THOMAS SIMAKU (b.1958): for Piano: Signals, 2 Esquisses, The Flight of the Eagle, for Violin and Piano: ENgREnage, Sound Tree - Richard Robbins in Memoriam, Albanian Folk Song “Moj e Bukura Moré”, Capriccioso for Solo Violin, Soliloquy V - Flauto Acerbo for Alto/Tenor Recorder.

Catalogue Number: 09V065
Label: Naxos
Reference: 8.579035
Format: CD
Price: $12.98
Description: Albanian-born Simaku's natural idiom is freely, though not aggressively, modern, adhering to no particular school or dogma. The most revealing pieces here, though, is the beautiful Albanian folk song, harmonised and elaborated with exquisite sensitivity. In the light of this, the concentrated intensity of expression in the pieces in a more dissonant vocabulary (which often contains tonal elements, like the fast toccata-like material in The Flight of the Eagle, with its Messiaenic chords, long silences and sudden flurries of activity. Mechanisms abound in these pieces, which embellish stable pitch centers with all manner of filigree instrumental texture, sometimes involving microtones or slight extended technique. Playfulness, vitality, virtuosity and contrasts all come into play in these engaging works. Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin), Joseph Houston, Roderick Chadwick (piano), Chris Orton (recorders).