FRIEDRICH-WILHELM MARPURG (1718-1795): Pieces de Clavicin, Suites 1-5. 2 Excerpts from Principes du Clavecin. A German who wrote nothing for the last third of his life and who is known for his work as a music critic, theoretician and journalist, Marpurg composed these pieces around 1748 while living in Paris. Befitting keyboard works from the Rococo period, emotion is found next to virtuosity along with elegance and joie de vivre with an abundance of imagination and ease of composition that carry the listener along agreeably. Yves-G. Prefontaine (harpsichord). Atma ACD 2 2119 (Canada) 10B040 $15.98

LUIGI BOCCHERINI (1743-1805): Complete (28) Symphonies. These fascinating, sometimes quirky, always entertaining symphonies have now been boxed and reissued at budget-price. 8 CDs. Low Mid-price. Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss; Johannes Goritzki. CPO 999 401 (Germany) 10B041 $70.98

DAVID DIAMOND (b.1915): Piano Trio, Canticle and Perpetual Motion for Violin and Piano, Violin Sonata No. 1, Cello Sonata No. 2. All but the violin sonata are world premiere recordings and the more valuable for extending the catalogue of the music of this fine American composer. The largest work here is the 1951 piano trio, a work which flew in the face of the prevailing avant-garde trends of the time although its outer movements are anything but neo-romantic. A meditative and profound adagio is the world's center, followed by a humorous, airborne scherzo. The work abounds in original twists and surprises and is full of the composer's characteristic rhythmic energy. The 1987 cello sonata is compact and lyrical with a lovely, soulful slow movement and a finale which imbued with American folk songs. The violin sonata (1943-6) alternates between angry angularity and flowing rhapsody, serious and intense while the Canticle..., from 1946, leads off with broad melodic flow and finishes with spirited, folk-tinged virtuosity. Mid-price. Jan Stanienda (violin), Lidia Grzanka-Urbaniak (cello), Piotr Folkert (piano). Dux 0142 (Poland) 10B042 $10.98

WILLIAM GRANT STILL (1895-1978): Caribbean Suite (arr. Taylor), 9 Spirituals and Art Songs: Didn't Ma Lord Deliver Daniel, Hard Trials, Gwinter Sing All Along De Way, Here's One, Breath of a Rose (2 versions), Grief, Bayou Home, Summerland. Infectious, foot-tapping stuff; is it classical? Who cares? Still's 1941 Caribbean Suite set 11 songs of Afro-Caribbean origin for piano, mixed chorus and percussion; the pianist on this CD has arranged them for piano and steel drum band and the added authenticity of the sound (employed sparingly, not grossly) makes for delightful listening. In like manner, she has added a saxophone to three of Still's settings of spirituals to fine effect. Let's just say that what we have here is one step closer to the origins than the indigenous music often appearing in traditional "classical" works. 76-year-old Ruth Hamilton's participation in the spiritual Here's One is worth the price alone. Louise Toppin (soprano), Ruth Hamilton (contralto), Robert Honeysucker (baritone), Stan Strickland (saxophone), Vivian Taylor (piano), East Carolina University Steel Orchestra; Mark Ford. Cambria CD-1112 (U.S.A.) 10B043 $16.98

AMY BEACH (1867-1944): Piano Quintet in F Sharp Minor, Op. 67, Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 80, Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 150. Beach's 1907 piano quintet is memorable for its melodic appeal and for its ingeniously planned way in which its finale's rushing, forward momentum is often interrupted by moods unquiet melancholy; the first movement similarly ends not in a triumphant conclusion but with the return of the opening mysterious introduction. The 1916 Theme and Variations is a model of classical restraint, the theme coming from one of Beach's own part-songs while the trio is a late work, dating from 1938 , in three concise movements in which Germanic and Faurean elements mix in the first two movements and catchy, American syncopations inform the finale. The Ambache. Chandos 9752 (England) 10B044 $16.98

E.T.A. HOFFMANN (c.1776-1822): Das Kreuz an der Ostsee, AV 20, Music from the Ballet Arlequin, AV 41, Overture to Der Trank der Unsterblichkeit, AV 34, Overture to Liebe und Eifersucht, AV 33. All of these works receive first recordings here: "The Cross on the Baltic" is an 1805 tragedy to which Hoffmann supplied an overture, a "sinfonia" (of the same size and length as the overture) between the first and second acts and a "March of the Prussian Knights" - all fine examples of early Romanticism. Arlequin was an 1808 ballet for which the composer wrote over 30 minutes of music consisting of twenty short (due to the exigencies of the action) measure of dance music. The two overtures contribute more of Hoffmann's delightful pieces of early Romantic music. Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss; Johannes Goritzki. CPO 999 606 (Germany) 10B045 $15.98

ULVI CEMAL ERKIN (1906-1972): Duyuslar, FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886): Sonata in B Minor. We've imported a limited quantity of this CD which was sponsored by the Turkish Ministry of Culture to promote the Turkish pianist even though only 14 minutes of this disc are taken up by Turkish repertoire. Dyuslar ("Feelings" or "Impressions") is a collection of 11 original pieces in the style of Turkish folk music which dates from 1937 and which will appeal to anyone who loves similar compositions by Skalkottas or Bartok. The rationale may be understandable but, if only there had been more.... Kamerhan Turan (piano). Pepperland PEP 94 003 (Austria) 10B046 $16.98

WAYNE SIEGEL (b.1953): Sound Patterns, KARSTEN FUNDAL (b.1966): The Ways of Lightness and Falling, SVEND HVIDTFELT NIELSEN (b.1958): Fable, Part I-II, PIERRE DORGE (b.1946): The Big Bird. All of the works recorded here were written on commission for the performers, a clarinet trio (clarinet, cello and piano) who have persistently commissioned and premiered new works for this combination. Siegel, an American who has lived in Denmark since the mid 1970s, offers a piece (from1987) which repays its debt to Steve Reich's brand on minimalism in it kaleidoscopically slinding changes in its rhythmic patterns and timbre. Fundal's 1992 piece moves between forces pulling in different directions: a hovering, self-absorbed play which is pulled back to earth by painful, contemplative expression. Nielsen's work (1991) uses bass clarinet in a dark and otherworldly work in which brutality and wildness are gradually subsumed in a gentle, lyrical wave brought on by the piano. Dorge's composition (1991) is a tragi-comic piece in three movements - the first bizarre, the second a quieter section with extensive improvisations and the third a rhythmic Marcato barbaro with a raw energy approaching punk in quality. LINEnsemble. Marco Polo/Dacapo 8.224122 (Denmark) 10B047 $14.98

The Hyperion Liszt Edition - The final volume

FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886): Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 57 - 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies. 95 CDs, recorded over a period of almost 14 years; 1377 tracks in all with a total playing time of over 117 hours.... the Hyperion Liszt cycle comes to an end with the well-known Hungarian Rhapsodies (collectors will want to know that Rhapsody No. 16 is in its second version - S244/16ii). Also included, along with the usual informative and scholarly notes on the music by the pianist, is a second booklet containing an index of the series with a complete and up-to-date listing, by S number, of all of Liszt's music for piano. 2 CDs. Leslie Howard (piano). Hyperion CDA 67418/9 (England) 10B048 $35.98

