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GERHARD: Libra; Concert for 8; Gemini; Leo; 3 Impromptus
Nieuw Ensemble/Ed Spanjaard Largo 5134 (Qualiton) 64 minutes
This brilliantly-performed-and-recorded collection of Roberto Gerhard's late chamber music comes as a follow-up to the pieces for piano on Largo 5119 (July/Aug 1993). Gerhard--the most inventive and original Spanish composer of our century (he lived from 1896 to 1970)--is finally beginning to get some of the representation he deserves on CD. His symphonies (there are four) and ballets are appearing on Valois; and his shattering cantata, The Plague, has recently been released on Montaigne. (Magnificent performances in audiophile-quality sound of these and other Gerhard works--including his magical Violin Concerto--were once on Argo LPs. They should be reissued.)
The chamber pieces for various instrumental combinations (including such unusual items as guitar, mandolin, xylophone,...