#Luciform usa guild how to
#Luciform usa guild series

There's a lot of variety of mood between Corbett's Yael and Adler's spiky and mysterious Violin Concerto, and Plum's committed and engaging playing makes a more than convincing case for both pieces. When violinist Sarah Plum couldn't find a piece to pair with Sidney Corbett's beautiful, exploratory Yael from 2011 she simply commissioned another violin concerto by Christopher Adler and released them under the name Music For A New Century. It's quite beautiful, Eno ambiance crossed with hushed minimalism. However, I've listened to the shorter version, From Sleep, and you might want to stay awake. If you're feeling tense after Sicario, get some rest with Max Richter's Sleep, eight hours of music precision-tooled to lull you to sleep and keep you there.

#Luciform usa guild how to

For such a small country, Iceland sure knows how to crank out great composers. This is literally the sound of dread and it has to be heard to be believed. Speaking of dark, it gets none more black than Jóhann Jóhannsson's soundtrack to the fatalistic thriller Sicario. It is a gorgeous and sophisticated work, signifying new levels of dynamic flexibility on the part of Diaz de Leon, so get to it whether or not you've already heard those other pieces. So the only new work is the brooding and suspenseful Portals Before Dawn, played here by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Both those works were previously released, however, the former on Chase's Density and the latter on Rubin's There Never Is No Light. On the darker end of the spectrum, we have The Soul is the Arena, three stunning works by Mario Diaz de Leon, including Luciform for flute and electronics performed by the great Claire Chase and the title track for bass clarinet and electronics, brilliantly played by Joshua Rubin. Another beautiful recording from Sono Luminus, too. If there was ever a new music song of the summer, 2015 would belong to Sigfúsdóttir's Clockworking. But while Thorvaldsdottir is the most well known, I will now be keeping an ear out for the others, especially Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, who wrote the instantly likeable opening and closing tracks. The six works were commissioned from five local composers (all women, I might add), including superstar Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Special notice should be taken, here and elsewhere, of the sparkling harpsichord of Guðrún Óskarsdóttir. From Beacon To Beacon, by Hafdís Bjarnadóttir, even features the sound of pounding surf or blowing winds among its spiky eplorations. Like Adams' music, the pieces on Clockworking by the Icelandic chamber ensemble Nordic Affect also seem in touch with the natural and physical world. As with The Wind In High Places, the recording is a masterpiece in its own right, finely detailed, sonically rich and involving. But if the mood is right, there's nothing else like it. Five movements of spacy sounds, pounding tom toms and subtle clatters and clangs, without much structure that I can find, makes for a piece I don't listen to often. Ilimaq: Under the Ice, an electro-acoustic collaboration with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, is a little bit more of a specialty item. The album is Adams in his prime, which means essential listening.

#Luciform usa guild series

The album closes with Dream of the Canyon Wren, also played by the JACK, a series of descending glissandos with some of the puckish wit of Harry Partch. You might find yourself breathing differently as you listen.

The second piece, Canticles Of The Sky, was composed for 48 cellos and sounds like a ribbon of pure sound. But knowing those technical details is not necessary to enjoy the airy tangles of harmonies woven together by Adams. The title work, played to perfection by the JACK Quartet, is an ethereal work which asks the players to keep their hands off the fretboards and play only open strings and harmonics. The Wind In High Places is an exquisite collection featuring three works for strings. But the man has a work ethic so there were actually not one but two fascinating new releases in 2015. I'm probably only scratching the surface but here goes.Īfter the triumph of Become Ocean in 2014, no one would have looked askance if John Luther Adams had decided to take a year off. But for us listeners, there was plenty of sounds to surprise and delight. The preceding 12 months brought the all the usual thinkpieces about the death of classical music, the decline of CD sales, the struggle to fill concert halls, etc.