The Hyperion Schubert Edition - Volume 33

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828): Lebenstraum, D1A, Rien de la nature, DAnh IIA, O combats, o desordre extreme!, DAnh IIB, Lebenstraum, D39, Quell' innocente figlio, D17, Nos. 1 & 2, Klaglied, D23, Entra l'uomo allor che nasce, D33, Nos. 1 & 2, Serbate o Dei custodi, D35, Misero pargoletto (first setting) D42, No. 1B, Totengraberlied, D44, Dithyrambe (first setting), D47 (fragment, compl Hoorickx), Ombre amene, amiche piante, D990F, Pensa, che questo istante, D76, Son fra l'onde, D78, Trinklied, D75, L'incanto degli occhi, D990E (first version), Geisternahe, D100, Die Befreier Europas in Paris, D104, Der Abend, D108, Die Nacht, Erinnerungen, D98, Ammenlied, D122, Viel tausend Sterne prangen, D642. Titled "The Young Schubert", this volume contains music written between 1810 and 1814. There are several first recordings, including D1A, a 12-minute song called Lebenstraum which Schubert left unfinished and untitled and without any words! Recent scholarship revealed the poem which was obviously in Schubert's mind when writing the music. Also included are several Metastasio settings in Italian from the period when Schubert was studying with Salieri, two never-before-recorded French duets deriving from Gluck operas and Die Nacht, so recently discovered that it does not yet have a Deutsch number. A fascinating program of virtually unknown music! The usual bulging booklet with full texts, photos and translations. Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Ann Murray, Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzos), Philip Langridge, Daniel Norman, Adrian Thompson, John Mark Ainsley, James Gilchrist, Jamie McDougall (tenors), Maarten Koningsberger, Stephen Varcoe, Simon Keenlyside, Brandon Velarde (baritones), Michael George (bass), The London Schubert Chorale; Stephen Layton, Graham Johnson (piano). Hyperion CDJ 33033 (England) 10B049 $17.98

A Late Romantic Danish Woman Composer

NANCY DALBERG (1881-1949): Capriccio for Orchestra, Scherzo for String Orchestra, Op. 6 String Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 14, Fantasy Piece for Violin and Piano, 8 Songs. Dalberg studied first with Svendsen, then Fini Henriques and, finally, with Carl Nielsen, (for whom she often helped instrumentate his works, especially Springtime on Funen). There is a symphony in C minor (dare we hope for a recording?), but this selection of her symphonic, chamber and vocal uvre well demonstrates her musical language whose roots are in German Romanticism with a certain degree of Central European and Scandinavian modernism. Danish-English texts. Danish Philharmonic Orchestra; Frans Rasmussen, Carl Nielsen Quartet, Lars Thodberg Bertelsen (baritone), Frode Stengaard (piano), Soren Elbaek (violin), Morten Mogensen (piano). Marco Polo/Dacapo 8.224138 (Denmark) 10B050 $14.98

JAN VACLAV HUGO VORISEK (1791-1825): Introduction and Variations in D, Op. 9, ANTONIN DVORAK (1841-1904): Polonaise in A, Op. posth., OSKAR NEDBAL (1874-1930): Romance and Capriccio, Op. 12, LEO· JANAAEK (1854-1928): Pohadka, Presto, BOHUSLAV MARTINO (1890-1959): 4 Nocturnes, Variations on a Theme by Rossini. The largest work here, Vorisek's op. 9, with its late Classical, early Romantic mixture, makes its CD debut. It's an entertaining 15 minutes, anticipating Schumann in its cryptographic use of the note sequence F-A-D-E A-F-F-E ("dull ape" in German) to refer to a spinster of the composer's acquaintance. The other CD premiere belongs to Nedbal, whose 1899 pair of works has a strong whiff of the salon about them as might befit a composer who made his name as a writer of operettas. Budget-price. Markus Nyikos (cello), Jaroslav Smykal (piano). Koch Schwann Musica Mundi 3-6723-2 (Germany) 10B051 $6.98

ALEXANDER ALYABIEV (1787-1851): Piano Quintet in E Flat, ANTON ARENSKY (1861-1906): Piano Quintet in D, Op. 51, NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880-1951): Piano Quintet in C, Op. posth. Composed in the 1830s, Alyabiev's 11-minute, single-movement quintet harks back to the late Classical style with a hint of Hummel in the piano part. Arensky's 1900 piece is richly, full-bloodedly (full-bloodedly?) romantic with a stirring opening movement, a melancholy but lyrical andante, elegant scherzo and vigorous, fugal finale with Russian flavor. Medtner's posthumous quintet has been recorded so often recently that its reactionary, deeply-felt Romanticism need not be further described. Juhani Lagerspetz (piano), Alexander Vinnitsky, Alexander Mayorov (violins), Anton Yaroshenko (viola), Alexander Rudin (cello). Russian Compact Disc RCD 30203 (Austria) 10B052 $16.98

MARCEL DELANNOY (1898-1962): Serenade Concertante for Violin and Orchestra, Danse des negrillons from La Pantoufle de Vair for Violin and Orchestra, GABRIEL PIERNE (1863-1937): Impressions de Music-Hall for Violin and Piano, EDOUARD LALO (1823-1892): Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra. As this disc is volume one in a series of "The Franco-Belgian School" of violinists, no information is given about the works performed. However, we can tell you that Delannoy's Serenade is a delightful, quintessentially Gallic piece in three movements (lasting around 20 mintes) which will please anyone who likes, say, Poulenc or Ibert. The Pierne is in the "lollipop" category as is the "Dance of the Little Negroe" (to translate it less offensively than the French dictionary...); all in all, 38 minutes of pleasant, unknown repertoire in serviceable transfers from shellac originals. Mono (recordings 1941-2 and 1946). Henry Merckel (violin), Lola Bobesco (violin - Lalo), Mme. Pugnet-Caillard (piano), Orchestra; Charles Munch (Delannoy), Lamoreaux Concerts Orchestra; Eugene Bigot (Lalo). Malibran-Music CDRG 131 (France) 10B053 $16.98

FREDERIC DEVREESE (b.1929): Overture for Large Orchestra, Piano Concerto No. 1, Gemini - Suite for Double Orchestra, Valse Sacree for Orchestra, Gemini - Suite for 2 Pianos, Lullaby for Jesse for Piano, Black & White for Piano, Mascarade for Piano. The prolific Belgian Devreese has written a lot of film music (for which he has won several awards) as well as a large amount of "traditional" concert music and the former shows in the latter. The first disc here is devoted to orchestral works: a bright, wind-laden overture celebrating the 25th anniversary of the King of Belgium; the 20-year-old composer's first piano concerto (the one not recorded on the 1993 Marco Polo release) whose raucously unbuttoned amalgam of blues, jazz and technicolor "film-" type music already shows his mature style almost complete. His piano pieces, on the second disc, tend toward suites of short movements generally of fast or moderate tempo with powerful accents and syncopations, intense rhythms and great challenges to the performer's technique. 2 CDs. Daniel Blumenthal (piano), Robert Groslot (second piano), BRTN Philharmonic Orchestra; Walter Gillessen, Georges Octors, Fernand Terby, Frederic Devreese. Cyprès CYP1619 (Belgium) 10B054 $35.98

