Broken Consort
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR834     Release Date: 2007-01-01

Cygnus Ensemble: Jacqui Carrasco, violin; John Whitfield, cello; Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Jacqueline Leclair, oboe; Oren Fader and William Anderson, guitars

Joan Forsyth, piano; Elizabeth Farnum, soprano

Necessity is the mother of, for both composers and performers of this age. If a group of talented musicians who love new music wish to perform together, but their instrumentation does not fit traditional ensemble templates, do they give up?

Certainly not, as the musicians of the Cygnus Ensemble prove. Their instrumentation is unusual, but their blend of flute, oboe, violin, cello and two guitars does have precedent in the “broken consort” of Elizabethan times, with its blend of recorders, viols, and lutes (and in fact, the ensemble is not so far from that of much chamber music, as soon as one realizes the two guitars can fulfill the textural role usually taken by a piano). Further, these players know that if they announce their availability, composers will come. In fact, composers relish the chance to create new repertoire as much as performers, since their work may come to define a sound others will want to exploit. And Cygnus’s sound is infectious—light and clear, capable of both delicacy and drive, timbrally rich, transparent yet able to accomodate whatever degree of complexity one might desire.

This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.

Cygnus Ensemble

Broken Consort

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
CD-R $9.99
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Broken Consort
Sebastian Currier
Buy
Spooks
John Halle
Buy
Fenton Songs: I. Beauty, Danger and Dismay
Charles Wuorinen
Buy
Fenton Songs: II. Out of Danger
Charles Wuorinen
Buy
Fenton Songs: III. Serious
Charles Wuorinen
Buy
Fenton Songs: IV. Hinterhof
Charles Wuorinen
Buy
Resisting Stillness
Chester Biscardi
Buy
Frag
David Lang
Buy
Ear Conception: I.
William Anderson
Buy
Ear Conception: II.
William Anderson
Buy
Composition No. 186
Anthony Braxton
Buy
Cygnature Piece: I. Mysteriously
Robert Pollock
Buy
Cygnature Piece: II. Dance
Robert Pollock
Buy