Through Glass - Works from the Other Side of the Mirror

Navona Records presents some of the finest American voices of modern serious music on THROUGH GLASS, a brand-new compilation of recently-created works for piano – both solo and in chamber setups. Ovidiu Marinescu's Rorrim for cello and piano makes the start. Loosely based on a motif by Johann Sebastian Bach, it could be called a concept piece: its title, "mirror" spelled backwards, is reflective of the mirrorings and variations of Bach's fragment therein. Bruce Babcock continues on a similar note with his riskily-titled Alternative Facts, a piece for solo piano characterized by a deceptively simple, mechanical main rhythm repeated in complex harmonies. As announced in the title, a deliberate systematic confusion prevails, and with astonishing accuracy. I’lana Cotton's ambitious The Return for piano, violin, and cello bridges the gap between Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu and French avant garde composer Olivier Messiaen – and that gap is smaller than one might think. At 13.5 minute