GEORGES AURIC (1899-1983): Suites from Caesar and Cleopatra, The Titfield Thunderbolt, Dead of Night, Passport to Pimlico, The Innocents, The Lavender Hill Mob, Moulin Rouge, Father Brown, It Always Rains on Sunday, Overture to Hue and Cry. The Chandos Movies label is launched with this compendium of suites of marvelous music, much of it for those ever-popular Ealing comedies, by the Frenchman Georges Auric. His first British commission was for, by all accounts, a wretched production of Caesar and Cleopatra in 1945, followed quickly by a non-Ealing score for one of the best horror films of all time, Dead of Night which offered the mould (multiple tales spun off of a set piece involving the main characters and someone who foresees the future) used to great effect in the 60s and 70s by Hammer and Amicus. Most of the rest of the above-listed films are comedies but the 1961 The Innocents, an adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, was brilliant psycholgical thriller whose opening title music - an adaptation of the innocuous folk song O Willow Waly, is particularly disturbing. (Several musical moments, omitted from the final cut of the film, have been restored for this recording.) BBC Philharmonic; Rumon Gamba. Chandos 9774 (England) 10B055 $16.98

NIKOS SKALKOTTAS (1904-1949): Sonata for Solo Violin, 4 Sonatinas for Violin and Piano, Little Chorale and Fugue, March of the Little Soldiers, Nocturne, Rondo, Gavotte, Scherzo, Menuetto Cantato. This release collects the majority of Skalkottas' works for violin and violin/piano, including his first mature work to be preserved - the solo sonata from 1925. This shows the young composer using both Bach and atonality as he searches for his own voice. The first two sonatinas (1929) find him moving forward with Bergian dodecaphony in the second (which includes an intensely rhythmic finale which reminds one of the Greek Dances); the first survives through only one of its movements which uses jazz rhythms. The other two sonatinas date from 1935, the period when Skalkottas was establishing his personal dodecaphonic system and are ascetic in form while rich in sound. Georgios Demertzis (violin), Maria Asteriadou (piano). BIS CD-1024 (Sweden) 10B056 $17.98

JACOB WEINBERG (1879-1956): Quintet, Op. 40, SAMUEL GARDNER (1891-1984): Hebrew Fantasy, Jewish Rhapsody, ALEXANDER KREIN (1883-1951): Esquisses Hebraiques, Op. 12, SAMUEL SECUNDA (1894-1974): A Gemore Nigun, BORIS LEVENSON (1884-1947): 2 Jewish Folk Songs, ALEXANDER GRECHANINOV (1864-1956): Variations, Op. 172, ABRAHAM W. BINDER (1865-1967): Variatons on a Prayer Motif. In 1908, the "Society for Jewish Folk Music" was founded in St. Petersburg, Russia and it invited Jewish composers (and others) to create art music on motifs from Jewish folk and sacred music. A Russian clarinetist, Simeion Beileson (1881-1953), who emigrated to the U.S. in 1920, took a special interest in this and solicited composers whom he know to set Hebrew works for different ensembles with clarinet. His collection of 300 manuscripts is today housed in the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem; these works recorded here take us back to a forgotten musical world with a fine popular flair and deep roots in Jewish folklore and religion. 2 CDs. Low Mid-price. Dieter Klocker (clarinet), Vlach Quartet Prague. CPO 999 630 (Germany) 10B057 $16.98

PETAR CHRISTOSKOV (b.1917): 24 Bulgarian Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 24. Christoskov is one of Bulgaria's most prominent teachers as well as having composed more than 50 works, both vocal and instrumental. This is his second set of caprices and they date from 1976/77 and were premiered by the violinist on this recording. These are virtuosic pieces, entirely based on Bulgarian folk music, many from the Shopska region which is near Sofia. The themes are developed and lead to a series of technical, rhythmic and harmonic innovations with harmony being pushed into unusual regions for a solo instrument and dissonance which often turns into assonance, providing the work with an alternation of tension and relaxation. Many unexpected and original sounds, in combination with the always fascinating Bulgarian folk elements, make for a riveting listening experience. 2 CDs. Evgenia-Maria Popova (violin). Dynamic CDS 219/1-2 (Italy) 10B058 $35.98

LATE ARRIVAL -

The latest in cpo's Loewe Edition

CARL LOEWE (1796-1869): Complete Edition, Vol. 12 - Gutmann und Gutweib, Op. 9, Der Totentanz, Op. 44/3, Gregor auf dem Stein, Op. 38, Schwalbenmarchen, Op. 68/1, Der verliebte Maikafer, Op. 64/1, Der Kuckuck, Op. 64/2, Der Heinesche Liederkreis, Op. 9, Die Dorfkirche, Op. 116/1, Der Rauber, Op. 34/2, Das Wunder auf der Flucht, Op. 75/4. Heine said that Loewe's songs had captivated him entirely and that it would be his wish to die while playing and singing his melodies; the seven-song grouping Der Heinesche Liederkreis allows us to see why. The six-song cycle Gregor auf dem Stein is an interesting piece from Loewe's earlier period while the setting of Ruckert's Arabian legend Das Wunder auf dem Flucht is a musical gem. German-English texts. Yvi Janicke (mezzo), Cord Garben (piano). CPO 999 413 (Germany) 10B059 $15.98

KAIKHOSRU SHAPURJI SORABJI (1892-1988): Opus clavicembalisticum. Finally, Sorabji's day seems to be dawning, and that magnificent incandescent volcanic plume, Opus Clavicembalisticum, a portal into the composer's mature world, is now available in no fewer than three commercially recorded versions. Madge's early LP recording is now difficult to obtain, but the Ogdon studio recording, Altarus AIR-CD-9075, is still available (subject currently to temporary re-pressing delays), and now they are joined by this, a recording of Madge's 1988 live performance in Chicago, regarded by the performer as his best (and as he has stated his intention not to perform the work again, this may presumably also be regarded as his definitive statement on the work). The work teems with such invention, such limitless virtuosity of thought and execution that anyone with even a passing interest in Sorabji's unique music will unquestionably want to add this to their growing library, where it will serve to whet the appetite to an intolerable degree, concerning the many as yet unheard major works still to come. 5 CDs for the price of 3. Geoffrey Douglas Madge (piano). BIS CD-1062/1064 (Sweden) 10B060 $53.98

HAVERGAL BRIAN (1876-1972): Symphony No. 3 in C Sharp Minor. Brian's third (of 32 extant) symphonies dates from the composer's 56th year (1932) and, at 55-odd minutes, is a shrimp compared to the Gothic. But it's fascinating for its mixture of what would later become characteristics of Brian's late period - dissonance, march rhythms, angular string writing, hard-edged percussion scoring and abruptly cut-off climaxes - with moods from his earlier music: pastoral innocence, Elgarian nobility and sheer unbuttoned riotousness. Brian's most expansive, objective, heroic and lyrical symphony, this work is well worth acquiring at mid-price if you do not have the original Hyperion issue and if you are still unacquainted with this remarkable composer. Mid-price reissue. BBC Symphony Orchestra; Lionel Friend. Helios CDH 55029 (England) 10B061 $10.98

