Monodia

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Tigran Mansurian's music is rooted in Armenian folk and church music filtered through contemporary Europeans, especially Bartók. In many respects he resembles other post-Soviet composers like Schnittke and Svirdov, sharing their combination of elusiveness and accessibility. Kim Kashkashian has long championed his works, and the outstanding violist is superb here. She's the center of gravity in the Viola Concerto, titled "...and then I was in time again," a quote from Faulkner and resembling his stream-of-consciousness style. The complex interplay of soloist and 18 strings fascinates, the two going their own ways and coming together again in unpredictable fashion but always to expressive effect. It's in two movements, the first more dramatic, the second poignant. In Lachrymae, Kashkashian is joined by Garbarek's soprano sax, the pair weaving their lines together, often blurring the distinction between their instruments. In the final piece, Confessing with Faith, the solo viola sings its expressive commentary to seven medieval prayers intensely sung with tonal purity by The Hilliard Ensemble. Leonidas Kavakos is the excellent soloist in the Violin Concerto, an earlier work in one long movement whose blend of drama and prayerful sadness are riveting--and rivetingly played. An important set of powerful, melodic music brilliantly performed, with ECM's usual first-rate sonic and production values. --Dan Davis

Tracks:

I. Allegro, Quasi Recitando - Kim Kashkashian
II. Lento, Cantando - Kim Kashkashian
Concerto For Violin And Orchestra - Leonidas Kavakos

Tracks:

Lachrymae - Kim Kashkashian
I. Moderato, Recitando - David James
II. Andante - David James
III. Lento Sosteunto, Semplice - David James

Amazon.com

Tigran Mansurian's music is rooted in Armenian folk and church music filtered through contemporary Europeans, especially Bartók. In many respects he resembles other post-Soviet composers like Schnittke and Svirdov, sharing their combination of elusiveness and accessibility. Kim Kashkashian has long championed his works, and the outstanding violist is superb here. She's the center of gravity in the Viola Concerto, titled "...and then I was in time again," a quote from Faulkner and resembling his stream-of-consciousness style. The complex interplay of soloist and 18 strings fascinates, the two going their own ways and coming together again in unpredictable fashion but always to expressive effect. It's in two movements, the first more dramatic, the second poignant. In Lachrymae, Kashkashian is joined by Garbarek's soprano sax, the pair weaving their lines together, often blurring the distinction between their instruments. In the final piece, Confessing with Faith, the solo viola sings its expressive commentary to seven medieval prayers intensely sung with tonal purity by The Hilliard Ensemble. Leonidas Kavakos is the excellent soloist in the Violin Concerto, an earlier work in one long movement whose blend of drama and prayerful sadness are riveting--and rivetingly played. An important set of powerful, melodic music brilliantly performed, with ECM's usual first-rate sonic and production values. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Unhesitatingly recommended.......2005-08-09

Perhaps I am not the only one whose introduction to Kashkashian's lovely viola was Jan Garbarek's "In Praise of Dreams." So, as I was seeking to feed a spiritual hunger among Amazon's classical offerings, as I dug around Part and Schnittke, Penderecki and Gorecki, suddenly among all the "more like this" appeared the name Kim Kashkashian: "Monodia." I clicked, and found that it includes a piece played with Garbarek on soprano sax, "Lachrymae." As the Amazon.com review says, their playing "often blurring the distinction between their instruments," reminds one of the Dreams exchanges.

If you followed Garbarek through his wonderful outings with the Hilliard Ensemble, "Officium" and "Mnemosyne", you'll be excited to note that the Hilliards perform here as well, with Kashkashian's mellow viola rather than Garbarek's sax. That alone made me hit the 1-click.

I do not know enough about composition to understand the title -- I cannot tell a monodic from a polyphonic, or any other, composition. [To further confuse me, in the liner notes the interviewer asks Kim K. about monody, and she points out that the composition under discussion, the Concerto for viola and orchestra, is not monodic...(?)] But the joy of hearing this music, the depth of feeling that the players display, make these issues seem academic to me. The feeling is there, name it if you must but most of all, experience it!

