Title - 20 for 2020
Artist - Inbal Segev
For those unaware, the convergence of cataclysmic events of 2020 spurred cellist Inbal Segev to conceive an ambitious and inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, for which she asked 20
composers to document in music their responses to the challenges posed by the pandemic and social unrest.
The result is an utterly moving and immensely varied palette of strong and
distinctive compositional voices spanning a range of ages, genders and cultures.
Originally released over time as four digital EPs, all 20 compositions come together for the first time in a 2CD deluxe digipack and are capped by the premiere of Inbal’s own work, Behold for cello quartet.
When Inbal conceived 20 for 2020, she could not have foreseen the scope of musical imagination from the 20 composers she asked to write works for her. Further pronouncing her passion for promoting new works for her instrument: “Art needs to move forward, otherwise it will die.”
Collectively these compositions celebrate a stunning array of music for the soulful sound of the cello in the 21st century.
CD 1:
VIET CUONG (b.1990)
1. ROOM TO MOVE for cello octet (4.14)
octet overdubbed:
parts 1, 3, 5, 7 cello by Francesco Ruggieri, 1673
parts 2, 4, 6, 8 cello by Carl Becker & Son, 1957
FERNANDO OTERO (b.1972)
2. CONCERTO FOR CELLO AND STRING ORCHESTRA: I. Molto appassionato (7.00)
Brooklyn Rider: Johnny Gandelsman, Colin Jacobsen violins Nicholas Cords viola
Michael Nicolas cello Xavier Foley double bass
JAMES LEE III (b.1975)
3. EKAH for cello and piano (7.25)
Anna Polonsky piano
TIMO ANDRES (b.1985)
4. AGITA for cello and piano (5.44)
Timo Andres piano
SOPHIA BASS (b.1996)
5. TAAL-NAAD NAMAN for cello, tabla and tanpura (7.33)
Mari Tanaka tanpura · Vivek Pandya tabla
BRUCE WOLOSOFF (b.1955)
6. LACRYMAE for cello choir (4.26)
AVNER DORMAN (b.1975)
7. ELEGY FOR THE VICTIMS OF INDIFFERENCE for cello and accordion (6.25)
Julien Labro accordion
VIJAY IYER (b.1971)
8. THE WINDOW for cello and piano (9.58)
Vijay Iyer piano
CHRISTOPHER CERRONE (b.1984)
9. THE PLEASURE AT BEING THE CAUSE for cello and piano (6.28)
Timo Andres piano
ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN (b.1981)
10. RUTA PANORÁMICA for cello, bandoneón and electronics (5.24)
Julien Labro bandoneon
This divine orchestrated new recording opens on the veritably translucent working found within VIET CUONG’s ROOM TO MOVE for cello octet and is backed by FERNANDO OTERO’s more structured, angular CONCERTO FOR CELLO AND STRING ORCHESTRA: I. Molto appassionato, before we find ourselves withing th deep yearn of JAMES LEE III’s EKAH for cello and piano, before we are brought forth TIMO ANDRES’s more industrial, avant-garde AGITA for cello and piano, and SOPHIA BASS’ Eastern-imbued TAAL-NAAD NAMAN for cello, tabla and tanpura.
Up next is BRUCE WOLOSOFF’s sweepingly elegant LACRYMAE for cello choir and AVNER DORMAN’s almost crystalline ELEGY FOR THE VICTIMS OF INDIFFERENCE for cello and accordion, and they are backed by VIJAY IYER’s stoically manicured THE WINDOW for cello and piano, the first disc of ten rounding out on CHRISTOPHER CERRONE’s sensory THE PLEASURE AT BEING THE CAUSE for cello and piano and ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN’s atmospherically-charged RUTA PANORÁMICA for cello, bandoneón and electronics.
CD 2:
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS (b.1953)
1. A WEEPING OF DOVES for 8 cellos (5.24)
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK (b.1941)
2. HORA for cello and marimba (6.10)
Ian Rosenbaum marimba
GLORIA COATES (b.1938)
3. BERCEUSE for cello solo (2.46)
AGATA ZUBEL (b.1978)
4. UNISONO III for voice, cello and electronics (6.10)
Charlotte Mundy voice
CHRISTOPHER TYLER NICKEL (b.1978)
5. FRACTURES OF SOLITUDE for cello octet and winds (5.49)
Christopher Tyler Nickel oboe d’amore, cor anglais, bass oboe
MOLLY JOYCE (b.1992)
6. IT HAS NOT TAKEN LONG for cello & electronics (6.09)
CAMILLE EL BACHA (b.1989)
7. DANCE BETWEEN THE WORLDS for piano trio (7.21)
Jennifer Frautschi violin · Camille El Bacha piano
OSCAR BETTISON (b.1975)
8. LA HIJA DEL NÉON for cello, piano & electric guitar (5.53)
Conrad Tao piano · Oren Fader electric guitar
IMMANUEL WILKINS (b.1998)
9. EXHALE for solo cello (5.58)
STEWART GOODYEAR (b.1978)
10. THE KAPOK for cello & piano (5.36)
Stewart Goodyear piano
INBAL SEGEV (b.1973)
11. BEHOLD for cello quartet (4.32)
Caleb van der Swaagh, Karen Ouzounian, Brook Speltz cellos
The second disc opens on JOHN LUTHER ADAMS’ ornately polished A WEEPING OF DOVES for 8 cellos and ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK’s low-ebbed HORA for cello and marimba and they are in turn followed by GLORIA COATES’ languishing BERCEUSE for cello solo, AGATA ZUBEL’s industrial and scratchy UNISONO III for voice, cello and electronics and then we get CHRISTOPHER TYLER NICKEL’s studiously magnificent FRACTURES OF SOLITUDE for cello octet and winds.
MOLLY JOYCE’s bowingly elegant IT HAS NOT TAKEN LONG for cello & electronics is then backed by CAMILLE EL BACHA’s almost ethereal DANCE BETWEEN THE WORLDS for piano trio, then comes OSCAR BETTISON’s organically-cultivated LA HIJA DEL NÉON for cello, piano & electric guitar, the disc, and the recording itself, rounding out on IMMANUEL WILKINS’ fee flowing EXHALE for solo cello, STEWART GOODYEAR’s flourishing THE KAPOK for cello & piano, closing on the sneaky 21st track, this one from INBAL SEGEV herself, in the form of the charmingly gorgeous BEHOLD for cello quartet.
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