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957): Complete Youth Production for Violin and Piano, Vol. 1 - Sonata in A Minor, Andante grazioso in D, Sonata (movement) in D, [Moderato] - Presto - [Tempo I] in A Minor, [Menuetto] in D Minor, [Menuetto] in E Minor, [Andantino] in A Minor, [Five Pieces], [Scherzino] in F, [Andante elegiaco] in F Sharp Minor, Andante cantabile in G, [Sonata allegro exposition] in B Minor, Suite in D Minor. This is a disc-full of world premiere recordings of pieces which date from 1883-1889, Sibelius' years in Grammar School in Hameenlinna and then the period of study in Helsinki. In fact, none have even been published, all having been recorded from manuscript. Not surprisingly for a young composer, Sibelius' models, more often than not, are Haydn, Beethoven and other early Romantic composers; the influence of Grieg only shows up late in the years covered by this release (which is also Volume 46 in "The Complete Sibelius"). But also present throughout is a facility for writing for the violin (Sibelius' favorite instrument) and a seemingly easy flow of memorable, attractive melodic ideas, making this release more than an academic exercise in completism. Jaakko Kuusisto (violin), Folke Grasbeck (piano). BIS CD-1022 (Sweden) 10B062 $17.98

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957): Piano Music, Vol. 1 - 6 Impromptus, Op. 5, Sonata in F, Op. 12, 10 Pieces, Op. 24. Sibelius wrote music for the piano throughout his life but these works are unfamiliar, partly because they were mostly for domestic performance, abounding in pleasant and tuneful melody, but mostly because they are utterly different from his dramatic and rugged orchestral works. The only exception is the 1893 sonata - not that it is grand or rugged but because it is on a larger scale and breathes the same bracing Northern air as Grieg. Havard Gimse (piano). Naxos 8.553899 (New Zealand) 10B063 $5.98

CARL NIELSEN (1865-1931): Music for 5 Poems by J. P. Jacobsen, Op. 4, 6 Songs on Texts of Ludvig Holstein, Op. 10, Viser og Vers of J.P. Jakobsen, Op. 6, 28 Songs. Nielsen's songs, most deriving from folk roots, have had a great popularity in his native country - the sort which would find many people able to sing them but unable to name their composer. Many of the 28 miscellaneous songs on this recital are of this type while the three groups with opus number (from1891 and 1894) are related to and continue the Danish lieder tradition of Lange-Muller and Heyse. 2 CDs. English synopses. Analogue recordings from 1980 and 1982. Ulrik Cold (bass), Johannes Mikkelsen (piano). Classico CLASSCD 280-81 (Denmark) 10B064 $29.98

ERNO VON DOHNANYI (1877-1960): Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 - 6 Concert Etudes, Op. 28, Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song, Op. 29, Pastorale (Hungarian Christmas Song), Ruralia Hungarica, Op. 32a. A piano virtuoso of the first order, Dohnanyi's compositions for his own instrument have a fresh, upbeat and muscular quality which makes for invigorating listening. Many collectors will know Ruralia Hungarica from its orchestral (five pieces) or violin/piano versions (three pieces); here are all seven original pieces, based on familiar gypsy melodies which act as the spice for late romantic harmonizations. The last of the op. 28 etudes is an evergreen encore played by virtuosi everywhere but the other five are no less attractive - bravura pieces for steel fingers and marathon stamina. No current complete recording is listed in the catalogues, nor is there any of the op. 29 - a Hungarian folk song whose ten variations flow seamlessly into one another giving the impression of an evolving tone poem. The Pastorale, a serene, charming improvisation on a Christmas carol, fills out a marvellously entertaining recital. Markus Pawlik (piano). Naxos 8.553332 (New Zealand) 10B065 $5.98

FERRUCCIO BUSONI (1866-1924): Concerto for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 17, Concertstuck for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 31a, Indianische Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 44. The net discographic gain here is the Concerto for Piano and Strings, written when Busoni was an astonishingly precocious youngster of 12. Reminiscent of Mendessohn it may be, with shades of Hummel and Beethoven too - but even if it doesn't sound like mature Busoni, it is still a fascinating document of the youthful composer's uncannily advanced technique. The Indian Fantasy and Konzertstuck are familiar works, of course - at least inasmuch as any work of Busoni may be so described - but they make an appropriate coupling and point up the composer's remarkable development, from almost excessively talented child to one of the most original and fascinating composers of the century. Carlo Grante (piano), I Pomeriggi Musicali; Marco Zuccarini. Music & Arts CD 1047 (U.S.A.) 10B066 $16.98

GEORGES MIGOT (1891-1976): La Passion. A renaissance man among 20th-century composers, Migot was also a painter and poet. His immense cycle of religious oratorios on the life of Christ form an important part of his output. His setting of the Passion is unusual; there is no Evangelist role, and no arias for individual characters, who sing their dialogue without elaboration as part of an overall choral texture; this is not to deny the melodic beauty of the vocal lines, however. The work is somber and restrained, a huge slow-moving symphonic canvas in a chromatic tonal idiom of the late 19th century, powerful and moving, and particulary involving for the listener, who is perhaps drawn into the action more directly as a result of the work's structure and form. Mono. 2 CDs. French-English texts. Hans Wilbrink (baritone), NCRV Vocal Ensemble, Dutch Radio Large Chorus and Orchestra; Marinus Voorberg. Arion ARN 268468 (France) 10B067 $33.98

WERNER WOLF GLASER (b.1910): Divertimento No. 2 for Strings and Wind Quintet, Solo for Oboe, Linnea rezza for Solo Violin, Funeral Music for a Girl for String Orchestra. Glaser's music has a cool elegance, which should not be confused with detachment, as his studies and work in the field of psychology ensure that there is an ever-present communicative, human element to his work. As the title of the CD - taken from the solo violin work on it - suggests, line, and therefore counterpoint, is of great importance to the composer. Long arching lyrical lines and melodies which, though complex, are fundamentally songful make up the principal action of this music. Chromatic and somewhat acerbic harmony takes second place. Most moving here is the Funeral Music for a Girl of 1957, a psychologically complex elegy of great eloquence. Vasteras Chamber Orchestra; Harry Damgaard, Kennet Bohman (oboe), Antonio Nicolino (violin). Phono Suecia PSCD 14 (Sweden) 10B068 $16.98

RICHARD STOKER (b.1938): 4 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 69, 4 Yeats Songs, Op. 64, Duologue, Op. 47, 4 Morceaux a 4 Mains, Op. 77, Music That Brings Sweet Sleep, Op. 25, Diversions on a Theme of Lennox Berkeley, Op. 46, Kristallnacht Monody, Op. 76, Portrait of a Town, Op. 52, Aspects 1 in 111, Op. 39. These attractive songs and piano duo works are tonal and straighforward without being obvious. The songs are melodic and vocally grateful, with understated, unobtrusive accompaniments which highlight and illuminate the vocal line without drawing undue attention to themselves. Lovers of the tradition of English song will find much to enjoy here. Jacqueline Fox (mezzo), Margaret Feaviour (soprano), Richard Stoker (piano), The Davies Piano Duo. ASC CS CD10 (England) 10B069 $17.98

