The title gives an indication as to what this cycle is about: “Lines” as a catch-all phrase for melodic relationships: differently formed – from a unison melody for two instruments to counterpoints of independent voices; composed in different ways – from “calculated” proportioning to spontaneous writing; expressive in different ways – from lament to competition.

If nothing else, these pieces are also a journey through all registers of the clarinet family, from Eb- and Bb clarinet through basset horn and bass clarinet all the way down to two contrabass clarinets.

godrec.com/god51.html

In these projects that examine natural and synthetic or manipulated sounds from various perspectives, Sylvie Lacroix, Florian Bogner and Alexander Stankovski are unbiased observers of the phenomena of nature and art. In Landscape with Flute, real places contrast with artificially created spaces when "photo-realistic" material (a kind of acoustic survey of the environment penetrated by ambient noises) and solo flute (or nature-independent instrumental) playing are transformed through electroacoustic processing. Etudes sur la mer also juxtaposes two seemingly disparate spheres. Yet as different as the artificial world of virtuoso flute music and the sounds of the ocean might at first seem, they merge as breath and murmur in a zone between worlds: where borders become blurred, it is no longer possible to tell what is natural and what artificial.

www.amazon.de

Arnold Schoenberg is rightly regarded as one of the progenitors of “new music”. But it is not that easy to define the relationship of his achievements to today’s contemporary music. On the one hand, the innovations that transformed the music world at the beginning of the 20th century still have their lingering aftereffect. On the other hand, many living composers would resist having their works understood in the sense of emulating or following Schoenberg. The works of Schoenberg, Cerha, Staar, Stankovski and Wysocki presented on this CD are to be understood within this dichotomy.

www.schoenberg.at/index.php/de/onlineshop/product/342-ensemble-wiener-collage-schoenberg-cerha-wysocki-staar-stankovski-cd

 

In the course of its more than forty years in existence, the ensemble xx. jahrhundert has constantly and successfully championed aesthetically diverse contemporary Austrian music: with commissions for compositions, world premieres in Austria and abroad, with radio productions and with the treatment of traditional cultural principles – in recent years particularly intensively in co-operation  with the Austrian Composers’ Society (ÖKB). In the course of five years, up to now 36 works by 35 composers have been performed in the jointly held concerts – not just a few of them were world premieres. The dominant style of this CD seems to convey a reflective basic attitude: the works are a voice of today and suited to make a contribution to the ongoing social discourse that the ensemble xx. jahrhundert has always made its cause.

www.capriccio.at/21st-century-portraits

Austrian clarinettist Stefan Neubauer has combined some of the classics of the repertoire (such as Steve Reich’s “New York Counterpoint” and Widmann’s Fantasy) with a large number of new works by Viennese composers, many of which he premiered. A fascinating kaleidoscope of music of the 20th and 21st centuries and a must for every lover of the clarinet.

www.orlando-records.com/cds/solitary-changes

 

What does music sound like as we enter the twenty-first century? One answer can be found in the project Short Cuts: a unique collection of works for two clarinets or bass clarinets. This diverse array of 34 short pieces written by composers from four continents is a snapshot of the contemporary scene.

www.einklangrecords.com/remote/shortcuts.htm