On their latest disc, the Danish-Swedish Sirena Recorder Quartet treats US to a wide-ranging selection from their regular concert repertoire. Now & Then illustrates the huge variety of sounds and moods that can be achieved by just four recorder players - admittedly playing on more than twenty (!) different recorders between them, as well as on a toy piano appearing in the Swedish composer Staffan Mossenmark's Childhood. The repertoire spans from a 14th-century estampie - a renaissance dance - to Chiel Meijering's Sanctus, composed in 2003, by way of Vivaldi and Bach. A characteristic aspect of Sirena's live performances is the choreographic element that the ensemble incorporates in order to intensify the experience. This can be sampled on a number on video clips, for instance on YouTube, but the quartet's interest in movement is also audible on the present recording; rhythm and drive are guiding lights in Fulvio Caldini's Clockwork-Toccata or the Jogger by Dick Koomans, both inspired by the minimalism of Steve Reich, but also in Tarquinio Merula's La Lusignuola ('nightingale'), from the very beginning of the 17th century.

Tracklist:

Concerto In D Minor, Op. 3 No. 11, Rv 565: I. Allegro
Concerto In D Minor, Op. 3 No. 11, Rv 565: II. Adagio E Spiccato
Concerto In D Minor, Op. 3 No. 11, Rv 565: III. Allegro
Concerto In D Minor, Op. 3 No. 11, Rv 565: IV. Largo E Spiccato
Concerto In D Minor, Op. 3 No. 11, Rv 565: V. Allegro
Chorale Preludes: Liebster Jesu, Wir Sind Hier, Bwv 731 (Arr. Sirena For Recorder Quartet)
Das Orgel-Büchlein: In Dulci Jubilo, Bwv 608
Das Orgel-Büchlein: Jesu, Meine Freude, Bwv 610
Concerto For 5 Flutes In D Major, Op. 15 No. 3: I. Allegro
Concerto For 5 Flutes In D Major, Op. 15 No. 3: II. Adagio
Concerto For 5 Flutes In D Major, Op. 15 No. 3: III. Allegro
Pet Rescue: Pet Rescue: No. 6. Sanctus
The Jogger
Childhood
Clockwork Toccata, Op. 68c
Tabulatura Nova, Pt. 1: Tabulatura Nova, Sswv 102-158: Part I: Fantasia Super: Io Son Fertio Lasso, Fuga Quadruplici, Sswv 103 (
Il Primo Libro Delle Canzoni, A 4, Op. 1: Canzon No. 2, "La Lusignuola"
Il Primo Libro Delle Canzoni, A 4, Op. 1: Canzon No. 4, "La Merula"
Robertsbridge Codex: Robertsbridge Codex: Petrone (Arr. Sirena For Recorder Quartet)

UPC: 7318599921150
Label: Bis
Release Date: 2.10.15
Format: CD

Vivaldi / Bach / Meijering / Sirena Recorder Qrt - Now & Then (CD)