Panorama of American Piano Music
Four-CD survey of American piano music from 1911 to 1991: 62 works by 48 composers, from Ives and Antheil to Zappa, including seven first recordings, played by Yvar Mikhashoff.
Afterglow
Six chamber works by Keeril Makan performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble and pianist Cory Smythe, including Mercury Songbirds, Afterglow for solo piano and Mu for prepared violin played by Erik Carlson.
Zwei Gefühle and Solo Works
Helmut Lachenmann performs with and supervises Ensemble Signal in Zwei Gefühle, Musik mit Leonardo for speaker and ensemble, and plays three of his own piano works, recorded after a four-concert tour of the programme.
Songs Of Innocence & Experience
The first complete recording of Walter Zimmermann's string quartets by the Sonar Quartett, with Songs of Innocence & Experience after William Blake, Festina Lente and Fränkische Tänze, plus solo works for violin and for viola with voice.
The Works for Percussion 2
John Cage's early percussion chamber works from 1935-1942, including the three Constructions, Trio, Quartet and Living Room Music, played by Third Coast Percussion, with the first movement of Living Room Music recorded in the Ford House.
Songbirdsongs
First CD recording of Songbirdsongs by John Luther Adams, a cycle for piccolos, ocarinas, flutes and percussion based on real bird songs, with Callithumpian Consort, plus Strange Birds Passing.
Undersong
Jason Eckardt's Undersong cycle, built around Laura Mullen's text, with A way [tracing], 16, Aperture and The Distance (This), played by Fred Sherry, Claire Chase, Tony Arnold and the International Contemporary Ensemble under Steven Schick.
Signs, Games and Messages
The first complete recording of György Kurtág's 24 Signs, Games and Messages for solo viola, with first recordings of four further viola pieces, played by Maurizio Barbetti with baritone Gianpiero Ruggeri.
The Works for Percussion I
The complete Imaginary Landscapes 1-5 and Credo in US by John Cage, with radios, phonograph records and percussion, played by Percussion Group Cincinnati in the first volume of the Mode Cage percussion works.
Bolt From The Blue - Music For Piano & Voices
Thirty-seven miniatures by Howard Skempton, interleaving solo piano pieces played by Daniel Becker with choral settings of Mary Webb, Edward Thomas, Emerson and others sung by EXAUDI under James Weeks; several are first recordings.
The Works For Saxophone 3 & 4
Two CDs of John Cage works for saxophones and other instruments, played by Ulrich Krieger and Intersax, including the only available recording of Party Pieces, written with Cowell, Harrison and Thomson.
Maim (Water)
Chaya Czernowin's Maim (Water), a 50-minute orchestral triptych with five soloists (tubax, oboe and musette, piano and harpsichord, guitars, viola) and live electronics, played by the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Johannes Kalitzke.
Responses To Ives
Pianist Heather O'Donnell places short works by Charles Ives, including the first recording of London Bridge Is Fallen Down!, alongside first-recorded piano responses by Zimmermann, Finnissy, Tenney, Corbett and Schneller.
Complete String Quartets
Xenakis Edition volume 10 and the first complete recording of Iannis Xenakis's string quartets, played by the JACK Quartet: Tetras, Tetora, ST/4-1,080262 and Ergma, the last quartet, released on CD and surround-sound DVD.
Piano Sonatas
First recordings of four Piano Sonatas by Chris Newman (Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 10, composed 1982-2004), played by Michael Finnissy, a collaborator of the composer for over twenty-five years, in composer-supervised recordings.
Por Gitaro: Suites for Tuned Guitars
First complete recording of Lou Harrison's reconstructed suites for just-intonation guitar and of the Ditone Set, played by John Schneider, with the first recording of Harrison's Handel homage for guitar and gamelan.
Number Pieces 4
First recording of John Cage's Three (1989) for three recorder players, with his early Solo with Obbligato Accompaniment of Two Voices in Canon (1933-34), performed by Trio Dolce. The Number Pieces 4.
Epigram And Evolution: Complete Piano Works
Complete piano works by Roger Reynolds on two CDs, from Epigram and Evolution (1960) to The Angel of Death (1998-2001), played by Yuji Takahashi, Eric Huebner and Marilyn Nonken, with new recordings and remastered analog reissues.
Tracer - Chamber Works 1952-1999
Chamber works by Earle Brown from 1952 to 1999, from Folio and Four Systems to Tracer, with Christian Wolff and Joan La Barbara among the performers and the tape piece Octet in a new transfer.
Virtuoso Opera Fantasies, Paraphrases & Transcriptions
Two CDs of virtuoso piano fantasies and transcriptions on operas by Puccini, Bellini, Verdi, Debussy, Berg, Bussotti and Volans, played by their arranger Yvar Mikhashoff.