RAVI SHANKAR and PHILIP GLASS — Passages (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A collaboration between an avant-garde modern classical composer and a traditional Indian/Hindi composer/performer seems as unlikely as ice hockey on the River Styx. However, Passages is a collaboration between Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar and it works quite well. Shankar's smooth style fits nicely with Glass' dissonant orchestrations. There is a great deal of technical data involved here. Both of these artists have long taken intellectual approaches to music. Thus, the liner notes are a bit heavy-handed. The music is brilliant. The symphony dominates the soundscapes, but Shankar's atmospheres are integral to the success of this project. This CD will appeal to fans of John Cage, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich. Jim Brenholts
Tracklist :
1. Offering [09:46]
2. Sadhanipa [08:36]
3. Channels and Winds [08:00]
4. Ragas in Minor Scale [07:36]
5. Meetings Along the Edge [08:10]
6. Prashanti [13:38]
All Credits :

THE LONDON GABRIELI BRASS ENSEMBLE - From the Steeples and the Mountains (1992) FLAC (tracks), lossless

‘Fascinating … the most interesting and enterprising brass collection I have yet encountered … first rate, and very realistic recording … the brass playing throughout is vividly expert and the recording is splendidly real’ (Gramophone)

‘From the very opening track the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble demands close attention. All say something that makes you want to listen’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘A real gem of a disc. The performances are excellent … This was both an education and an entertainment’ (Classic CD)

‘Performances are ideal. The British have given us a thoroughly American disc of extraordinary beauty; for which, many thanks!’ (Fanfare, USA)
Reviews

Charles Ives–    From The Steeples And The Mountains 4:24
Samuel Barber–    Mutations From Bach (For Brass Choir And Timpani) 5:41
Roy Harris–    Chorale For Organ And Brass 12:49
Virgil Thomson    Family Portrait (For Brass Quintet)(11:29)
Henry Cowell–    Grinnell Fanfare 3:05
Henry Cowell–    Tall Tale 4:19
Henry Cowell    Hymn And Fuguing Tune No 12 (For Three Horns) (4:27)
Henry Cowell–    Rondo 4:45
Philip Glass    Brass Sextet (7:27)
Carl Ruggles–    Angels (For Muted Brass)3:06
Elliott Carter–    A Fantasy About Purcell's Fantasia Upon One Note 3:15
Charles Ives–    Processional: Let There Be Light 2:42

Ensemble – The London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble
Conductor – Christopher Larkin