ROBERT AVALON (b.1955): Violin Sonata, Op. 6, Flute Sonata, Op. 26, Sextet to Julia de Burgos for Soprano, Flute, Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 21. The composer's notes about his motivations for writing music reveal an unabashed romantic born out of his time, and the music - very emotional, though not sentimental - bears this out. The Violin Sonata, for example; the piece is very well written and coherent, but the overriding impression is of an outpouring of feelings too deeply felt to be contained. In these controlled days this kind of thing is unfashionable, and the wearing of one's heart on one's sleeve is not often approved of, but Avalon does it convincingly and without embarrassment, and his melodic inspiration, as in the first and second movements of the Violin Sonata (the third is a wildly ecstatic perpetuum mobile) or the opening and slow movements of the Flute Sonata, is outstandingly fine. Brian Lewis (violin), Megan Meisenbach (flute), Jonita Lattimore (soprano), Alison Young (flute), Sae Shirgami (violin), Daniel Strba (viola), David Garrett (cello), Robert Avalon (piano). Centaur CRC 2430 (U.S.A.) 10B070 $16.98

JOHN CAGE (1912-1992): Music for three, CHARLES IVES (1874-1954): Piano Trio. Far from being the most extreme works of either of these innovators of American music, these two trios show clearly the traditions out of which the composers came, and against which their powerful musical personalties rebelled. So we have Ives throwing his characteristic folk and traditional American melodies around in combination, but without the wildness with which he utilised his homespun material in the more ambitious orchestral works. It's still pretty innovative for the first decade of the century, though, when a friendly European-classical vocabulary was the public taste in American music. The Cage uses chance procedures to determine the music played, again juxtaposing material unexpectedly, but in a manner less harmonious, more fragmentary and pointillistic, but no less innovative for all that. Budget price. Werner Bartschi (piano), Martin Mumelter (violin), Wen-Sin Yang (cello). Koch Schwann Musica Mundi 3-6714-2 (Germany) 10B071 $6.98

KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (b.1933): String Trio, Prelude for Solo Clarinet, Per Slava for Solo Cello, Violin Sonata, Clarinet Quartet, Cadenza per viola sola. Interestingly, this program, chosen by the composer, avoids altogether the works of his experimental, avant-garde years - the late 1950s through early 1970s - which forged his considerable reputation as a rather shocking, controversial figure whose music guaranteed hair-raising, powerful effects of stunning emotional impact. Everything here post-dates those years, apart from the violin sonata, an early work in which the influence of Bartok is strong. "Neo-romantic" is not an accurate description of Penderecki's style nowadays; the legacy of his avant-garde days lives on, for instance in the harsh, stabbing chords which punctuate the string trio. But there is a chromatic lushness to these recent works which makes them unquestionably more approachable than the earlier music. A strong vein of lyricism runs through the solo works, together with humor and a very human, personal touch, as befits pieces written as gifts for soloists associated with the composer and his work. Ensemble Villa Musica. MD&G 304 0917 (Germany) 10B072 $17.98

HANS ZENDER (b.1936): Holderlin lesen I for String Quartet with Sprechstimme ad lib., Hölderlin lesen II for Sprechstimme, Viola and Live Electronics, Hölderlin lesen III for String Quartet and Sprechstimme. These three works set late, incomplete texts of Hölderlin, the fragmentary nature of which would in any case render them unsuitable for a romantic lieder-style setting. Zender's solution is to make a virtue of the incompleteness of the lines by setting them in several deliberately kaleidoscopic contexts, using sprechstimme, electronics and rapidly changing and violently contrasting juxtapositions of material to render the lack of completeness as a poetic device in its own right, or to suggest a hectic, almost despairing compression or summary of the meaning of the text. Salome Kammer (voice), Arditti String Quartet. Auvidis/Montaigne MO 782094 (France) 10B073 $18.98

ALBERT GUMI (b.1965): Salts de Patum, Canco i dansa, XAVIER MONTSALVATGE (b.1912): Ritornello, RAMON HUMET (b.1968): 2 canciones populares andaluzas, Duende, JOAN ALBERT AMARGOS (b.1950): 4 canciones populares, ENRIC PALOMAR (b.1964): Nana y sevillana. The music on this CD was all written (or in one case, arranged) especially for the Trio Werther, an unusual yet euphonious ensemble. The works all have in common an extremely strong regional flavour; without sounding like naive folk-music (with the possible exception of a couple of the Gumí pieces, and these are characterful and colorful enough easily to carry their slight weight) they capture, each in its own way, the atmosphere of Iberian festivities. Characteristic dance-rhythms abound, and fresh, open-air harmonies, uncomplicated yet exhilarating. Trio Werther (clarinet, bassett horn, piano). La Ma de Guido LMG 2032 (Spain) 10B074 $17.98

MARKUS SCHMITT (b.1965): Siebenkas-Musik for Piano Trio, echoi for Cello and Piano, Quelle belle femme for Soprano, Flute, Viola and Harp, Tre sonate galanti for Piano, Jean Paulsche Bagatellen for Viola and Harp, nidere minne for Soprano, Fute, Viola and Harp. Schmitt's scintillating, restless music is not without humor, and pays multiple homage to earlier models in the form of little excursions into - wait a minute, that sounds like . . . oh, it's gone - romantic or classical harmony or phrase structure. In this sense the music is non-linear, darting restlessly from one idiom to another, but with such affecting pleasure in its own skill and playfulness that it is impossible not to enjoy the experience as much as the composer appears to have done. There is a serious side too, as in the weird, surreal, shifting perspectives of the tiny Oppenheim songs. Anna-Maria Bogner (soprano), Irmela Nolte (flute), Barbara Kink (violin), Gunter Pretzel (viola), Marlis Neumann (harp), Mortiz Eggert (piano), Sebastian Hess (cello). Cavalli Records CCD 234 (Germany) 10B075 $17.98

JON OIVIND NESS (b.1968): The Dangerous Kitten for Trombone and Orchestra, Schatten for Orchestra, Charm for String Quartet, Interrupted Cycles for Ensemble, Dandy Garbage for Orchestra. A kind of gleefully irreverent eclecticism permeates Ness' music, drawing on elements of conservatory training, early encounters with diverse "classical" instruments and styles, popular music and extramusical influences. The pallette of sounds invoked is rich and complex; the music has a bright, appealing quality, sometimes veering near the sophisticated musical slapstick of Zappa (who is indeed acknowledged as an influence, among many others). The composer feels free to use whatever techniques, from simple triadic harmony through atonality, clusters and (occasionally) alternative playing techniques to assemble an unusually rich collage whose busy surface conceals an underlying tension and serious commentary on the state of contemporary music. Sverre Riise (trombone), Oslo Sinfonietta, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra; Christian Eggen, Cikada String Quartet, Cikada Ensemble. Aurora ACD 5012 (Norway) 10B076 $17.98

