Various Artists - Refracted Resonance - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This product is an authorized manufactured on demand CD-R

Joseph Summer's WHO IS SYLVIA, is a collection of Shakespeare's works set to music that will make you question everything you thought you learned in high school English. Summer believes that the famous playwright's true identity is not William Shakespeare but rather Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Many of the songs found on WHO IS SYLVIA come from Summer's aptly-named The Oxford Songs, a collection of scenes, sonnets, songs, and Summer's original opera version of Hamlet. These are paired with music from the likes of Schubert and Schumann to create a dynamic and colorful musical experience worthy of the Bard himself. The sharp, aggressive cello attacks of InchSycoraxInch opens the album, peppered with edgy dissonances. This piece by Summer is one of many world premieres on this record, recorded at Worcester's legendary Mechanics Hall. Next comes three settings of Shakespeare's song InchWho is Silvia?Inch from The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Each one extracts a new layer of meaning from the tender, heartsick lyrics, the first employing mezzo-soprano and harp, the second featuring a downright bluesy violin and sung in German as composed by Adolphus Hailstork, and a third with music by Gerald Finzi. Just as Shakespeare was known for addressing the social and political situations of his day, Summer's world premier piece InchCome Thou Monarch of the Vine and Hearing TranscriptInch pairs Schubert's setting from Antony and Cleopatra with words taken from the 2019 Brett Kavanaugh hearings. After a song cycle by Schumann and several other pieces from other composers, the album concludes with three Shakespeare settings by Summer. This features the award-winning Ulysses Quartet, in residence at the Juilliard School of Music.

Resonance is the debut album of Canadian cello-marimba duo Stick & Bow. These classically trained musicians present original arrangements that span a wide spectrum of musical styles, from Bach to Radiohead. This album transforms the listening of familiar works in refreshing and unexpected ways while introducing the audience to daring new music from active composers. The energetic duo Stick & Bow was formed by the encounter of Canadian marimba player Krystina Marcoux & Argentinian cellist Juan Sebastian Delgado in the vibrant city of Montreal. Classically trained musicians, they strive to present a wide spectrum of musical styles, ranging from rock to gypsy-jazz, Baroque or tango. Their eclectic repertoire features original arrangements of some of the most celebrated works in history, showing the potential of their instruments combined. In their creative process, they unite musical narration with humor and storytelling in which the powerful arrangements for cello & marimba transform the listening of familiar works in refreshing and unexpected ways. Stick & Bow is also strongly committed to the music of our time, commissioning works that are daring yet accessible from composers such as Luis Naon, Camille Pépin, Luna Pearl Woolf, Jason Noble & Marcelo Nisinman.