KRONOS QUARTET - 25 Years : Retrospective (1998) 10CD BOX-SET / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The 20th century has not been kind to most standard classical music forms. The piano sonata, the concerto, the symphony -- none of them have disappeared entirely, but none remain in a state that could be called even remotely healthy. The same was true of the string quartet until 1973, when violinist David Harrington got some friends together to play contemporary music and offered his old high-school composition teacher a bag of donuts if he'd write a piece for them. The resulting composition was the first of over 400 works that have been written for the Kronos Quartet over the course of the following 25 years, a period which has seen the revitalization of the previously moribund string quartet format. But Kronos has done more than simply triple the size of the string quartet repertoire; by focusing on living composers, by cultivating a somewhat rebellious image, and by playing with impeccable professionalism and skill, Kronos has brought a new and primarily young audience to classical music. This massive ten-disc retrospective includes performances of 31 major compositions, most previously released, but some in new recordings. There are none of the miniature works that fill so many of Kronos' individual albums; these are all long-form compositions, all but one presented in their entirety. They include two string quartets by Henryk Gorecki, Terry Riley's post-minimalist Cadenza on the Night Plain, Morton Feldman's Piano and String Quartet, three quartets by Philip Glass, and many others, but the highlights of the collection are the tremendously moving Different Trains by Steve Reich (who combined train sounds, multi-tracked string quartet, and the recorded voices of concentration camp survivors and Pullman porters to create a powerful and deeply personal statement on the Holocaust) and Alfred Schnittke's exquisite Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled With Grief. The packaging is excellent as well, and includes a booklet packed with photos, essays, and notes on the individual composers and compositions. by Rick Anderson  
Tracklist 1 :
John's Book Of Alleged Dances, for string quartet    (33:16)
1-1    Judah To Ocean 2:22
Composed By – John Adams
1-2    Toot Nipple 1:13
Composed By – John Adams
1-3    Dogjam 2:30
Composed By – John Adams
1-4    Pavane: She's So Fine 6:29
Composed By – John Adams
1-5    Rag The Bone 2:59
Composed By – John Adams
1-6    Habanera 4:46
Composed By – John Adams
1-7    Stubble Crotchet 2:39
Composed By – John Adams
1-8    Hammer & Chisel 1:11
Composed By – John Adams
1-9    Alligator Escalator 3:50
Composed By – John Adams
1-10    Ständchen: The Little Serenade 4:52
Composed By – John Adams
1-11    Judah To Ocean (Reprise) 2:20
Composed By – John Adams
1-12    Fratres 9:25
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-13    Psalom 2:00
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-14    Summa 5:11
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
Missa Syllabica, for chorus    (12:38)
1-15    Kyrie 2:06
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-16    Gloria 2:45
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-17    Credo 4:27
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-18    Sanctus 0:55
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-19    Agnes Dei 1:45
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
1-20    Ite, Missa Est 0:25
Composed By – Arvo Pärt
Tracklist 2 :
Traveling Music No. 4, for string quartet     (18:57)
2-1    I. Gentle, Easy 2:15
Composed By – Ken Benshoof
2-2    II. Moderate 8:19
Composed By – Ken Benshoof
2-3    III. Driving 8:19
Composed By – Ken Benshoof
2-4    Song Of Twenty Shadows 11:17
Composed By – Ken Benshoof
Five Tango Sensations, for bandoneón & string quartet (abridgement and arrangement of Sette sequenze)   (26:46)
2-5    Asleep 5:23
Composed By, Bandoneon – Astor Piazzolla
2-6    Loving 6:11
Composed By, Bandoneon – Astor Piazzolla
2-7    Anxiety 4:52
Composed By, Bandoneon – Astor Piazzolla
2-8    Despertar 6:03
Composed By, Bandoneon – Astor Piazzolla
2-9    Fear 4:00
Composed By, Bandoneon – Astor Piazzolla
2-10    Four for Tango, for string quartet 3:58
Composed By – Astor Piazzolla
Tracklist 3 :
3-1        Piano And String Quartet 1:19:33
Composed By – Morton Feldman
Piano – Aki Takahashi
Tracklist 4 :
Quartet No. 4 (Buczak)    23:04
4-1    I 7:54
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-2    II 6:18
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-3    III 8:38
Composed By – Philip Glass
Mishima Quartet, Quartet No. 3    15:29
4-4    1957 - Award Montage 3:27
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-5    November 25 - Ichigaya 1:19
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-6    1934 - Grandmother And Kimitake 2:40
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-7    1962 - Body Building 1:39
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-8    Blood Oath 3:11
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-9    Mishima/Closing 2:56
Composed By – Philip Glass
Company, Quartet No. 2    7:23
4-10    I 2:09
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-11    II 1:34
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-12    III 1:28
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-13    IV 2:04
Composed By – Philip Glass
Quartet No. 5    (21:53)
4-14    I 1:11
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-15    II 2:59
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-16    III 5:28
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-17    IV 4:39
Composed By – Philip Glass
4-18    V 7:37
Composed By – Philip Glass
Tracklist 5 :
The Dreams And Prayers Of Isaac The Blind    (32:05)
5-1    Prelude: Calmo, Sospeso 3:14
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn – David Krakauer
Composed By – Osvaldo Golijov
5-2    I. Agitato - Con Fuoco - Maestoso - Senza Misura, Oscilante 8:33
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn – David Krakauer
Composed By – Osvaldo Golijov
5-3    II. Teneramente - Ruvido - Presto 10:34
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn – David Krakauer
Composed By – Osvaldo Golijov
5-4    III. Calmo, Sospeso - Allegro Pesante 7:07
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn – David Krakauer
Composed By – Osvaldo Golijov
5-5    Postlude: Lento, Liberamente 2:20
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn – David Krakauer
Composed By – Osvaldo Golijov
5-6    Quartet No.4 11:47
Composed By – Sofia Gubaidulina
5-7    Mugam Sayagi 21:27
Composed By – Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
Tracklist 6 :
Quasi Una Fantasia, Quartet No. 2, Op. 64    (31:54)
6-1    I. Largo (Sostenuto - Mesto) 8:08
Composed By – Henryk Górecki
6-2    II. Deciso - Energico (Marcatissimo Sempre) 6:45
Composed By – Henryk Górecki
6-3    III. Arioso: Adagio Cantabile 7:23
Composed By – Henryk Górecki
6-4    IV. Allegro (Sempre Con Grande Passione E Molto Marcato) 9:31
Composed By – Henryk Górecki
6-5    Already It Is Dusk, Quartet No. 1, Op. 62 13:58
Composed By – Henryk Górecki
Tracklist 7 :
Different Trains, for double string quartet & tape    26:50
7-1    America - Before The War 8:59
Composed By – Steve Reich
7-2    Europe - During The War 7:31
Composed By – Steve Reich
7-3    After The War 10:19
Composed By – Steve Reich
Black Angels (Images I), for electric string quartet    18:16
7-4    I. Departure 5:26
Composed By – George Crumb
7-5    II. Absence 5:25
Composed By – George Crumb
7-6    III: Return 7:13
Composed By – George Crumb
Tracklist 8 :

