To mark the 80th birthday of the pioneering British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle, a new album dedicated to his chamber music and songs has been released. The ensemble consists of the Austrian pianist Till Fellner, the Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili, and the English cellist Adrian Brendel. They are joined by the London-born singers Amy Freston and Roderick Williams. The album opens and closes with settings of poems by the American Objectivist poet Lorine Niedecker for soprano and cello, composed in 1998 and 2000. Among the works is "Bogenstrich" (Bow Stroke), a 2006 homage to Alfred Brendel, originally conceived as a short piece for piano and cello. This composition was later expanded to include songs based on poems by Rilke for baritone, cello, and piano. The most recent work on the recording, a 16-minute trio premiered in 2011, presents a movement rich in subtle patterns, musical gestures, and dialogues between piano, violin, and cello. In the booklet, Bayan Northcott emphasizes how the intense melodies demand precision, expressiveness, and exact timing from the performers. This concentrated chamber music-like expressiveness characterizes the entire album, which was recorded in Munich's renowned Herkulessaal and produced by Manfred Eicher.
