Chamber music

Dahl, Martinů and Husa — Sonolumina Ensemble

A whole disc of works for clarinets and strings, vibrantly played and miked closely enough that the breathing and the bowing come with it.

Haydn: String Quartets Op. 9 No. 4 and Op. 77 No. 2 — Fry Street Quartet

The sequel to Voices of Modernism, with the same fiery playing: an early quartet that sounds Beethovenish and a late one that sounds Mozartean.

Voices of Modernism and the String Quartet — Fry Street Quartet

Beethoven, Stravinsky, Rorem and Scearce across two IsoMike discs, in gripping performances and one of the best string quartet recordings I have heard.

Bach: Keyboard Concertos 1 — Angela Hewitt and the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Hewitt plays the piano as a piano, prettily; the unconventional surround mix is the interesting part, with the double bass sitting almost wholly in the 0.1 channel.

500 Miles High

Vimeo

This is my arrangement of Chick Corea's beautiful song for string quartet. I took the lead sheet and expanded it to four parts for string quartet, with each instrument (apart from cello) taking turns to play the melody, with the other instruments either providing counterpoint or harmony.