Volume 31 Issue 2 - November & December 2025

English virtuoso (and

English virtuoso (and Pratten student) Ernest Shand, and Pratten`sstudent and biographer Frank Mott Harrison.Rush plays two guitars from the 1850s, both associated withPratten, in an immensely satisfying and beautifully played recital.There`s more outstanding guitar playingon Cançioneta – Works for Guitar, withthe English guitarist Frederick Lawtonproviding a snapshot of lesser-knownmid-20th-century Spanish guitar music(Navona NV6723 navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6723).The main composer here is the pianistFederico Mompou (1893-1987), who isrepresented by his six-movement SuiteCompostelana, composed for Andrés Segovia in 1962, and two selections– Nos.6 & 10 – from his 15-piece Cançions y Danzas pianoseries, the former arranged by Paolo Pegoraro and the latter transcribedby the composer.Manuel de Falla`s Homenaje a Debussy is here, as are the threemovementSuite Valenciana by Vicente Asencio (1908-1979) and thedelightful four-movement Sonata by Antonio José (1902-1936).Lawton`s playing seems effortlessly clean, and his phrasing andmusicality are first class. The recording was made using vintagemicrophones in order to give a warm and saturated tonal colour to theperformances, and it certainly produced the desired effect on aterrific CD.The Canadian Guitar Quartet of SteveCowan, Jérôme Ducharme, Christ Habiband founding member Louis Trepanier is insuperb form on Empty Houses, a fascinatingprogramme of compositions and arrangements(ATMA Classique ACD2 2883 atmaclassique.com/en/product/empty-houses).The delightful Prologue, fougue et allegrotrépidant was written by Habib’s teacher Patrick Roux for the CGQ’s20th anniversary, the three movements referencing Chopin, Piazzollaand Bach. The other original compositions are Pulsar, by Belorussian-American composer and guitarist Olga Amelkina-Vera – its excitingrhythms gradually slowing to nothingness – and Renaud Côté-Giguère’s four-movement title track, described by the composer as anoverview of his musical influences.The hugely-effective Allegro con spirit from Mozart’s Sonata forTwo Pianos, K488 (one hand=one guitar!) was arranged by Trepanier,who also arranged Areias Brancas, Orfeu Negro, a compilation ofmusical themes by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa from the1959 French-Brazilian film Orfeu Negro that introduced the BossaNova to the outside world.The Thunder Bay flamenco guitarist andcomposer Matt Sellick, now Toronto-based,has spent much of the past decade orchestratingmany of his flamenco guitar piecesand performing them with the ThunderBay Symphony Orchestra, conducted hereby Evan Mitchell on the resulting albumWatching the Sky (Independent mattsellick.com).Five of these pieces in their original formwere included on Sellick’s 2014 CD After Rain, reviewed here inFebruary 2015, and despite this being an intriguing and well-craftedproject it’s difficult to feel that the orchestrations have enriched andenhanced the compositions; rather, they seem to detract from theoriginal intimacy and impact and too often reduce the guitar to arhythm accompaniment role. The guitar’s crispness – and After Rainhad real punch – also tends to get softened in the recording balance.The result is more of a Latin album than a flamenco album revisited,with occasional shades of José Feliciano – not a bad thing by anymeans. As such it has its attraction and its merits, but if you reallywant to know just how good a composer and guitarist Matt Sellick isthen revisit After Rain.VOCALJim O’Leary – Echoes of a Vanished PeopleHelen Pridmore; David Rogosin; KarinAurell; Eileen Walsh; James Gardiner; DaleSorensenCentrediscs CMCCD 34524 (centrediscs.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-avanished-people)! The Centrediscslabel of theCanadian MusicCentre seems toexist in the realmof the classicalmusic landscape.That’s where theyseem most relevantalthough they bloom in art and folk song andmagically original expressions often mergingboth disciplines. The extraordinarily flamehairedand brilliant flutist Jaye Marsh sent mea copy of her ethereal work, Flute in the Wild(CMCCD 28921, 2021) and sent me scurryingfor more from the intrepid landmark imprint.Point in case is Echoes of a Vanished Peoplewhere we hear the luminous-voiced HelenPridmore singing of people in the lonely landscapesof our vast exquisite country; six extraordinaryworks written by the eloquent JimO’Leary – an expert craftsman specialising inCanadian art song.O’Leary draws on poems and other lyricalworks by the Newfoundland and Labradorauthor Michael Crummey and songs bySusan Pannefather Gray and others. Themusic and lyrics take us into the countrysideof O’Leary’s childlike imagination whereit mixes beauty and a long-ranging sense oflove for the grizzled past. The songs are evocativeof long rainy days and freezing nights.Each track takes us into a wild place withtrusted and inspiring friends. Both O’Learyand Pridmore have their fingers on the pulseof a ruddy sanguinity of old in this auspiciousoffering.Raul da GamaDaniel Janke – Map of YouRachel FenlonCentrediscs CMCCD 32323 (danieljanke.bandcamp.com/album/map-of-you)! The musicrecorded onCentrediscs isincreasinglywondrous and challenging.This “existential”repertoireby Daniel Janke is awonderful exampleof this. Vocalist and pianist Rachel Fenloninterprets Janke’s Map of You, an exquisitesong cycle densely packed with ideas,emotions, and depth of thought.The idea of dealing with “existentialmaterial” of this kind is sensational, with itsmixture of beautiful arias and recitatives. Thetheme of Love in all its aspects is challenging.For instance, the songs – The Drunken Loverand Two Oranges in My Pocket – may evenchange your way of perceiving characteristicsof love in opera.Map of You is a work in progress by Daniel.It is beautifully interiorized by Rachel Fenlon44 | November & December 2025 thewholenote.com

