Navona Records is proud to present TOMORROW’S AIR, a collection of contemporary music for large ensemble, written by composers in a variety of styles and genres. Listeners will recognize several names as PARMA regulars, including Daniel Perttu, Hans Bakker, and Paul Osterfield. The album opens with Hilary Tann’s Anecdote for solo cello and orchestra. inspired by Wallace Stevens’s nature musings in his poem “Anecdote of the Jar,” the work casts the cello solo as a soliloquy, its message elaborated and transformed by wilder orchestral textures. Hans Bakker’s Cantus follows, an intriguing and expressive work for string orchestra. The intimate drama of Cantus is contrasted by mystery and majesty in Daniel Perttu’s lyrical overture To Spring. Written in honor of his daughters, To Spring was inspired by William Blakes poetic ode of the same name. in his profoundly emotional string orchestra piece in Memoriam, Jan Jarvlepp honors the memory of his late brother—conforming to no style or influence but that of his own intense grief. Following in Memoriam is Pierre Schroeder’s Late Harvest, a lush, emotional work for strings, clarinet, and piano that forms a part of his eleven-movement magnum opus Voyage. Closing the album is Paul Osterfield’s concertante wind ensemble piece Silver Fantasy, a vibrant celebration of the flute and piccolo with lyrical melodies, dynamic rhythmic energy, and Ivesian pastiche. Together, the works that make up TOMORROW’S AIR encompass a wide spectrum of emotion and drama. Welsh composer Hilary Tann’s “beautiful, lyrical” music is strongly influenced by the natural world. She is a published haiku poet and her compositions have been widely commissioned, recorded, and broadcast by ensembles such as Tenebrae, Cappella Clausura, Marsyas Trio, Thai Philharmonic, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Her recent choral music can be heard on the Narvona Records release EXULTET TERRA (NV6069). Dutch composer Hans Bakker has written music for chamber groups, orchestra, carillon, and choir, including the choir cycle Prasasti. He has been featured on Navona Records albums eight times, most recently appearing with Peter Greve on LiNES TO iNFiNiTY (NV6070). Daniel Perttu’s neo-romantic music has been praised for “blending mystery, action, and excitement.” His works have been performed at numerous festivals, concerts, and conferences on four continents and in more than thirty states across America. He is currently Associate Professor at Westminster College. Perttu’s music has appeared on five Navona Records albums, most recently on PiNNACLE (NV6022). Canadian composer Jan Jarvlepp identifies strongly with postmodern musical styles, writing music that is accessible to many audiences. He is active in his home city of Ottawa, having received premieres by the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (Garbage Concerto) and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Pierrot Solaire). Music by French-American composer Pierre Schroeder has been said to have an emotional, cinematic style. He is an active composer of classical chamber music and jazz, with credit in films and soundtracks, most notably of the documentary “America the Bountiful.” His large work Voyage can be heard on Navona Records’s VOYAGE (NV6000). Paul Osterfield’s music has been performed in Europe and the United States, by ensembles including Ascendo3, the Great Noise Ensemble, the Blakemore Trio, and numerous university wind ensembles. He has won numerous awards, and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony. Osterfield has been featured on several PARMA albums, including SOUND AND FURY (NV5978) on Navona Records.
Artists
Ovidiu Marinescu (cello), Sarita Uranovsky (violin), Yhasmin Valenzuela (bass clarinet), Zoia Bologovsky (violin), Colleen Brannen (violin), Ethan Wood (violin), Julia Okrusko (violin), Peter Sulski (viola), Joanna Cyrus (viola), Emily Rome (viola), Leo Eguchi (cello), Dorothy Braker (cello), Charles Clements (double bass), Karolina Rojahn (piano), Lindsey Goodman (piccolo)
Târgu Mureş State Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonia Winds and Percussion Ensemble, Ovidiu Balan, Vit Micka, Petr Vronský, John Page
