April 2023 Music Pick
Time For Three
Letters For The Future
Time For Three / Xian Zhang / Philadelphia Orchestra
When it comes to modern day classical music I must admit I’m usually underwhelmed. Sometimes repulsed. But in the case of this Time For Three recording of two Pulitzer Prize winning composers works (written fifteen years apart but both commissioned for the group: Jennifer Higdon’s 2007 Concerto 4–3 and Kevin Puts' brand-new Contact) on Letters For The Future- I was overwhelmed by how much I enjoyed the music and the recording. A longtime friend alerted me to the album after he played the pieces with the Members of TF3 and the Marin Symphony. Thanks to the miracles of Roon and Qobuz I was able to bring the music up while we were on the phone discussing the performances and the artists. The music was so engaging I told my friend I would have to call him back after I was done listening to the album.
I’d actually wanted to write this recommendation of Letters For The Future, long ago, or at least before this years Grammy Awards, so that I could successfully predict that the album would win best Classical Recording of the Year. Or Best Classical Something. It actually won for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo”. I’ve no idea what that means in relation to this recording, and I didn’t watch the Grammy’s, but I did look this up just now to confirm my belief that it would have to win.
Time For Three’s current lineup of Nicolas Kendall (violin), Charles Yang (violin), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass), are the latest members to carry the torch of young, incredibly gifted, musicians making up the group. While Kendall has been there from the beginning, the group has actually had a couple of members drop out to go off and become Concert Masters for major symphony orchestras. And while all of the members backgrounds are steeped in the Western classical tradition, TF3’s artists are all young and absorptive of the myriad of musical styles that are part of the fabric of the American music culture. And, this, as they say, “is an album that embraces our innovation through various Americana musical languages, and it looks with us toward the future…” Not without a sense of humor, the group refers to themselves as a “classically trained garage band”.
If you are unfamiliar with the two Pulitzer Prize winning composers, this is a great album through which you can get acquainted. Jennifer Higdon is a Tennessee native with bluegrass roots. Her Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, written in 2008. and jointly commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute of Music, was composed for the violinist Hilary Hahn and was given its world premiere by Hahn and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Mario Venzago on February 6, 2009. The piece was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music
Kevin Puts is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera score, Silent Night. Silent Night, libretto by, Mark Campbell, recounts the true story of a spontaneous Ceasefire (the 1914 Christmas Truce) between Scottish, French, and German troops during World War 1.
All of these works should be available for you to check out on Qobuz, or your favorite streaming service. I was, with some difficulty, able to purchase (in support of the artists) the high-rez download from Deutsche Grammophon. I can’t actually remember now whether I was able to do this through Qobuz, or whether I had to go through Deutsche Grammophon. For whatever reason, I sometimes get messages from Qobuz telling me: “The rights-holders have not made the purchase of this release possible“. And, for whatever reason, I believe I recall running into a similar impediment attempting to go through DG, but I was able to work around this by searching on the web for a hi-rez download and eventually get it from either Qobuz of DG anyway. And, I did not see the high rez option from TF3’s website. Rather they direct you to Apple, or Spotify, etc., for your purchase. Annoying, but as I said, overcomeable with some effort. And worthwhile!
TF3, working with The Philadelphia Orchestra recording in their home at the Verizon Hall under the direction of conductor Xian Zhang, has produced an exceptional recording that deserves to be in everyone's classical music library. Will this style of music satisfy your particular yen for classical music? I couldn’t possibly predict the answer for that. But if you like classical music at all, you owe it to yourself to give it a listen.
YouTube sample
Qobuz 92/24