Various Artists

Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series Vol. 4 [3 CDs]

Label: Wergo Country: Germany

"Wergo's reissues of the legendary Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series have been a big hit with fans of contemporary music around the world. Each set is a treasure-trove of works by a wide range of composers, performed by some of the finest musicians of the time. The three CDs of volume four feature string quartets by Boulez, Scelsi and Earle Brown, works for chamber orchestra by Xenakis, Aldo Clementi, Bo Nilsson, Wlodzimierz Kotonski and Yuji Takahashi and works by Milko Kelemen, Niccolo Castiglioni, Vittorio Fellegara and Isang Yun that were originally premiered by the Hamburger Kammersolisten."

CD 1 contains three stylistically quite different string quartets by Pierre Boulez, Giacinto Scelsi and Earle Brown himself, performed by the ensembles Quatuor Parrenin, Hamann Quartet, Quartetto di Nuova Musica, and the New York String Quartet.

CD 2 focuses on works for chamber orchestra by Iannis Xenakis, Aldo Clementi, Bo Nilsson, Wlodzimierz Kotonski, and Yuji Takahashi; apart from them, the first recording of Arnold Schoenberg's "Drei Stücke" ["Three Pieces"] is outstanding as well. The works were performed by the International Kranichsteiner Kammerensemble under the direction of Bruno Maderna, the Hamburger Kammersolisten under the direction of Francis Travis, as well as the exceptional violinist Paul Zukofsky.

CD 3 presents four works premiered by the Hamburger Kammersolisten: "Études contrapuntiques" by Milko Kelemen, "Tropi" by Niccolò Castiglioni, "Serenata" by Vittorio Fellegara, and "Musik für sieben Instrumente" ["Music for Seven Instruments"] by Isang Yun.