who renders it in a wonderful manner. Theremay not be a better shaping of an operaticcharacter. I am fairly sure that as the producersdug deepest, they found an exquisitepartnership. Brava tutti.Raul da GamaReena Esmail – ExaltationsCathedral Choral Society; Steven FoxAcis APL78314 (acisproductions.com/reena-esmail-exaltations-cathedral-choralsociety-fox)! Young Americancomposer ReenaEsmail presentsthree rather shortnumbers that areunconventional inways that suggesta different, looserapproach to writingliturgical pieces for the Christian Church.None of these pieces are underlaid with theusual prayers found in similar church pieces,but these Exaltations have very minimaltexts which are only words and short Massfragments that however serve in repetitionand emphasize the basic impetus to be bothjoyous and contemplative.The forces employed are a large mixedchoir, four soloists who only sing in thesecond of the three parts, and a brass quintet.The music is in a readily approachable liturgicalstyle universal in Christian religiouscultures throughout the latter part of the20th century, being mostly tonal, though notsimply diatonic. There is a similarity to themusic of Holst, who was influenced by hisstudies in East Indian music, in its feel andharmony. Esmail is of East Indian extraction,and she has almost surreptitiouslyincluded a technical element of East IndianClassical Music, in that each of these piecesis in a different Raga, or melodic framework,from the Indian tradition. This influences themainly homophonic tone setting, althoughvery subtly.The performance and recording are firstclass, and I suspect the whole project,recorded live at the National Presbyterianshrine Washington D.C. was conceivedby Stephen Fox, director of the CathedralConcert Society Choir. He has impressed inrecent years with his Rachmaninoff Project,and in helping to resuscitate music byEthel Smythe.This is a most interesting curio, I just wishthere was more of it.Michael DoleschellOwen Underhill – Songs and QuartetsDaniel Cabena; Jeremy Berkman; QuatuorBozziniCollection Quatuor Bozzini CQB 2536(collectionqb.bandcamp.com/album/owen-underhill-songs-and-quartets)! Owen Underhillleapt at the ideaof having QuatuorBozzini recordhis Second StringQuartet, writtenafter a chanceencounter withJohn Cage in 1986and later revisedin 2017. The Bozzini had previously recordedhis Trombone Quintet with soloist JeremyBerkman. Embarking on this new projectUnderhill took the opportunity to composemusic for the quartet based on the poetryof Henry Vaughan and Sir Walter Raleigh(The Retreat and What is Our Life respectively),with countertenor Daniel Cabenas andBerkman playing the sackbut (an early trombonedating from the era of the poems).Northern Line – Angel Station StringQuartet No.2, was penned after witnessinga performance by the Merce CunninghamDance Company with live music by Cage.Underhill says “The final movement is a quodlibetwhich includes four quotations fromCage’s String Quartet in Four Parts (1949-50), an amazing piece and an important workin Quatuor Bozzini’s repertoire and discography.”String Quartet No.5 – Land and Waterfrom 2017 is also in four movements which“etch out connections to the natural world,specific locations and personal experiences,”according to the composer.The larger works The Retreat and StringQuartet No.2 are outstanding. And What isOur Life and String Quartet No.5 are amongUnderhill’s most sophisticated. These arestellar works, giant steps by a fine composerwho is surely on to even bigger challenges andoutcomes in a burgeoning catalogue. OwenUnderhill: Songs and Quartets, showcasing amore lyrical side of the Bozzini Quartet, willcertainly make Underhill a more sought-aftercomposer and these performers much morein demand.Raul da GamaCLASSICAL AND BEYONDORDO VIRTUTUM – Jeff Bird playsHildegard von Bingen: volume twoJeff BirdIndependent 2025UTUM (jeffbird.bandcamp.com/album/ordo-virtutum-jeffbird-plays-hildegard-von-bingen-volumetwo)! A few yearsago, Guelph areamusician Jeff Birdproduced a uniquerecording featuringwhat he calledadaptations of themusic of Hildegardof Bingen. He hasnow followed up with a further collection ofpieces inspired by and adapted from this 12thcentury German abbess, who must stand outas one of the most remarkable individuals ofthat mediaeval period. Hildegard producedmelodies for her nuns to sing communally [asmonks did with Gregorian Plainchant], andinscribed these musical lines in illustratedWhat we're listening to this month:thewholenote.com/listeningOwen Underhill:Songs and QuartetsQuatuor Bozzini“… vibrant density, rich colourismand subtle lyricism…” “…outwardlyapproachable and even somehowfamiliar…” Quatuor Bozzini withJeremy Berkman, sackbut, andDaniel Cabena, countertenorA Flower for My DaughterSean ClarkeOttawa composer Sean Clarke’sdebut album explores bothparenthood and music’s capacityto bypass reason and language.The Laws of NatureAndrew StanilandThe Laws of Nature, from awardwinningCanadian composerAndrew Staniland, offers an albumof radiant, adventurous and genredefyingmusic.The Honeybee TwistAndy Haas & Brian g Skol"The notes of an abstract naturebristle, vibrate and trill to a nearamorphous global rhythm ona most experimentally originalcollaboration." Monolith Cocktailthewholenote.com November & December 2025 | 45