. But his work tends to be far less strictly minimalist than that of early Steve Reich or Philip Glass and much more akin to the grab bag ethos of John Adams. In fact, much of "De Staat," a single movement composition with text drawn from Plato's The Republic written from 1973-1976, echoes Adams both in the favored tonalities and in the mix of minimalist styles. The work, as performed by …

This is the third and final chapter of a project/research on "minimalisms" that the Italian flutist Manuel Zurria, acclaimed instrumentalist and passionate lover of the more adventurous contemporary music, began in 2007. The double CD include near two and a half hours of music, which reveal how much different the approaches to the beloved "minimalist" verb can be. And how much an inquiring and participatory interpretation can lead to exciting results. In this brilliant collection Zurria not only…

Huge Tip! Fame di Vento is Manuel Zurria's latest work. A triple CD to evoke the many suggestions and projects that have taken place in recent years, full of collaborations, of the Sicilian flautist. Fame Di Vento is also an idealized homage to Alighiero Boetti, a nomad by culture and vocation. In his footsteps, Manuel draws on the most diverse cultures, from the Lithuanian mystics to India and Sicily, from just-intonation to European-style minimalism. As he has already done in the past, Zurria …

2025 stock ** "The present recording, recorded in a studio by an ensemble of first-call freelancers led by two ideally sympathetic conductors, Eric Wubbels and Taylor Ho Bynum, provides eloquent evidence of what Laubrock has achieved. Both of her orchestral pieces – Vogelfrei, with its variegated textures, animated rhythms, swooping vocals, and inexorable momentum; and Contemporary Chaos Practices, where four instantly distinguishable soloists (Mary Halvorson, Davis, Wooley, and Laubrock herself…

"The bass music you will hear on this album is, it might be said, a child of the seventies. A ferociously radical time in the development of the double bass as a solo instrument found composers eager to formulate soundscapes that would send our Bottesinis and Dragonettis running for the exit ! As an emerging bassist in these heady times, immersed deeply into the art of improvisation where almost on a daily basis colleagues pushed the boundaries of instrumental possibilities, I found myself addit…

*2025 stock* This live recording of the epic composition “Time Passing…” by Barry Guy based on texts by Samuel Beckett, Edwin Morgan and Kerry Hardie, features the stunning achievement of the singers Savina Yannatou, Anja Pöche, Matthew Brook and bass improvisations by Barry Guy who acted also as conductor of the brilliantly performing Camerata Zurich.

1990 release (RARE) ** "Considered one of the most authoritative exponents of Italian and international music by the most eminent personalities of the musical world of the twentieth century, including Luciano Berio, Massimo Mila, Sandro Cappelletto, Michelangelo Zurletti, Dino Villatico and Renzo Cresti." Musica reservata,  per orchestra d’archi Verso, per ensemble Risonanze, per quartetto d’archiCapriccio, per violoncello Concertino,  per ensemble Alternanze, per pianoforte e orchestra d’archi

1990 release (RARE) **

1991 release **  Elena Firsova - Music for 12 10:12Yuri Kasparov - Devil's Trills. Variations on Tartini's Theme 7:16Vladislav Shoot - 4 Versions 13:15Edison Denisov - Chamber Symphony 20.05

1996 release ** "Joyous melodies, pop music textures, rhythm complexity of a Frank Zappa-sort, re-working of material quoted from Baroque-period composers, and a generous sense of humor all work together to make an interesting and entertaining collection of new works from this Los Angeles-based composer. Performed by the California Ear Unit, selections include: "The Vulture's Garden" (1990), "Edible Black Ink" (1989), "Murphy Nights" (1989), "Count Your Change" (1989), "Clean Your Gun" (1991), "…

1995 release  ** A fusion of jazz and avant-garde featuring saxophone with orchestra:Roman Palester – Concertino For Alto Saxophone And String OrchestraBrian Fenelly – Concerto For Saxophone And String OrchestraBrian Fenelly – Tesserae VIII For Solo SaxophoneAugustyn Bloch – Notes For SaxophoneJuji Yuasa – Not I, But The Wind...For Amplified Alto Saxophione

1988 release **

1993 release  ** "Between 1963 and 1973, because there were almost no instrumentalists who I could interest in my music, I wrote very little instrumental music, contenting myself with making taped pieces, often for dancers. Since then I have been fortunate enough to find players for whom to write. At the same time, I have seen developing in my music what I think is really a revolutionary system of tonality. It is a system with all the structural, rhetorical and affective capabilities of classica…

1998 release  ** "For the first time, we can hear Giacinto Scelsi playing piano! It's short (3:51) and the recording quality substandard, but Scelsi's improvisation with Carin Levine, Krishna e Radha, gives a window into the mind of one of the greats--that until now we could only hear through the veils of transcription and composition. The other premiere is Quays, for alto flute (1954). Levine has made her mark in the avant of avant-garde flute. The remaining pieces here have all been recorded a…

2025 stock ** "The sounds on this album seem to come from another world. They spread through space, then disappear, or rather: fade away, evaporate, crystallize, settle as a sedi- ment. This music is about fading away, about reverberations, echoes. European instruments sound Asian, and Asian instruments are integrated into European art music. Xiaoyong Chen, who emigrated to Germany in 1985, once a student of composition with György Ligeti and now a professor of composition at the Hochschule fü…