Casino Umbro

About the album

Elkana's first Ravello release gathers four works written across sixteen years, for forces ranging from a period-instrument sextet to full orchestra.

Casino Umbro — Umbrian noise, or mess — was written during a residency at Civitella Ranieri, and sets two diametrically opposed sound worlds against each other: baroque and contemporary, harpsichord and viols alongside piano and violin. Arabic Lessons, a song cycle for three sopranos and seven players on poems by Michael Roes, moves between Arabic, Hebrew and German, each soprano carrying one language. String Quartet No. 2 is built with the fractal method Elkana developed — patterns recurring at progressively smaller scale, so the whole is heard in the detail.

The album closes with Tru'a, whose title means both fanfare and ululation, and refers to the shofar blasts of the Days of Awe. It is played here by Richard Stoltzman with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Jerzy Swoboda.

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Track list

1. 1.
   Casino Umbro (2010)
   sextet for flute (doubling baroque flute), violin, two bass viols, harpsichord and piano
   EnsemblesMeitar Ensemble and Israeli Bach Soloists ConductorKonstantia Gourzi
2. 2.
   Arabic Lessons (1997–98)
   song cycle for three sopranos, flute, trumpet, tenor saxophone, cello, electric bass and drum set — texts by Michael Roes in Arabic, Hebrew and German
   SopranosUlrike Sonntag · Lilach Refaelovitch · Maureen Nehedar EnsembleYossi Arnheim, flute · Itai Morag, trumpet · Tal Varon, saxophone · Hillel Zori, cello · Hagar Ben-Ari, bass guitar · Oron Schwartz, percussion

   • 1. Es gibt
   • 2. Four Loops
   • 3. Delegation
   • 4. Komposita
   • 5. Stämme
   • 6. Gegenwart
   • 7. Grundwortschatz
   • 8. Listen
   • 9. Redewendungen
   • 10. Mitnichten
   • 11. Zukunft
   • 12. Übersetzungen
   • 13. Kairo
   • 14. Canon
   • 15. Jerusalem
3. 3.
   String Quartet No. 2 (2004)
   for two violins, viola and cello
   QuartetIsrael Contemporary String Quartet

   • I
   • II
   • III
   • IV
   • V
4. 4.
   Tru'a (1994)
   concerto for clarinet and orchestra
   SoloistRichard Stoltzman, clarinet OrchestraWarsaw Philharmonic Orchestra ConductorJerzy Swoboda

Physical CD

About the composer

Amos Elkana (b. 1967) is a composer, guitarist and electronic musician whose work spans contemporary concert music, progressive rock, jazz and improvisation. He studied jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music and composition at the New England Conservatory, and holds an MFA in electronic music and sound from Bard College, where he studied with Pauline Oliveros and George Lewis.

His music has been performed internationally by leading soloists, ensembles and orchestras, and presented at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He is the recipient of Israel's Prime Minister's Prize for Composers, the Rosenblum Prize for Outstanding Artists and Creators, and the ACUM Golden Feather Award.

Full biography →

Press and interviews

For review copies, interview requests, high-resolution artwork or press materials, please write to amoselkana@gmail.com.

Reception

transparent despite complications, communicative though sophisticated, soft and exuberant Ruth HaCohen, liner notes

Prizes and nominations

• ACUM Golden Feather Award for Arabic Lessons — 2002