American Modern Recordings Presents AUREOLE – EMBRACING THE WIND

Auréole - flutist Laura Gilbert, violist Mary Hammann, and harpist Stacey Shames - is considered by many the world's pre-eminent flute, viola, and harp ensemble, having commissioned and premiered more works for their instrumentation than any other such trio in the world. Embracing the Wind, a new disc of works written between 1978 and 2000 by Israeli composers Paul Ben-Haim and Lior Navok and Americans Ian Krouse and Robert Paterson, is the group's 15th recording, and its first on the American Modern Recordings label. It is the 20th AMR release.

The first major composition for this trio instrumentation was Claude Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1916), in which the composer created a distinctive palette of new sounds. The work has since inspired many composers to create new repertoire for this combination, and Auréole, a key player in this growth, has commissioned well over 100 pieces ranging from transcriptions of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire to brand-new works.

"This is a very special recording for me," said Robert Paterson, who is also the artistic director of AMR, a label specializing in contemporary music with an emphasis on music by living American composers. "Auréole was the trio that inspired me to compose Embracing The Wind, long before I ever met or worked with them. They were my 'muse' trio, so to speak. I am extremely honored that they not only chose to record my piece, but that they named their album after it as well."

Chamber Music (1978) by Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) explores a colorful dialogue between the three instruments that moves from playful to meditative and prayer-like. It is one of the German-born Israeli composer's last works.

Embracing the Wind (1999) by Robert Paterson (b. 1970) is inspired by the image of an Olympic athlete running against the wind. Paterson "wanted to create music that sounds flexible and has wind-like, ebb-and-flow qualities," and so he "created musical zephyrs from repeated motives and smooth phrases that utilize gradual dynamic swells and subtle tempo fluctuations." Embracing the Wind is one of Paterson's most-performed works.

Veiled Echoes (2000) by Lior Navok (b. 1971) "was written during a one month stay at Aspen, Colorado. While being surrounded by wild nature at its best, writing a trio for flute, viola and harp seemed to me as the most natural thing-as unification between music and the mountains, the woods and the rivers. In many places, the rhythm of the piece tends to be flexible, just like a leaf carried by the wind."

Thamar y Amnon (1991) by Ian Krouse (b. 1956) is a chamber tone poem based on one of Federico García Lorca's Tres Romances Historicos (Three Historical Ballads) from Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads). This work has deep ties to Lorca's paean to illicit eroticism. Krouse wrote, "Not only the form and musical content are derived from the poem, but even the instrumentation itself. The nervous athleticism and complexity of the flute melodies embody Amnon's tortured struggles with lust, while Tamar's thinly veiled seductiveness is given a lyrical outlet through the potent vehicle of the viola. The role of the harp is significantly more complex...."

A pdf of the CD booklet, including full bios and program notes, can be viewed on the recording page on the AMR site: www.americanmodernrecordings.com/aurole-embracing-the-wind.

Embracing the Wind was produced, recorded, and engineered by Grammy®- winning producer Adam Abeshouse at The Concert Hall at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.