BERTIL PALMAR JOHANSEN (b.1954): On a Spring String, String Quartet No. 1 "Songs of the Nightingale", Cantus for Violin Solo, Ricercare for String Trio, Capriccio for Viola Solo, Duo Fantasies, Lyar for Cello Solo. Melodic figure against textural ground characterises Johansen's string music, creating works of strong contrast and undeniable beauty. The lyrical element often includes material of considerable harmonic richness, while the background material, harmonically static, is rougher, more "modern" in texture. The composer is able to conjure an almost pictorial sense of atmosphere through this technique, and in the work with an explicit programme - the string quartet based on Andersen's fairy tale - the descriptive element is almost verbal in its vivid evocation of scenes and events from the story. Cikada String Quartet. Aurora ACD 5010 (Norway) 10B077 $17.98

KAREL GOEYVAERTS (1923-1993): Litany 1 for Piano, Litany 2 for 3 Percussionists, Litany 3 for Orchestra, Litany 4 for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano, Litany 5 for Harpsichord and Tape. The Litanies are a set of 5 pieces for diverse instruments or groupings of instruments which explore repetitive, serially organised cells to create, as the title suggests, works of stridently gripping and compelling meditative ecstasy. The composer speaks of an 'emotional element' that appeared between 1979 and 1982 - and this, combined with a post-Webernian strictness of organisation and a Messiaenic color pallette gives rise to music whose raw emotional power is hard to resist. 2 CDs. Kristina Van Damme (piano), Champ d'Action; Alain Franco, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra; Lucas Vis, Christine Wauters (harpsichord). Megadisc MDC 7872/73 (U.S.A.) 10B078 $37.98

BRUNO MADERNA (1920-1973): Quartetto per archi, Quartetto per archi in due tempi, Cadenza for Violin and String Trio, Widmung for Violin, Dialodia for 2 Violins, Piece pour Ivry for Violin, Viola for Viola, Standchen fur Tini for Violin and Viola. A child-prodigy violinist, Maderna turns naturally and with great eloquence to strings as is amply demonstrated by this fascinating collection. From the early (1946) string quartet, a relatively conservative work of great melodic content and lyricism, via the second, far more austere, serial and yet also movingly lyrical, to the works of the 60s and 70s, with their advanced playing techniques and extended instrumental vocabulary, the factor that emerges the most strongly is the composer's unending quest for the soaring, singing line, which often emerges from even the most complex modern-sounding music with an almost vocal beauty and directness of utterance. Arditti String Quartet. Auvidis/Montaigne MO 782049 (France) 10B079 $18.98

RICHARD FESTINGER (b.1948): Tapestries for Piano Trio, Trionometry for Flute, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet and Piano, String Quartet, Twinning for Violin and Piano. Festinger's music is characterised by a restless, relentless energy, always rhythmically unpredictable and always on the move. Atonal and spiky, yet with frequent excersions into warmly appealing timbral textures - as in the unusual and unexpectedly appealing combination of flute and bass clarinet in Trionometry - and allusions to classical and early 20th-century models, this music is skillfully written and exploits the expressive possibilities of the ensembles to the full. Laurel Trio, Earplay, Alexander String Quartet, Curtis Macomber (violin), Karen Rosenak (piano). CRI CD 832 (U.S.A.)10B080 $16.98

TOMAS MARCO (b.1942): Concierto Guadiana for Guitar and Strings, CARLOS CRUZ DE CASTRO (b.1941): Concerto for Guitar and Strings, XAVIER BENGUEREL (b.1931): Tempo for Guitar and Strings. These three works for guitar and strings contrast strongly in style, though they share the common characteristic of paying clear homage to the traditions of guitar playing in the region. The Castro places a great deal of the rhythmic emphasis on the soloist, whicle the strings produce a wonderfully evocative and sensual background. The Marco, while obviously in a modern idiom draws more strongly on traditional textures. Benguerel's Tempo is the most steeped in the 20th-century European concert tradition, placing the soloist in an animated dialogue with the ensemble, exchanging ideas between the two, rather than treating the combination as soloist and accompaniment. Again, though, the rhythmic vitality is a striking feature of the music. Wolfgang Weigel (guitar), European Masters Orchestra; Peter Schmelzer. Koch Discover International DICD 920530 (Belgium) 10B081 $6.98

FERENC FARKAS (b.1905): Aria e Rondo all'ungherese for 2 Violins and Strings, Partita all'ungaresca, MARCEL GRANDJANY (1891-1975): Aria in classic style for Harp and Strings, OTTORINO RESPIGHI (1879-1936): Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3, C.P.E. BACH (1714-1788): Concerto in D Minor for Flute and Strings, Wq. 22. Only two-fifths of this disc contains unusual repertoire but, at budget price, it's more than worth the small outlay to hear more of the Hungarian Farkas' bright and neat treatments of early baroque Hungarian compositions (in both works) and the French-American harpist Grandjany's idyllic and Faurean Aria. Martin Schminke (violin), Ildikó Kocsis (harp), Hossein Samieian (flute), Louis Spohr Sinfonietta; Lore Schrettner (violin). Koch Discover International DICD 920533 (Belgium) 10B082 $6.98

ALLEN SAPP (b.1922): Piano Sonatas Nos. 2-4. Sapp studied under Piston at Harvard and later with Copland and Boulanger and his greatest influences other than these come from Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Thus, one finds in these sonatas - all written between 1954-56 while the composer was in Rome on a fellowship - a combination of neo-classicism and tonal music written using serial modes. Everything is clearly laid out and transparent, with more of, say, Piston's influence than that of Schoenberg, making this attractive music quite approachable for collectors of 20th century piano works. Lambis Vassiliadis (piano). Koch Discover International DICD 920535 (Belgium) 10B083 $6.98

PER NORGARD (b.1932): Singe die Garten, mein Herz for Chorus and 8 Instruments, Maya danser, Winter Hymn, 3 Agnus Die Motets, Drommesange, 4 Latin Motets, I Hear the Rain, 2 Wolfli Lieder. The first four works listed here date from 1975-83 and are melodious and harmonious, warm pieces in which Norgard's "infinity series" of composition is used. "Dreamsongs" (1981) is in simple folksong style with drum accompaniment while the Four Latin Motets of 1991 are freely composed and organically varied, using, among other devices, both Chinese and Indonesian scales. The Wolfli songs are spontaneous, wild settings which conform to the texts of the schizophrenic, confined "mad" Swiss poet (1864-1930). In all, a finely variegated example of choral composition from one of the century's most individual Scandinavian composers. Danish-English texts. The Danish Chamber Players, Vocal Group Ars Nova; Tamas Vetö. Marco Polo/Dacapo 8.224115 (Denmark) 10B084 $14.98

MFA (Musique Francais d'aujourd' hui) Special Imports - Limited Quantities - Not imported to the U.S. Back-orders subject to demand

GILBERT AMY (b.1936): Orchestrahl, String Quartet No. 1. Orchestrahl consists of 4 parts; a large-scale Prelude, richly constructed out of the composer's characteristic small fragments, melodic inflections and cells - a post-Webernian macroscopic world built of the subtlest material; then a very Second-Viennese-sounding study in orchestral color; then an energetic, rhythmically irregular scherzo-like movement, and finally a resounding finale full of striking orchestral effects and vigorous writing, especially for the heavy brass. The quartet is also based on subtle material, harmonics and high-register writing being especially important, and although the language is not conventionally tonal, the classical antecedents of the form are clearly apparent. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Quatuor Parisii. MFA 216011 (France) 10B085 $18.98