Cadenza On The Night Plain    (30:39)
8-1    Introduction 2:21
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-2    Cadenza: Violin I 2:33
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-3    Where Was Wisdom When We Went West? 3:07
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-4    Cadenza: Viola 2:24
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-5    March Of The Old Timers Reefer Division 2:14
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-6    Cadenza: Violin II 2:06
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-7    Tuning To Rolling Thunder 4:53
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-8    The Night Cry Of Black Buffalo Woman 2:53
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-9    Cadenza: Cello 1:08
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-10    Gathering Of The Spiral Clan 5:25
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-11    Captain Jack Has The Last Word 1:35
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-12    Terry Riley: G Song 9:36
Composed By – Terry Riley
From Salome Dances For Peace, pieces (5) for string quartet    (29:00)
8-13    Echoes Of Primordial Time 11:15
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-14    Mongolian Winds 4:10
Composed By – Terry Riley
8-15    Good Medicine Dance 13:29
Composed By – Terry Riley
Tracklist 9 :
String Quartet No. 2    (21:51)
9-1    I. Moderato 3:12
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-2    II. Agitato 5:36
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-3    III. Mesto 6:41
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-4    IV. Moderato 6:22
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
String Quartet No. 4    (34:41)
9-5    I. Lento 9:01
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-6    II. Allegro 7:00
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-7    III. Lento 5:57
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-8    IV. Vivace 3:21
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
9-9    V. Lento 9:16
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
Concerto for choir (Concerto for soprano & chorus)   
9-10    Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled With Grief 8:13
Composed By – Alfred Schnittke
Tracklist 10 :
Jabiru Dreaming, String Quartet No. 11    (12:32)
10-1    I. Deciso 5:03
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-2    II. Amaroso 7:30
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
String Quartet No. 8    (11:54)
10-3    I. Con Dolore 2:03
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-4    II. Risoluto; Calmo 3:14
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-5    III. Con Dolore 3:02
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-6    IV. Con Precisione 1:35
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-7    V. Con Dolore 1:50
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
10-8    From Ubirr 11:12
Composed By – Peter Sculthorpe
Didgeridoo – Mark Nolan, Michael Brosnan
Memoirs of a Lost Soul, for string quartet
10-9    Tragedy At The Opera 6:29
Composed By – P. Q. Phan
White Man Sleeps, String Quartet No. 1    (22:20)
10-10    First Dance 4:03
Composed By – Kevin Volans
10-11    Second Dance 5:05
Composed By – Kevin Volans
10-12    Third Dance 3:23
Composed By – Kevin Volans
10-13    Fourth Dance 6:16
Composed By – Kevin Volans
10-14    Fifth Dance 3:20
Composed By – Kevin Volans
Credits :
Cello – Joan Jeanrenaud
Viola – Hank Dutt
Violin – David Harrington, John Sherba

