Bach & Brouwer
Matthew McAllister
This recording is a pairing of two works by composers whose styles would appear at first glance to be in sharp contrast. Despite two centuries separating their composition, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite No.1 (BWV 1007) and Leo Brouwer’s Suite No.2 share distinct similarities.
Recorded at the Cathedral of The Isles, Millport, 9th and 10th November 2010.
Tales from the Dark Side
Gordon McPherson, composer
featuring:
Hebrides Ensemble
Scottish Flute Trio
The Music Lab
“Trauma? There is a little more to say. How easy it is to suppose that McPherson’s music “represents” trauma, that it “depicts” traumatic experience. (What comfort there would be in this: a trauma seen from a distance.) But in doing this we do music a disservice, we jumble categories and practices, we mistake one art for another: an art of representation for an art of the actual. Music is a performing art, and however abstract and mediated it might be, it lives and thrives in what is actual, the reality of its production. Real breath, spit, fingers, lips, back and arms; real physical and mental control: the real possibility of an error, a trip and a collapse. Risk, uncertainty attend every performance.”
“McPherson, and other composers at the RSAMD, cite the tradition of pop and rock performance – the overtness of bodily and collective commitment, the noise, the vibrant (the compelling, the frightening) extortions of sound, pulse and rhythmic drive, and ask, can these be found in the concert hall? Where, in carpeted, air-conditioned environs of official, institutionally sanctioned culture, is the pulsional body, the thrown body, the hubris? How is the skill and accomplishment of the performer parenthesised? How can the prodigiously endowed contemporary musician be made poor? This CD has three examples of how this is accomplished.” - Dr. Martin Dixon (from the liner notes)
Spiricom was recorded at the Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD, Glasgow, 10th October 2007.
Waltzer was recorded at the Alexander Gibson Opera Studio, RSAMD, Glasgow, 5th November 2007.
Bloodshake was recorded at the Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD, Glasgow, 12th November 2007.
Standing Stones
Frevo Quartet
In this, the second in a series of themed EPs, Frevo Quartet perform music that is close to home; all the members of the quartet hail from Scotland or Ireland and the music on this new recording reflects that heritage.
Recorded at the Cathedral of The Isles, Millport, 13th and 14th September 2008.
Histoire du Tango
Frevo Quartet
In this, the first in a series of themed EPs, Frevo Quartet present their stunning new arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. Recorded live in concert, this dynamic performance exudes the vivacity and excitement of tango music.
Recorded live at Crail Parish Church, 15th March 2008.
Guitarra Internacional
Allan Neave
Guitarra Internacional, a new release by leading Scottish guitarist Allan Neave, takes you on a musical journey through Cuba, Venezeula, Mexico, Paraguay, Ukraine, Spain and home to present day Scotland. The CD features some perennial favourites and new works written for the artist, all of which demonstrate the guitar’s range, flexibility and virtuosity. Neave is on fine form here, with this his first solo release for nearly 10 years. From the dynamic tour-de-force of Brouwer’s Elogio de la Danza, to the intimacy of Barrios’s Una Limosnita por el Amor de Dios, this recording is a veritable aural feast. Also featuring music by Manuel Ponce, Valerij Petrenko, Antonio Lauro, Fernando Sor, Peter Stewart and Don Paterson, Guitarra Internacional, is for music lovers across the globe.
Recorded at Duncansburgh Parish Church, Fort William, 18th & 19th September 2006.
Recital
Agnew McAllister Duo
Flautist Aisling Agnew and classical guitarist Matthew McAllister met in Glasgow whilst studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Their joint passion for chamber music, interacting with composers and performing new music immediately brought them together. Their debut album, Recital, features a wide range of virtuosic and beautiful music from around the globe.
Recorded at Colinsburgh Parish Church, 22nd – 25th July 2006.
Maelasta
Maelasta
Maelasta was formed during the summer of 2003 after a chance meeting between Matthew McAllister, the duo’s guitarist, and violinist Feargus Hetherington. Highlight’s include the duo’s luscious arrangement of Cailín na Gruaige Doinne and equally lyrical arrangements of Piazzolla’s Libertango and Egberto Gismonti’s Agua e Vinho.
Recorded at Crail Parish Church on the 26th March 2005.
Merula
Matthew McAllister
Scottish classical guitarist Matthew’s McAllister’s debut release. Merula contains music that encompasses many styles and eras – from renaissance through to contemporary classical. In Matthew’s own words “The album was a chance for me to commit to record my own interpretations of a choice selection of classic guitar repertoire, alongside newer styles of contemporary guitar music.”
Recorded at Natural Studio, Glasgow, 4th - 9th August 2004.