TRISTAN MURAIL (b.1947): Cloches d' adieu, et un sourire..., Territorires de l'oubli, OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908-1992): La Chouette Hulotte, L'Alouette Lulu from Troisieme livre du Catalogue d'oiseaux. The reiterative tintinnabulations familiar to us from Messiaen's piano music form an important part of the older composer's legacy passed on to Murail, who might very well be voted "composer most likely to write music that sounds like Messiaen". This is not to deny Murail's originality, of course, but suffice it to say that to those in whom Fauvist harmonic coloration - impressionism as experienced by one in a state of religious or chemical ecstasy - induces a welcome state of euphoria should have no trouble responding to these two works of Murail, the smaller of which was written in memory of his former teacher. Roger Muraro (piano). MFA 216014 (France) 10B086 $18.98

ANDRÉ BOUCOURECHLIEV (b.1925): Archipels I-IV. These works, for various ensembles, are envisaged by the composer as resembling maps in which the musical material, strictly written out, exists like islands which may be approached from different directions at the performer's discretion, introducing an element not of chance but of controlled freedom, to be exercised responsibly by the performers. The piano parts exercise the utmost virtuosity and suggest atonal pyrotechnic displays against a more sombre instrumental landscape. The second "Archipelago" is a work for string quartet, which creates a mistier, more indeterminate scene of mysterious character. The final "Anarchipelago" allows the possibility of the disintegration of the connected elements of the music into true chance, as though the map were torn into pieces and still used for navigation. As a set, these works function as a larger whole than the sum of the parts, and make a satisfying, if somewhat disorienting, cycle. George Pludermacher, Claude Helffer, Hakon Austbo, Francois-Frederic Guy (pianos), Quatuor Ysaye, Ensemble Les Pleiades, Brigitte Sylvestre (harp), Francoise Rieunier (organ), Elisabeth Chojnacka (harpsichord), Jean-Pierre Drouet, Roland Auzet (percussion). MFA 216001 (France) 10B087 $18.98

MICHÈLE REVERDY: L'intranquillite for String Quartet, En terre inconnue for Piano Trio, Rencontres for Viola, 10 musiques minutes for String Trio, Chimere for Viola and 10 Instruments. Reverdy's music, while unquestionably of our time, is very hard to define according to any school or type. Tense, uneasy fragments suddenly coalesce over an unexpected ostinato figure, or an apparently unformed, unstructured series of gestures will give way to a sonorous climax of almost romantic sumptuousness. The music, while atonal, is built of such bright, vivid brush-strokes, and is so cohesively structured that the grammar "vanishes" behind the expressive and dialectic content. One certainly never has a sense of anything being purely for the sake of effect, or of a note being unnecessary or wasted. Tough, powerful and compelling music incorporating a welcome element of sensuality. Quatuor Rosamonde, Trio Wanderer, Laurent Verney (viola), Guy Comentale (violin), Dominique de Williencourt (cello), Gerard Causse (viola), Orchestre Philharmoniqe de Radio France; Arturo Tamayo. MFA 216009 (France) 10B088 $18.98

JEAN-LOUIS AGOBET (b.1968): L'etude des forces for 3 Flutes and Ensemble, Strati for Piano, Nuee-Traces for Flute, Autour for Alto Flute, Plotting for Ensemble. Agobet achieves some marvellously sonorous textures through his melding of live instrumental sounds with electronic techniques. There is a quasi-minimalistic momentum (and harmonic accessibility), though little strict repetition, just an energy and sprightliness, a sort of perpetuum-mobile feeling to much of the music. Shimmering textures and constantly transforming thematic material make this a most appealing and approachable face of modern composition. Fuminori Tanada (piano), Ensemble L'Itineraire; Mark Foster. MFA 216029 (France) 10B089 $18.98

PATRICK BURGAN (b.1960): La Puerta de la Luz, OLIVIER KASPAR (b.1962): Messe, PHILIPPE HERSANT (b.1948): L'Infinito. This disc is essential listening for anyone who cares about the expressive capabilities of the voice in twentieth-century music. Burgan's work does not avoid some vocal effects reminiscent of Giles Swayne's Cry or even of Berio, and like the first of these composers, he is skilled in building up waves of sensuous vocal dissonance the better to project the raw emotions of his texts. Kaspar's mass recalls earlier models as though refracted through a prism of 20th-century techniques; the music is very harmony-driven, more tonal than the Burgan. Hersant's polyphony seems to echo earlier models still, in a tenderly yet ambiguously beautiful tapestry of nocturnal meditation. Ensemble Musicatreize; Roland Hayrabedian. MFA 216031 (France) 10B090 $18.98 See page 16 for one more MFA title

Wergo Special Imports - Limited Quantities - 1998 New Releases not imported to the U.S. Back-orders subject to demand

WOLFGANG RIHM (b.1952): Etude d'apres Seraphin for Instrumental and Electronic Sounds. This is a multi-layered work in several senses, in that not only does it consist of discrete, overlapping strata of instumental sound, but also there exists an electronic component, which in turn consists of modified and transmuted sounds from an earlier performance of the piece and works by the composer that are related to it. The electronic sounds form a kind of vast tectonic underpinning to the work, consisting in the main of deep brass sounds transposed into impossible depths. The cover illustration, which juxtaposes the spiral of a fossil shell with that of a tape reel, cleverly comments on the sonic geology which makes this work resonate so powerfully in many senses. Ensemble 13; Manfred Reichert. Wergo WER 2055-2 (Germany) 10B091 $19.98

WOLFGANG FORTNER (1907-1987): Violin Sonata, Piano Trio, Zyklus for Cello and Piano, 7 Elegien for Piano. Fortner's concentrated, economical, unfussy music was highly regarded earlier in the century, but has now fallen into neglect, which is a pity, as judged on its own merits, the demands of a particular historical period aside, it is as relevant and striking today as when it was new. The composer embraced contemporary techniques, and produced music in the 1960s as unrelentingly modern as anything else around at the time, like Zyklus. But the violin sonata from two decades earlier has a neoclassical feel, though more opulent than this term often implies. And the Elegies, rigorously dodecaphonic, fall somewhere between the two; as concisely expressed as the one, and as radical-sounding as the other. The odd, uneasy trio, composed within the last decade of Fortner's life, demonstrates that he was still looking for new directions to explore; the tonal referents here are stronger than anything since the violin sonata, but there is a more expressionistic feel to the music as well, as though some barriers of restraint had finally been let go. Albrecht Breuninger (violin), Sebastian Hess (cello), Moritz Eggert (piano). Wergo WER 6624 (Germany) 10B092 $19.98