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 1 : Piano Works and Transcriptions (Nicolas Horvath) (2015) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 2 : Complete Etudes Nºs 1-20 (Nicolas Horvath) (2015) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 3 : Metamorphosis (Nicolas Horvath) (2016) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 4 : On Love (Nicolas Horvath) (2016) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 5 : Enlightenment (Nicolas Horvath) (2016) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PHILIP GLASS : Glassworlds • 6 : America (Nicolas Horvath) (2019) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PAUL BARNES - The American Virtuoso (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The jury is still out on Philip Glass' transformation of minimalism into a radically populist language, but his later works continue to be widely performed, and, perhaps more important, to inspire innovative programming strategies. This disc by American pianist and Glass specialist Paul Barnes, released on the Glass-oriented Orange Mountain Music label, avoids the tendency to program Glass with his fellow minimalists. Instead he is juxtaposed with two very different composers, neither of whom has much to do with minimalism -- and it turns out that he fits quite well with both. The opening work, Glass' Piano Concerto No. 2 (After Lewis and Clark), has been transcribed for solo piano by Barnes himself. The transcription arguably improves the work, adding a layer of contrasts to the splashy, high-energy tonal color fields of its outer movements. But the real news is that the program places Glass more firmly within the American tradition. Barnes moves smoothly from Glass to the music of twentieth century American music's great conservative, Samuel Barber, with muscular performances of two short pieces and the Beethovenian Piano Sonata, Op. 26; he emphasizes the big blocks of sound in Barber's music and seems to suggest that Barber avoided atavism through an injection of the kind of pure kinetic force that would eventually fascinate Glass. The finale, consisting of a pair of short pieces by Joan Tower, goes in a different direction, focusing on the fact that Tower and Glass share a predilection for the use of small musical cells and a liking for organic metaphors, even if their attitudes toward simplicity and complexity are very different. More broadly, Barnes' disc is one of a group of recent releases that attempts to imagine programs of contemporary, and often specifically contemporary American, music that would please general classical audiences anywhere, something that is more likely to be achieved through imaginative retrospectives that make sense than by wholesale attempts to invent a new musical language. Barnes' big, Lisztian sound adds something to the proceedings on its own. Especially recommended not only to Glass fans, but also to those involved in any way with concert programming, and not only for the piano. by James Manheim  

DELTA SAXOPHONE QUARTET — Minimal Tendencies (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

An excellent, crystal-clear recording of some of the finest pieces in the so-called minimalist genre, Minimal Tendencies features work by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Gavin Bryars, and Michael Nyman. All pieces but one are performed with four saxophones, whether originally scored for them or not. An excerpt from Glass' Mishima film score appears here, originally scored for string quartet. Reich's "New York Counterpoint" was originally scored for clarinets and tape. The performances are flawless and beautiful -- the quartet is a well-oiled machine. Bryars' "Alaric I or II" explores the extended playing techniques of the saxophone itself, notably multiphonics, circular breathing, and playing in the extreme harmonic registers. And it's beautiful music, transcending its potential status as merely a clever exercise. Of particular interest on this recording is Riley's "Tread on the Trail," composed in the mid-'60s but previously unreleased on any recording. For this piece, the quartet followed Riley's directions for the piece, but overdubbed two "quartet" versions of it to make one "octet" piece. This one is by far the most adventurous in terms of tonality -- and it is refreshing to hear his work performed since few of his pieces seem to see the light of recording tape. For aficionados of the minimal genre, this recording is a must-have, for these performers are able to take the music and bring it to a whole new level. For aficionados of the saxophone, this disc is also required listening; this is a satisfying listen on all fronts. Mark Allender 
–Steve Reich New York Counterpoint
1 – Part 1 4:54
2 – Part 2 2:38
3 – Part 3 3:32
–Philip Glass Mishima
4 – Part 1 3:56
5 – Part 2 1:47
6 – Part 3 2:49
7 – Part 4 1:54
8 – Part 5 3:23
9 – Part 6 2:49
10 –Gavin Bryars Alaric I or II 14:32
–Michael Nyman Songs For Tony
11 – Part 1 3:04
12 – Part 2 3:51
13 – Part 3 5:41
14 – Part 4 4:47
15 –Terry Riley Tread On the Trail 7:29

Credits

Alto Saxophone – Peter Whyman, Stephen Cottrell (tracks: 14)
Baritone Saxophone – Chris Caldwell, Peter Whyman (tracks: 13)
Performer – Delta Saxophone Quartet
Soprano Saxophone – Gareth Brady (tracks: 10)
Soprano Saxophone, Liner Notes – Stephen Cottrell
Tenor Saxophone – Gareth Brady