Arc

Intercontinental Ensemble is comprised of nine talented musicians from different parts of the world who found common situ in Amsterdam. They play together in what was once a very traditional ensemble grouping—a nonet. Historically, the nonet allowed for some expansive music-making where a larger ensemble was simply not available to be assembled. Traditionally comprised of wind quintet, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass, the nonet is capable of playing a broad catalog of music.

In Arc, the Ensemble moves forward with works from five women composers. And, yes, I'm very glad to see more performers releasing albums focused on the works of women composers. Not so much that theirs is a unique voice, but that so much wonderful music has been missing from our musical collections.

The music in Arc "combines the playful, serious, fragile, strong, the unpredictable and the refined and combines these into a detailed character description of each composer." The album as it is not about one specific feeling, style or thought. "It is about the connection between the pieces various personalities which makes the individual pieces part of something bigger." An arch, and thus the name of the album. (From the enclosed booklet.)

Albums with only female composers are no longer a rarity. On this compilation by the Intercontinental Ensemble, consisting of nine winds and strings, a contemporary generation makes new discoveries.

Their work is juxtaposed with two composers whose reappraisal began in the late 20th century. Clara Schumann wrote her Drei Romanzen, opus 21 for piano. The arrangement for ensemble sounds unwieldy in the first and slowest movement, but fortunately it gets lighter and lighter. The final part, in which solo instruments constantly pass on the melody to each other, is especially successful.

The Nonet, opus 38 by Louise Farrenc did not require any editing. It has a warm tone and is played with infectious fun.

The young composers Bianca Bongers and Sarah Neutkens impress with two quite different pieces. In Collage of an octahedron, Bongers builds spatial constructions by combining silences with elongated lines. September I van Neutkens is a melancholy coral veiled in autumnal gold tones.