Recordings

Geoffrey Gordon's concerto for harp and orchestra, Eolian - inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem - was commissioned by the Brussels Philharmonic and is  recorded here by the orchestra, with soloist Eline Groslot and conductor Karen Kamensek, on the Antarctica Records label. 

A new, dramatic and virtuosic concerto in three movements for harp and orchestra, Eolian draws title and inspiration from the well-known poem The Eolian Harp (1795) by English Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). The concerto, referencing the Aeolian harp (in fact a small lute-like instrument which creates melodious music when the wind blows across its strings), channels the beauty and intensity of expression which Coleridge brings to his deeply expressive and personal text. Allegorically, the harp symbolizes the poet and the wind symbolizes God’s breath - the poem contemplates man’s relationship with nature and the divine. Both the order and chaos found in nature abound here as the orchestra’s palette evokes sensual pleasure, divine force and staggering creative power, through Gordon’s lyrical and luminous writing. A riveting and intense first movement: “A light in sound, a sound-like power in light, Rhythm in all thought, and joyance everywhere—”. The exquisite slow second movement, contemplative, hushed and suspended: “Where the breeze warbles, and the mute still air Is Music slumbering on her instrument…”, “The sunbeams dance, like diamonds, on the main...”. The apogee of nature’s beauty represented as the purest form of allure and joy in the final movement: “Bubbles that glitter as they rise and break On vain Philosophy’s aye-babbling spring…”. Gordon’s Eolian marks an outstanding addition to the harp repertoire and to 21st century orchestral music more generally.

Dividing his time between the United States and the United Kingdom, the composer Geoffrey Gordon writes music that has been described as ‘darkly seductive’ (New York Times), ‘richly satisfying’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘iridescent and fierce’ (The Chicago Tribune). The present, amply-filled disc brings together three of his recent works, all composed between 2013 and 2018 for the soloist recording them here, the Danish cellist Toke Møldrup. In several of his works, Gordon takes his inspiration from other art forms – sculptures by Giacometti, a self portrait by Warhol, a children’s picture book by Maurice Sendak.

The works gathered here are inspired by or reactions to three literary masterworks. The ‘creative blueprint’ for the opening work, the Cello Concerto, is the novel Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann. Organized into a Prologue and Seven Episodes, the work traces the progress of Mann’s protagonist Adrian Leverkühn from innocence to madness, with the cello both embodying and (occasionally) commenting on the proceedings. For this recording, Møldrup receives the support of the Copenhagen Phil and conductor Lan Shui. In the score of Fathoms, Gordon’s sonata for cello and piano, each of the five movements is headed with a quotation from Shakespeare’s The Tempest which sets the scene for the musical impression that follows. Here Møldrup is joined by the American pianist Steven Beck. The amply-filled disc closes with Ode to a Nightingale, with the words of John Keat’s immortal poem heard from the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, and given emphasis by Toke Møldrup’s obbligato cello.

Karl Marx has said very little about music; from a Marxist point of view this could be explained by the fact that, since he spent most of his adult life in poverty in London, he had no opportunity to experience music. However, this has not prevented composers, especially in the last hundred years, from making him their subject or using his thoughts and this CD represents works by Pattar, Newski and others. The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is one of the worlds foremost new music ensembles. Over three decades, BCMG has developed the music of today for the audiences of tomorrow. Founded by musicians from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1987, with Sir Simon Rattle as Founding Patron, the BCMG has reached over 10 million people in concert and through broadcasts and are ideal interpreters to present this music. For the Marx Year 2019 some current examples of the musical engagement with Marx are presented here, including composer Geoffrey Gordon's setting of Marx's Harmonie -An Jenny, a romantic early poem, set for soprano and cello, here featuring soprano Elizabeth Atherton and cellist Ulrich Heinen.

On the Ravello Records release WISCONSIN SOUNDSCAPES, pianist Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi performs solo piano works by six composers who highlight people, places, scenes, and events chosen by each composer to create an imaginative portrait of the American landscape, including celebrated US/UK composer Geoffrey Gordon's Three Summer Sketches which illustrates impressions of the rich and evocatively named town of Black Earth, the old mining town of Mineral Point, and the theater and cultural center of Spring Green.