Scattering Light, Scattering Flowers
Catalog #: NV5933
Release Date: February 1, 2014
21st CenturyChamberClarinetEast AsianFluteSCATTERING LIGHT, SCATTERING FLOWERS, the third release by composer Marty Regan in the Selected Works for Japanese Instruments series was recorded in Japan, and features large ensemble works for traditional Japanese instruments, including two concertos. Composed for female voice, shakuhachi, and the relatively rare 25-string koto, the title track is based on a deeply poetic text written by Japanese poet Haruka Nakanashi that echoes with references to traditional Japanese noh theater.
Scenes From A Life
Catalog #: NV6386
Release Date: November 12, 2021
21st CenturyChamberPercussionPianoHot on the heels of her first Navona Records release, award winning composer Monika Gurak keeps the fire burning with SCENES FROM A LIFE, an album of original and personalized works for piano and vibraphone. Infused with wit and whimsy, Gurak’s 15 Humoresques deliver a lighthearted quality to the album’s first half, featuring pianists Scott Downing and Emma Collette Moss with vibraphonist Michael Davidson.
Schoenberg Piano Music
Catalog #: NV6214
Release Date: March 8, 2019
20th CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoAlthough Arnold Schoenberg is often seen as a composer strictly concerned with pitch, his interests in timbre and sonority are ever-present in all five of his completed piano works. On SCHOENBERG PIANO MUSIC AND HIS 17 FRAGMENTS, pianist Yoko Hirota performs three of Schoenberg’s completed works along with the 17 fragments that he never brought to completion. Hirota, praised as being “precise and keenly projective” and demonstrating the “highest level of proficiency,” is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary piano repertory, and she brings Schoenberg’s compositions to life with conviction.
Schubert Late Works Volume 1
Catalog #: NV6505
Release Date: March 24, 2023
RomanticSolo InstrumentalPianoFollowing his 2019 Navona Records release BRAHMSIANA, pianist Steven Masi returns with a full program of piano works by composer Franz Schubert on SCHUBERT LATE WORKS. Lauded by critics for his masterful touch and dynamic style, Masi capitalizes on the unrivaled emotive power of solo piano throughout this album, drawing out a voice from the instrument that is profoundly human. Follow him on this journey through Schubert’s works to experience a well-balanced blend of virtuosic artistry and a razor-sharp precision.
Schumann | Dvořák: Concerti For Cello & Orchestra
Catalog #: NV6034
Release Date: June 10, 2016
20th CenturyConcertosCelloOrchestraComposed almost 50 years apart, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor (1895) and Schumann’s Cello Concerto (1850) are closely linked in the pantheon of Romantic concerto literature. Cellists of many generations have long looked at both of these pieces as essential components in their artistic development, and each has been recorded many times over by the titans of the instrument to showcase their technical mastery.
Sculpting the Air
Catalog #: NV5852
Release Date: June 1, 2011
20th CenturyChamberLarge EnsembleWind EnsembleSCULPTING THE AIR is a collection of modern works featuring brass and flute instrumentations from composers Samuel Barber, James Adler, Russ Lombardi, Jan Van der Roost, Barry Seroff, Brian Gillett, Juan Sebastian Lach Lau and Richard Crosby. The works on this disc range from a rhapsodic wind quintet originally composed for winds, strings and piano to a musical representation of a familial argument to a spectral piece based on one of Satie's Gymnopédies.
Sea of Reeds
Catalog #: NV5979
Release Date: November 11, 2014
21st CenturyChamberClarinetPianoViolaThe clarinet is an essential voice in many genres, from classical and jazz to klezmer and world music, and composer Gerald Cohen calls it one of his favorite instruments: "I love the clarinet for its wide variety of character and dynamics, and its ability to either blend beautifully with other instruments or to stand out in a crowd." Through this affinity, the composer offers new compositions featuring the clarinet in various trio settings on his debut Navona Records release, SEA OF REEDS.
Seasons
Catalog #: NV6407
Release Date: February 4, 2022
21st CenturyChamberString QuartetJust as each season brings its own sensations and expressions, so does composer John Mitchell’s SEASONS from Navona Records. Performed by the award winning Benda Quartet, the compositions envelop the various characteristics and hallmarks of each time of year, capturing both their beauty and the emotions they evoke. Autumn exudes the subtle warmth left from summer, Winter brings suspenseful chills and flurries of notes, Spring, a shedding of winter coats, and Summer, a regal and relaxing musical soundscape, all conjured from a dynamic and expressive string quartet performance.
Second Wind
Catalog #: NV6253
Release Date: December 13, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFlutePianoSaxophoneSaxophonist Dave Camwell's interpretations on SECOND WIND impressively demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument in music spanning three centuries. SECOND WIND presents a wide selection of saxophone music: a J. S. Bach partita with piano accompaniment added by Robert Schumann, a Vivaldi concerto, a Händel sonata, but also several contemporary, tonal saxophone compositions.
