Roger Reynolds: The Promises of Darkness - Mathias Reumert Group
Ekkozone05 (Ekkozone, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (7 March 2025)
Playing time: 82'03"
℗ 2025 Ekkozone
© 2025 Ekkozone
Received: 22 January 2025
This item is available to review
Mathias Reumert Group
Roger Reynolds (born 1934):
The Promises of Darkness (1975)
Mistral (1985)
Dionysus (19900
Positings (2013)
First recordings of four major works by American composer Roger Reynolds. The Promises of Darkness pays homage to Reynolds' mentor Roberto Gerhardt. Scored for an ensemble of eleven players, this piece conjures vivid colors and a sense of dread, revealing Reynolds as a composer unafraid to probe the edges of musical and emotional experience. Although Mistral for strings, brass and amplified harpsichord, was inspired by an encounter with the forceful Mediterranean wind, the piece is 'neither illustrative nor programmatic', according to the composer. A relentless exploration of the interplay between two harmonic strata, Dionysus involves 'a blend of metaphor and pragmatics' and is captured here by flautist Hélène Navasse and trumpeter László Molnár. Closing the album is the electroacoustic Positings, where the Mathias Reumert Group is joined by computer musician and Reynolds collaborator Paul Hembree, blending live performance with electronic textures.