Composition / Avant-Garde

1991 release ** How well early, full notated, Cage is standing the test of time, especially the works for prepared piano and for percussion. The Perilous Night is a 12-minute prepared piano piece completed two years before Cage started his classic Sonatas and Interludes. The Perilous Night, which uses fairly elaborate preparations, is nothing like so well known, although included on Jeanne Kirstein's important 1970 CBS double LP. The connection between Cage and Jasper Johns was re-emphasized whe…

1990 release ** "Beautifully performed pieces from 1942 to 1985 by vocalist Joan LaBarbara with piano and percussion. Contains: A Flower (1950), Mirakus (1984), Eight Whiskus (1984), The Wonderful Widow of 18 Springs (1942) for voice and closed piano, Nowth upon Nacht (1984), Sonnekus (1985), Forever and Sunsmell (1942), Solos for Voice (from the Songbooks) #'s 49, 52, 67 (1970), Music for Two (by One) (1984)."

1991 release ** "Luis de Pablo represents the first post war generation in Spain, a lawyer, his music has graced all the primary festivals of new music in Europe, not so much the USA,nothing at all. He writes incredibly for strings in any genre there, solo, duets or trios. These pieces are more colorful mixtures of winds percussion,piano and strings and reveals a certain surface playfulness, an affinity for the dance gesture I think. The Notturnino has a kind of wispy arid flush of colours, ongo…

First released in 1969 on the Advanced Recordings label, this album represents Richard Maxfield’s music manifesto. A wild collage of highly manipulated sonic events from an extreme variety of analog sources.

The Lost Genesis of Ambient Minimalism: Harold Budd's Seminal The Oak Of The Golden Dreams Returns to Vinyl

2015 release (RARE) ** "World premieres of new compositions by Iancu Dumitrescu and Ana-Maria Avram performed live with the Hyperion International Ensemble under the batton of Ilan Volkov at the 15th George Enescu Festival in 2015."

1992 release ** "'Rebonds' (I. Xenakis), 'Akea' (I. Xenakis), 'Epicycles' (I. Xenakis), 'Mania' (C. Tsoupaki), 'Concerto For Oboe And Chamber Ensemble' (D. del Puerto) - Machiko Takahasi (fl.), Ernest Rombout (ob.), Mark Dijcks, Ria Kleinjan (cl.), Jonathan Reeder, Stefanie Liedtke (bsn.), Fokke van Heel, Guillermo Zarzo (h.), Peter van Dinther (tp.), Willie Verdievel (tb.), Jan van der Sanden (tu.), Mifune Tsuji, Izumi Okubo, Paul Hendriks (vl), Susan Bierre (vla), Tadashi Tanaka (cel.), Thom d…

*300 coipes limited edition* PMP releases Trillium X, Anthony Braxton's sixth opera, to mark his 80th birthday. Composer, multi-instrumentalist, experimentalist and visionary Anthony Braxton is considered one of the most important musicians, educators and creative thinkers of the last fifty years Limited edition deluxe box set of 8 CDs includes a live recording of the world premiere in Prague, a studio recording made at the famous Darmstadt summer courses, 6 hours of exclusive audiovisual materi…

2009 release ** "Denissow avoids postmodern clutter by putting critical distance between himself and the music - this is a fantasy. Jürg Henneberger and Hedwig Fassbender avoid the hard sell, keeping the make-believe sound world allusive and inscrutable. And they bring comparable qualities to one of the best Folk Song cycles around - a work whose charms have, arguably, been dinted by overfamiliarity but that has now been calmly reassessed."

Apartment House presents seven works from John Cage's early period, before he began his systematic exploration of chance procedures. This repertoire captures a transitional moment when Cage had moved beyond traditional methods but before he devised new formal systems—a period when, as pianist Kerry Yong notes, he was "forced to be guided by their instincts and intuition" producing "extraordinary music." The program balances what Yong calls "simply gorgeous / gorgeously simple pieces like 'Dream'…

A 64-minute piano solo composed in 2021, performed by Jack Yarbrough. "'Mine but for its sublimation' is about resonance, register, and touch. It is about where we lead ourselves when we trust ourselves. It is experiencing trust as a chain of clearings, a sequence of becomings, openings, centerings. It is about letting go; othering; finding presence through evaporation. Obliteration." - Timothy McCormack

Kory Reeder composed Homestead (2024)—a nearly hour-long string quartet in four movements with an interlude—during his residency as Artist in Residence at Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, Nebraska in 2023. As he explains: "As a fifth-generation Nebraskan, growing up on the native lands of the Chatiks si chatiks people (Pawnee), this project is a part of my process of learning, listening, and developing a relationship with the land and its stewards in my home state: a beautiful pla…

A 45-minute piece from 2024 composed by Ferdinand Schwarz in collaboration with AREPO ensemble.

A 50 minute solo for viola d'amore played by Marco Fusi. The piece was composed in 2022-2023, and has six movements.

