January 19, 2024 New Releases from Navona and Ravello Records

Performed by the Charleston Symphony String Quartet, FOUR ELEMENTS from Thomas Cabaniss showcases the composer’s creative versatility developed over three decades collaborating across various artistic disciplines. Writing music for dance, theater, film, and the concert stage, Cabaniss incorporates elements from all of these forms in his works for string quartet.

BLOODY JACK from composer Michael Matthews is a cycle of 14 songs based on selected poems from Dennis Cooley’s 1984 collection by the same name. These poems draw upon the chilling story of John Krafchenko, a Hungarian immigrant to Canada who became a notorious outlaw at the turn of the 20th century.

SONIX+ is a collection of new works from cellist and composer Jan Järvlepp that stand as some of his most creative and defiant. Järvlepp’s music is unrelenting, one-of-a-kind, and inspired — a well balanced blend of time-tested virtuosity spoken through modern themes.

Natalya Pasichnyk explores the intersection between divine inspiration and human existence on RETHINKING THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER. The result is a veritable tour de force of strength and sensitivity; of rational perspicuity, yet with the most tender sentiment; of surging vigor and might, but also of nonchalant lightness. A triumph.

Saxophonist Jeffrey Siegfried explores new possibilities for his instrument’s dynamic and versatile voice on SHADES. Siegfried expresses the ineffable through saxophone techniques like multiphonics, which require careful control of the embouchure, fingering, and air-pressure. The resulting music is hauntingly beautiful and deeply compelling.