Contreras / Shank-Hagedorn Duo - At Home & Abroad - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

If InchhomeInch is Minnesota, and InchabroadInch is transcontinental, reaching across historical eras, then At Home and Abroad is aptly named. A captivating and varied (not to say ravishing and sprightly) collection of music for violin/viola and guitar, the album features works dedicated to the Shank-Hagedorn Duo by Alf Houkom, Javier Contreras, and David Lang; first time recordings of works by Ian Krouse and David Hahn; and the Duo's own arrangements of music by Maria Kalaniemi. For this , violinist and violist Leslie Shank and guitarist Joseph Hagedorn have selected some favorite works from their past fifteen years of performances. The music is as wide-ranging as the Duo's interests, with influences from South American and Finnish folk music to John Dowland and InchPop Goes the Weasel.Inch Among the works are a belated wedding gift from David Lang to the married duo partners; a serenade by Alf Houkom that simply celebrates the joy of making music together; a luminous- almost ambient- arrangement of Dowland's 'Frog Galliard' by Ian Krouse that Brian Eno would find hard to beat; and David Hahn's W is for Weasel.