Secrets For Free
Catalog #: NV6178
Release Date: August 10, 2018
21st CenturyChamberOrchestralFluteOrchestraString QuartetIt should be no secret that Miami-based composer Ferdinando De Sena is a tour de force amongst electroacoustic composers. Just listening to SECRETS FOR FREE is all the proof you need. The EP boasts adventurous yet accessible compositions that balance real instruments with computer-generated sound. SECRETS FOR FREE is a testament to fans of either subgenre that the two approaches to classical music do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Seeking & Finding
Catalog #: NV5877
Release Date: August 1, 2012
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirNatural beauty, emotion, and enlightenment. These are but a few of the common threads of SEEKING & FINDING, an album of choral works by two composers whose pointed explorations of humanity resonate in perfect pitch.
Sei Solo
Catalog #: NV6159
Release Date: June 8, 2018
BaroqueSolo InstrumentalViolinThomas Bowes' SEI SOLO shines the spotlight on the sonatas and partitas for solo violin composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1720. Bowes believes that these six stand-alone compositions, while each individually offering insight into Bach's genius reveal more when taken as one epic work - and especially when set against the tragedy in Bach’s life in the year of composition.
Selected Piano Works by Robert Casadesus and Henri Dutilleux
Catalog #: NV6053
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoPianist, chamber musician, and educator Cicilia Yudha presents her Navona Records release SELECTED PIANO WORKS BY ROBERT CASADESUS AND HENRI DUTILLEUX, featuring her expertise as a solo pianist, as well as the exploration of the compositions of Robert Casadesus. Yudha’s skillful approach is demonstrated in the opening piece, Sonata No. 3, Op. 44, which has an energetic and rhythmically exciting first movement followed by a vibrant second movement, which exhibits a slow and reflective texture.
Sensations – Wind, Waves, Birds & Fire
Catalog #: NV6041
Release Date: May 13, 2016
21st CenturyOrchestralOrchestraPianoString OrchestraAustralian composer, music educator, and pianist Margaret Brandman presents her debut Navona release SENSATIONS, featuring several of her celebrated compositions, each one presenting a unique musical experience and sensation. The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra skilfully performs the orchestral portion, opening with the joyful Love Brings Change (Adagio for Strings). Pianist Lucie Kaucká joins the orchestra for Lyric Fantasy, an emotional and accessible two-movement work with contrasting moods for piano and strings.
Sentinels
Catalog #: NV6284
Release Date: June 12, 2020
21st CenturyOrchestralOrchestraTimothy Kramer has recorded and released a full album of his orchestral works with Navona Records. The result: SENTINELS, an evocative representation of Kramer’s compositions that span several decades, with influences ranging from Baroque to rock.
Separation
Catalog #: NV6044
Release Date: June 10, 2016
21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirOrchestraThe clichéd trope of the isolated artist toiling over their work in a virtual vacuum, alone and against the trends of the day, is not a new one. But in the case of Paula Diehl, it is as true as it comes. It isn’t an easy task to be a composer, a job which (to paraphrase Aaron Copland) holds few material rewards, and often even fewer good notices in the paper the next morning – it requires an inner strength and conviction in order to persevere through the challenges, be they artistic, financial, or social.
Sequoias
Catalog #: NV6411
Release Date: March 25, 2022
21st CenturyOrchestralSolo InstrumentalOrchestraPianoString QuartetSEQUOIAS from composer Jeffrey Jacob and Navona Records is an ode to the entrancing qualities of the natural world, echoing through music an appreciation for its transcendental beauty and concern for the devastating impact of climate change. Inspired by what he calls “cathedral-like sentinels of nature,” Symphony No. 6 meditates on the magnificence and grandeur of the tall trees towering in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. With other pieces inspired by the limitless reverberations conjured from the forest and the natural light that illuminates it, SEQUOIAS showcases the composer’s creative ambition and commitment to the environment.
Several Times
Catalog #: NV6179
Release Date: September 14, 2018
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoString QuartetSEVERAL TIMES is an impressive collection spanning over four decades of the composer’s career. Though artistic development is present throughout the larger timeline of the album, each composition demonstrates innovative approaches to time and repetition. These innovations reflect a desire to not only learn and understand time, but master it.
Shades of Romani Folklore
Catalog #: NV6567
Release Date: October 13, 2023
20th CenturyClassicalChamberString QuartetWhat happens when you fuse the power of Beethoven, the raw emotion of Janáček, and the exoticism of Frucht with a beautifully exuberant string ensemble? The Ulysses Quartet gives a definitive answer on SHADES OF ROMANI FOLKLORE, an album exploring the rich and vibrant tradition of Romani music. Each composer, who lived centuries apart from one another, drew on this wellspring of inspiration in a unique way, producing music that is deeply personal yet informed by the Romani style and spirit, and the Ulysses Quartet translates their creations with arresting artistry and pin-point accuracy.
Shadow Dancer
Catalog #: NV6264
Release Date: December 13, 2019
21st CenturyChamberPianoPiano TrioString QuartetElliott Miles McKinley has long been an influential figure in the American contemporary music scene. The award-winning music professor's new album THE SHADOW DANCER presents several recent chamber works, all centered on a common theme: memories of love.