The rich experience of this spiritual music is a joy in itself, but ECM frosted the cake by packaging the 2 CD set with a full bi-lingual (ENG-DE) booklet, with plenty of photos. I have to admit I don't usually pay much attention to liner notes, but I found this booklet a wonderful touch.

This is not an inexpensive addition to your collection, but I found it worth every red cent.

Average customer rating:

Dervish Dance

Manufacturer: BMC
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00008OTNT
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

Lightshadow-Trembling-Homage to AndrPet
Monodia
Variazioni
Stati, Quattro Tempi
Stati, Quattro Tempi (Continued)
Stati, Quattro Tempi (Continued)
Stati, Quattro Tempi (Continued)
Dervish Dance
Sonata Concertante
Sonata Concertante (Continued)
Sonata Concertante (Continued)

Average customer rating:

Monodia Toscana
Nella Anfuso
Manufacturer: The Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000050HPR
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Tracks:

Mirate In Sul Mattin - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Dormi Amor - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Io Vo' Piangendo - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Oime Che Troppo E Vero - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
La Mia Leggiadra Filli - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Io Vivi in Terra - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Lasciatemi Morire - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
Tu Piangi Al Mio Partire - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
Da Poi Ch'i Sospir Miei - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
Solo E Pensoso - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Bella Luce D'amor - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
Quanto Piu M'Avvicino - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
La Fortuna - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
E Morto Il Tuo Signore - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Valli Profonde Al Sol Nemiche - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli
Tu Languisci E Tu Mori - Nella Anfuso/Pier Luigi Polato
Udite Le Mie Pene - Nella Anfuso/Giuseppe Fricelli

Average customer rating:

Venti Contrari

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000GPIFBK
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Monodia Cortesana Medieval (S. Xii-Xiii)/Musica AR

Average customer rating:

Monodia Cortesana Medieval (S. Xii-Xiii)/Musica AR
Monodia Cortesana Medieval (S. Xii-Xiii) , and Musica AR
Manufacturer: EMI
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000059XCB
Release Date: 1994-01-01

Tracks:

Pax in Nomine Dommi
De la Iensor
Dona, La Ienser
Fort M'Enoia
Reis Glorios
Sirvent
Si Ay Perdut
Cana la Maire de Deus
Fis E Verays
Sol Eclysim Patitur
Ondas Do Mar de Vigo
Man Did'ei Comigo
Mia Yrmana Fremosa
Ay Deus, Se Sab'ora
Ay Ondas Que Eu Vin Veer
Quantas Sabedes Amar
Sheila [Preludio Orquestal]
CanciOrquesta y Canto]
CanciOrquesta y Canto]
Tuchia Al-Masarsky [Intermedio Orquestal]

Average customer rating:

Monodia Cortesana Medieval (S. Xii-Xiii)/Musica AR
Monodia Cortesana Medieval (S. Xii-Xiii) , and Musica AR
Manufacturer: Musicrama/Koch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000DENSH
Release Date: 2000-11-14

Tracks:

Pax in Nomine Dommi
De la Iensor
Dona, La Ienser
Fort M'Enoia
Reis Glorios
Sirvent
Si Ay Perdut
Cana la Maire de Deus
Fis E Verays
Sol Eclysim Patitur
Ondas Do Mar de Vigo
Man Did'ei Comigo
Mia Yrmana Fremosa
Ay Deus, Se Sab'ora
Ay Ondas Que Eu Vin Veer
Quantas Sabedes Amar
Sheila [Preludio Orquestal]
CanciOrquesta y Canto]
CanciOrquesta y Canto]
Tuchia Al-Masarsky [Intermedio Orquestal]

Average customer rating:

Maric: Sonata for piano solo; Preludes

Manufacturer: Emergo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008F16W
Release Date: 1996-03-26

Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica Canti per 13 Canciones a Guiomar

Average customer rating:

Early Nono reveals his affinity for "Canti" evocative Song

Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica Canti per 13 Canciones a Guiomar

Manufacturer: Wergo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000G40E
Release Date: 1998-11-24

Tracks:

Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica - Klaus Schopp/Christian Balcke/Bernhard Nusser/Johannes Ernst/Uwe Holjewilken/Yoriko Ikeya...
Canti Per 13 - Klaus Schopp/Birgit Schmieder/Christian Balcke/Bernhard Nusser/Johannes Ernst/Reinhard Bastian
Canciones A Guiomar - Angelika Luz/United Voices/Franz Bauer/Wolfgang Eger/Volker Frischling...
'Hay Que Caminar' Sonando: Erster Teil
'Hay Que Caminar' Sonando: Zweiter
'Hay Que Caminar' Sonando: Dritter Teil

Amazon.com

Collecting two 1950s-era works, one composition from the early 1960s, and a final, extended work from 1989, this CD brilliantly captures Luigi Nono's meditations on form, silence, and tone. Ensemble United Berlin's performance is aptly hushed throughout the early whispers of "Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica," and then the group grapples with the halts and drops and lurches as if it, too, saw the precipice Nono seemed to find on every side of him. Drums drop in and vanish, reeds dust the surface. "Canti per 13," too, incites the same dialogues, with silence, multiplicity, and timbral extremity; notes are played with singular gestures, their pointillism arresting the ear. Then Angelika Luz's soprano blasts through with "Canciones a Guiomar," streaking the air with quickened leaps and then molten lines that thread themselves from mere instrumental hints. The violin piece that closes the set is amazing for its extreme registers and rushes of grated timbres, each of which--again--comes and goes in a flash (recalling the Arditti Quartet's fascinating string quartet recording and Irvine Arditti's La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura on Auvidis Montaigne). Nothing is fluid or uninterrupted in Nono's sound world, and this a great glimpse at the history of how he composed his interruptive works over several decades. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Early Nono reveals his affinity for "Canti" evocative Song.......1999-04-10

Luigi Nono died in May 1990,and since that time the interest in his music particularly the hauntingly beautiful music the last ten years of his life seems to have no end in recordings and primary performances in Europe.His Marxist affinities have kept neglect high here reducing performances in the United States to zero.This CD is an accounting of the young Nono,where he ascribed to the structural purity of Anton Webern as those of his generation did except Nono never abandoned his deep-rooted affinity for an engaged humanism,one reflecting a social-political reality. This was exhibited in the idea of "Song" or "Canti" as a frame for this early engagement. The "Polifonica. . ." from 1951 now sounds,dated , measured and clumsy although perhaps Webern was not out of his sensibility yet. In "Canti per 13" we finally see the budding Nono with a fascination now for the pure power of the sustained sound, the suspended song, two concepts which carried his aesthetic well toward today. "Canciones a Guiomar" is a mature work now with a profound sensuality in the focus on female voice. The poetry of Antonio Machado almost writes itself with its evocativeness"Only your face Like a flash of white light In my dark night" and Nono not afraid now of subverting a Webernesque frame, allows the voice extended unaccompanied moments. Angelika Luz is wonderful at making seamless vocal leaps through high-low registers,while maintaining this sensual beauty. Nono was never good at percussion, it always sounds arbitrary, as here with bells and crotales,seem to be just noise-makers not adding to the evocative flow here.Lastly "Hay que caminar sonando" from 1989 exploits the sonoric sculptural relief of two violins. The title loosely means "Sleep-walking" and here violinists Andreas Braeutigam and Stephan Kalbe engage in a sensitive dialogue knowing full the emotive scope of each others gestures. At times both violins seem to merge seamlessly,creating hightened confusion. This is late Nono so we have a refined sense of extended sonorities, high pencil-thin harmonics and slow torture-like drawn bows very dry yet evocative.

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