GUNTER STEINKE (b.1956): String Trio, ... kaum einen Hauch for Contrabass Flute, Annaherungen for Ensemble, ARCADE for Cello and Live Electronics, Duchbrochene Raume for Flute, Cello and Piano. Steinke's music is as abstract, as pure, as it is possible for music to be. Small cells or motifs, constantly in motion, form a lattice of interweaving events without literal repetition, without program or narrative - it is the identity of the sounds themselves and the patterns that arise as a result of their interaction, somehow organically although the composer is an adherent of serialism, that provide interest and sustain attention, like the surface textures of an abstract-expressionist canvas. ensemble recherche. Wergo WER 6541 (Germany) 10B093 $19.98

ANDRE WERNER (b.1960): Veglia for Choir and Chamber Ensemble, III,1 for Flutes and Live Electronics, II, 1 per stygia, per manes vehor for Piano and Chamber Ensemble, Descrizione Umoristica for Soprano and Piano, cante-grito for String Quartet, IV, 1 Magni domiator poli, tam lentus audis scelera? tam lntus vides? for Large Orchestra. The big orchestral work, IV, 1, is the most obviously impressive here, but it sums up, in macrocosm as it were, Werner's very individual sound-world. Werner is a composer who uses traditional forms - the string quartet, voice and piano, the symphony orchestra in a kind of tone-poem - and simultaneously plays with the listener's perceptions through the use of microtones and extended playing techniques to introduce an element of precisely calculated uncertainty into the question of what we should be paying attention to - the musical equivalent of those trompe d'oeil surrealist paintings which, for example, are either a portrait of a well-known person or a naked figure looking out of a window, and which can shift from one to the other without warning. Neue Vocalsolisten, Varianti; Manfred Schreier, Beate-Gabriela Schmitt (flutes), Claudia Barainsky (soprano), Axel Bauni (piano), Pellegrini Quartet, Berlin Symphony Orchestra; Michael Schonwandt. Wergo WER 6540 (Germany) 10B094 $19.98

HEINRICH POOS (b.1928): Magnificat for Mixed Choir and Soprano Solo, Sphragis for Mixed Choir, Nachklange for Choir, Hypostasis vel Somnium Jacob for Choir, Zeichen am Weg for Men's Choir and Piano Four Hands. Sliding in and out of consonant tonal harmony, into regions of extreme dissonance and dodecaphonic constructions by way of modal suggestions of a bewildering array of ethnicities, Poos' music is exceedingly disconcerting at first listening. This is plainly a composer whose explorations of harmonic possibilities are of paramount importance to his compositional vocabulary. It might also be said that the results are very beautiful, the choral textures suggesting ceremonials and exultations from some alien culture related to our own in antiquity yet far enough removed from it to seem strange and totally unfamiliar. So seductive are the composer's sounds that one can easily forget the degree to which one's expectations are being challenged. Schola Cantorum Gedanensis; Jan Lukaszewski, SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; Marinus Voorberg, Susan Wenckus & Hans-Jorg Kalmbach (piano). Wergo WER 6635 (Germany) 10B095 $19.98

ALAN LANGFORD (b.1928): Waltz, Pizzicato perpetuo, Pastoral, Scherzetto, GEOFFREY BUSH (1920-1998): Divertimento, GEOFFREY WRIGHT (b.1912): 2 Pieces for Strings and Harp, HERBERT SUMISON (1899-1995): A Mountain Tune, DAVID LYON (b.1938): Intermezzo, ANTHONY HEDGES (b.1931): Divertimento. Those collectors who have enjoyed previous issues in ASV's White Line series of English Light Music will want this delightful collection of unhackneyed repertoire, especially for Geoffrey Bush's 1943 Divertimento - a student work which wanted to be a string quartet but outgrew that medium's limitations. Hedges' work of the same title (and same length - 21 minutes) was written for amateurs but is immensely enjoyable all the same with emotions ranging from austere and threatening to lyrical and finally boisterous. Mid-price. Royal Ballet Sinfonia; David Lloyd-Jones. ASV White Line WHL 2121 (England) 10B096 $11.98

HANS CHRISTIAN LUMBYE (1810-1874): Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - Tivolis Concert Salon Galop, Amager Polka No. 2, Festival Polonaise in A, Tivoli Voliere Galop, Concert-Polka for 2 Violins, Ornithobolaia Galop, Carnival Joys - Pictures from a Masquerade, New Year Greeting, Torchlight Dance, Sounds from Kroll's Dance Hall, Finale-galop from "The Guardsmen of Amager". The latest installment in this series of Danish waltz and other dance music. Tivoli Symphony Orchestra; Giordano Bellincampi. Marco Polo 8.225122 (New Zealand) 10B097 $14.98

MURDER AND MAYHEM - Suites from Horror Films of the 50s

MAX STEINER (1888-1971): The Beast With Five Fingers, HUGO FRIEDHOFER (1901-1981): The Lodger, VICTOR YOUNG (1900-1956): The Uninvited. Friedhofer's melancholic score to the quintessential Ripper flick and Young's haunting soundtrack join Steiner's creepy (previously issued) score to make for perfect Halloween listening. One can only wonder what the Russian musicians made of this... Moscow Symphony Orchestra; William T. Stromberg. Marco Polo 8.225132 (New Zealand) 10B098 $14.98 The Wild West - The Essential Western Film Collection from Silva Music by Maurice Jarre (El Condor, The Professionals, Red Sun, Villa Rides), Dimitri Tiomkin (The Alamo), Lee Holdridge (Buffalo Girls), John Williams (The Cowboys, The Rare Breed), John Barry (Dances with Wolves, Monte Walsh), Max Steiner (A Distant Trumpet, The Searchers), Ennio Morricone (A Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in the West, Two Mules for Sister Sara), Randy Edelman (Gettysburg), James Horner (Glory), Alfred Newman (How the West Was Won), Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, The Sons of Katie Elder, True Grit), Jerome Moross (The Proud Rebel, Wagon Train), Bruce Broughton (Silverado), Jerry Goldsmith (Wild Rovers), Jerry Fielding (The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Wild Bunch), Richard Hageman (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), James Newton Howard (Wyatt Earp), Richard Markowitz (The Wild Wild West [TV]), Randy Newman (Maverick), Basil Poledouris (Lonesome Dove), Dee Barton (High Plains Drifter) and Trevor Jones (The Last of the Mohicans). 2 CDs. City of Prague Philharmonic; Paul Bateman, Nic Raine, Derek Wadsworth. Silva America SSD 1099 (U.S.A.) 10B099 $33.98

CHRISTOPHE LOOTEN: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 44, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE MARCHAND (b.1958): Fantaisie for String Quartet, ARTHUR THOMASSIN (b.1958): Analecta II, PHILIPPE DULAT (b.1956): String Quartet. Many of Looten's works are religiously inspired, and he aims to address spiritual matters through his music. This is no simple new-age meditativeness, though; using plainchant and traditional forms to structure music written in the vocabulary of our time, this quartet presents a tautly argued discourse. Marchand's Fantaisie is an unsettled and unsettling work with a Bergian flavor and intensity. The Thomassin is freely atonal, improvisatory and rhapsodic, proceeding through many changes of mood though always in a framework of nocturnal ambiguity. The Dulat is the most conventional string quartet here, in overall structure, texture and harmonic language, which occupies similar territory to the middle-period Shostakovich quartets. Quatuor Rosamonde. MFA 216012 (France) 10B100 $18.98

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