★Another Timbre
Slow Poem For Stiebler
An extended duo for violin and reed organ, developed by Biliana and Sarah which extends a series of short gestures from Ernstalbrecht Stiebler’s composition ‘Für Biliana’ into slowly expanding harmonic suspensions, highlighting the simple beauty and fragility of the intervals and chords.
Melodies
*In process of stocking* An extraordinary project arising from Frank Denyer’s ethno-musicological studies in the 1970’s, which forced him to go back to basics and ask himself ‘what is a melody?’ and ‘what is a note?’ Frank answered these questions by composing a series of 25 pieces starting from single-note melodies, through melodies with 2, 3 or 4 notes, ending with more complex pieces with 14- and 15-note melodies. A wonderful double CD, with a 24-page booklet containing an essay by Frank de…
Borderland Melodies
Three wonderful recent compositions by acclaimed Swiss composer Jürg Frey - ‘Movement, Ground, Fragility’, ‘L’état de simplicité’ and ‘Borderland Melodies’. All beautifully played by Apartment House"The original idea had been for a CD of pieces that use both clarinet and bass clarinet, which would have given me the opportunity to play alongside Heather Roche, Apartment House’s regular clarinetist. However, the pandemic intervened and limited my activities as a player. Then I was seriously ill fo…
Naiads
A series of five haunting chamber works by UK-based composer Martin Iddon. The titles of the pieces are taken from different kinds of water nymphs in Greek mythology. Apartment House perform a set of five evocative and enigmatic chamber pieces by Leeds-based Martin Iddon, whose last CD ‘Sapindales’ sold out earlier this year."The naiads are freshwater nymphs from Greek myth. There were five different sorts of naiads, each one of which provides the name for one of the pieces in my cycle, Naiads: …
L'art de toucher
First, long over-due, Another Timbre disc of the US composer Evan Johnson. Five works from his unique, whispering soundworld. Three pieces in the ‘L’art de toucher le clavecin’ series, with ‘thaes ofereode, thisses swa maeg’ for cello and voice, and ‘Plan and section of the same reservoir’ played by Trio Accanto. Note that the CD version of this album includes a fifth track, 'Plan and section of the same reservoir', which can't be included as part of the Bandcamp download for copyright reasons.…
A Coiled Form
'A Coiled Form' by UK-based composer Bryn Harrison. The piece was originally composed as a shorter solo in 2020, and then revised and expanded in collaboration with violinist Sarah Saviet, who gives an astonishing virtuosic performance, to become a 50-minute solo work. It was released on CD by Another Timbre in November 2022.
Arena Ladridos
A live performance of saxophonist Bhob Rainey, electronics artist Bonnie Jones and percussionist Chris Cogburn
Meander Selection
Sublime string quartets, piano works, and a short piece for electronics.
"The music of John Lely has run a continuous thread through the programmes of Apartment House for some 20 years. A subtle, yet sinuous presence, producing music that has a quiet yet significant sounding air about it. Lely’s titles of his works are ambiguous, yet point to hidden constructs and origins, Pale Signal, Meander Section or Karnaugh Quartets for example. Ambiguous perhaps, but revealing music of great clarity and a…
Codex Vivere
A 75-minute piece for septet in nine movements by the young Texas-based composer.
Somatic Refrain
Another Timbre presents four chamber works showing the wide range of music by unique Canadian composer Allison Cameron. Played by Apartment House and The Allison Cameron Band.
An Album
Five typically matter-of-fact (but also very beautiful) chamber works by one of the UK’s most under-rated composers.
Hymnkus Thoreau Drawings Two
"Some years ago we performed the John Cage Thoreau Drawings work at dawn break in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on a rather chilly November morning. As a visual artist I have always delighted in Cage’s own visual art and its connections to nature and Henry David Thoreau. The graphical notational elements used in Cage’s score are not, however, his own, but derived from the many small sketches of plants and other natural ephemera found in Thoreau’s Journal, (which I highly recommend also as a porta…
John Tilbury plays Terry Riley
There are certain works by minimalist pioneer Terry Riley that are rightly celebrated as classics, paradigm-shifting masterpieces that exerted a wide influence within classical music, but also well beyond its often hermetic borders. Hello, “Baba O’Riley!” But there is so much more in his repertoire deserving the same accolades. On “Terry Riley: Keyboard Studies”, released by Another Timbre, one of the premiere contemporary music labels of our time, three mid-1960s masterpieces are interpreted by…
Landmarks
Eight collaborative compositions for organ and percussion by the longstanding Canadian duo, who also appeared on Isaiah’s previous, and now sold out, CD ‘Bow’.
Hope Lies Fallow
Six pieces developed by Johnny and Keir from music by Hildegard van Bingen and Orlando de Lassus. Three violin duets, + three tracks for violins and the voice of Celeste Oram.
Tehran Dust
Three chamber pieces by the Austrian composer Klaus Lang, plus two arrangements by Klaus of early music by Johannes Ockeghem and Pierre de la Rue.
Played by Trio Amos with Klaus Lang
The Pankow-Park Sessions
What happens when a composer starts improvising in his mid-80s… Duo from Berlin for cello and piano.
How Lonely Sits The City?
Great new piece from the Swedish composer, working as fruitfully as ever with his ensemble Skogen. Mysterious, dream-like and melancholic. Another gem.
Together on the Way
A concert-length work for pipe organ, piano and percussion, created by the composer and the GBSR Duo (Siwan Rhys and George Barton) at the recent Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Wonderfully brooding music, beautifully played.
Adjacent Sound
Four pieces from the Argentine composer, whose unique soundworld is well described by the title of the first piece: ‘The Construction of an Imaginary Acoustic Space’. Compelling, disconcerting music from a very interesting composer, performed by the New European Ensemble, Ensemble Modelo62, Francesco Dillon and Teodora Stepančić.