*300 copies limited edition* Patience is the debut full-length album by Sante Fe-based artist Theodore Cale Schafer. Alternately murky and narcoleptic and bristling with grit and light, this collection of eight pieces is a delicate play of contrasts. Impressionistic settings unfurl with an unhurried gait, opening with the dream-like disorientation of "Gold Chain" in which a degraded location recording gives way to a soft web of treated piano motifs. Schafer's compositions are sumptuous yet unfus…

*300 copies limited edition* Students of Decay presents "Kaivajaiset" by Finnish composer Niko-Matti Ahti. Best known for his work alongside his partner Marja as Ahti & Ahti, Niko-Matti has been an active participant in the Finnish underground since the late 1990s. "Kaivajaiset" is his first solo recording and was originally conceived of as an installation. Part horspiel, part musique concrete, it is a piece of music that draws comparisons to the work of pioneering avant-garde composers such as …

Moving is the abstract translation of long travels through the southern US into music for pedal steel guitar, chamber ensemble, organ, and electronics. The live performances of Moving feature 5 video projections with video art by Chaz Underriner which form the basis of the design of the CD. Moving particularly focuses on waterways in the south, including recordings from Blue Springs in Florida and the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana, the largest wetland and swamp in the US. Chaz Underriner (b. 1…

Idiosyncratic, large-scale and in its fundamental disposition one of a kind, Florian Weber’s Imaginary Cycle, conceived for the unique instrumentation of brass ensemble and piano, is a hybrid of multiple musical languages that seamlessly blends the harmonious with the oblique. Here Weber presents a cycle in four parts, plus an opening and an epilogue, in which the German pianist is joined by a group of four euphoniums, a trombone quartet as well as flautist Anna-Lena Schnabel and Michel Godard o…

Founding work of minimalism, Music with Changing Parts is a piece with free instrumentation. The musicians choose which part to play among the 8 staves of the score. At each indicated cue, the musicians can change part, which produces an abrupt change of instrumentation. While the music is based on a melodic material limited to a few notes that are repeated in patterns that expand or contract, the changes in orchestration refresh the listening  experience by producing sonic contrasts.  These tec…

Unreleased material composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1992

Two-CD set of works by Gerald Eckert, mostly for orchestra and often with live electronics, performed by Ensemble Reflexion K and the norddeutsche sinfonietta, with the composer as cellist and conductor.

1998 release ** Music for recorder by Paul Hindemith, Harald Genzmer, Francis Poulenc, George Auric, Jacques Ibert, Walter Leigh, Gail Kubik, Ulrich Staeps, Benjamin Britten, Hans Poser, Ervin Henning, Konrad Boehmer, Marjo Tal. "In thinking of the recorder, one normally sets his or her sights upon the many composed musical works from the 16th and 17th centuries, when the instrument was accorded the status of an official court instrument, as well as being the choice for regional folk and ceremon…

1993 release ** "Sur cette gravure, Irmela Nolte propose un beau jeu allié à une technique nécessaire quant à ce répertoire, agile, au service des œuvres regroupées ici et dont l’on n’entend pas outre mesure son souffle ni sa respiration. Un panorama intéressant, avec 2 des 4 pièces en solo (1,3) et l’autre moitié où la flûte sera aidée d’un autre dispositif (synthétiseur en 2, bande et enregistrements préalables en 4) qui diversifie les procédés et rompt une monotonie possible dans ce genre de …

1989 release ** Marubatoo (13:05) John Wyre Fauna (13:17) William CahnCymbal (11:55) Bob BeckerRain Tree (11:10) Toru TakemitsuRemembrance (9:36) Robin Engelman "This is a fine collection of pieces performed by one of the premier percussion ensembles in the world. The Canadian quintet Nexus approaches the notion of the percussion ensemble with an ear for innovation and a discipline for virtuosity. Nowhere is this clearer in this disc than on the album's centerpiece, "Cymbal," by group leader Bob…

1999 release ** "In 1950 Henry Brant began to write spatial music of a particular kind in which the planned positioning of the performers throughout the hall, as well as on stage, is an essential factor in the composing scheme. This procedure, which limits and defines the contrasted music assigned to each performing group, takes as its point of departure the ideas of Charles Ives. Brant's principal works since 1950 are all spatial; his catalogue now comprises nearly 100 such works, each for a di…

2009 release ** "Japan-for-U.S. CD reissue of Varèse Sarabande LP configuration (VX 81060), featuring contemporary, avant-garde classical performances, recorded live at Tokyo's Nissei Theatre in 1966 by the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa and Hiroshi Wakasugi, featuring performances of the works of nineteen separate composers, of which four were selected for this particular release. The packaging features an eight-page booklet with liner notes "based upon notes by Kun…

2004 release ** Let no-one say that Henry Brant, America’s senior experimental composer, doesn’t have a sense of humor. If Charles Ives had been into Monty Python it would not have reached the heights of epic grandeur and inspired lunacy heard on this second volume of Henry Brant works. Here are three concertos: a triple concerto for Oberlin College’s zaniest, a violin concerto for Daniel Kobialka (violin wizard of the San Francisco Symphony), and a double bass concerto for Lewis Paer (who has r…

1990 release (RARE) **  Ionisation (1933) Edgar Varèse 5:58Trio (1936) John Cage 3:56Canticle (1939) Lou Harrison 4:13Polifonica Monodia Ritmica (1951) Luigi Nono 8:50Gloria E Morte (Words By Marco Luzzi) Guido Facchin 1978 11:21Concerto Da Camera(1986) Roberto Beccaci 9:43Pavone, Mulo, Volpe (1987) Saverio Tasca 5:00Il Respiro Della Notte (Liric By Elena Budini) Luigi Celeghin (1989) 3:55Omaggio A Giocando Duchamp Vinci Leonardo Alfredo Tisocco (1975)

1989 release **  This compact disc contains excerpts from the following releases, recorded between 1976 and 1986. 1. NEXUS RAGTYME CONCERT (UMB DD2) 2. MUSIC OF NEXUS (NE01) 3. NEXUS AND EARLE BIRNEY – 3 record set – (NE 02, 03 & 04) 4. CHANGES (NE05) 5. NEXUS PLAYS THE NOVELTY MUSIC OF GEORGE HAMILTON GREEN (NE 10273)

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 …

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 ** "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…

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…

1990 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."

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.