Used Bin Troll Tweets AA.

Ethelbert Nevin

 [July 2017.]

Atli INGÓLFSSON: The Elves’ Accent (1998)¹; Object of Terror (2000)²; HZH: String Quartet No. 1 (1999)³; La métrique du cri (1996)⁴; Flecte Lapis II (1998)⁵; Slash Nos. 1-4 (2004)⁶. The Caput Ensemble^1,2,4, Atli Ingólfsson⁶ (electronics), Arditti String Quartet: Irvine Arditti, Graeme Jennings (vln), Ralf Ehlers (vla), Rohan de Saram (vlc)³; Gudni Franzson⁵ (clar), Massimiliano Viel⁵ (keyboard). BIS 1298 (1 CD) (http://www.bis.se/).

Ingólfsson stakes a claim near the site that Romitelli quarried. The agile and luscious instrumental textures would have pleased Boulez. YES.

Alexandre TANSMAN: Piano Concerto No. 2 (1927). Nadia BOULANGER: Fantasie pour piano et orchestra (1913). George GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue (1924). David Greilsammer (pno), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Steven Sloane (cond.). Naïve V 5224 (1 CD) (http://www.naive.fr/).

Suave Tansman completes the Parisian scene and is the hot item here. Boulanger is stern Francophile stuff; the quirky Gershwin is meh. MAYBE.

Charles Villiers STANFORD: Clarinet Concerto in A minor, Op. 80 (1902). Gerald FINZI: Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra, Op. 31 (1948-49). Thea King (clar), The Philharmonia Orchestra, Alun Francis (cond.). Hyperion CDH55101 (1 CD) (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/).

Honed cobblestones on the back country lane of British masterpieces. The Stanford could well be Wagner’s reverie of a clarinet concerto. NO.

Charles TOURNEMIRE: Symphony No. 2, Op. 26, “Ouessant” (1909); Symphony No. 4, Op. 44, “Pages Symphoniques” (1912). Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida (cond.). Marco Polo 8.223478 (1 CD) (http://www.naxos.com/).

The Second sloshes about as if unprepared, whereas the livelier Fourth is a splendid miracle connecting Franck to Messiaen and beyond. MAYBE.

Thomas GAUDYNSKI: Elementals (2001). Penumbra CD013 (1 CD) (https://penumbramusic.wordpress.com/).

Ten short electroacoustic items whose names (“Rock,” “Dust,” “Birds,” etc.) don’t quite reflect their synthesizer and filtering mastery. YES.

“The Berserking.” James MacMILLAN: Piano Concerto No. 2, “The Berserking” (1989); Sowetan Spring (1990); Britannia (1994); Sinfonietta (1991). Peter Donohoe (pno), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Markus Stenz, James MacMillan (conds.). BMG 09026-68328-2 (1 CD).

Brazen orchestral splashes, especially in the Concerto’s “misdirected energy.” However, these once vibrant calling cards have faded away. NO.