American classics new and old highlight our releases for July

Pacifica Quartet: American Voices (Cedille)
One of the joys of working for seven years at Indiana University was getting to know the Jacobs School of Music’s string quartet in residence, the Pacifica Quartet. The many programs I attended in person often featured new and exciting music for string quartet paired with classics by Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Dmitri Shostakovich and others. For the group’s 14th album, the players stick with that proven formula. American Voices features Dvorak’s best-known quartet, composed during a summer sojourn in Spillville, Iowa. But that’s just the beginning! From there, we move on to Florence Price’s lone quartet, some 20th-century Diversions, by Louis Gruenberg (which I had the great pleasure of watching the quartet perform live when I was back in Bloomington for the solar eclipse in April), and a new work for string quartet and voices by James Lee III. As is always the case, the quartet’s impeccable musicianship paired with Cedille’s expert engineering make this album another tremendous addition to the Pacifica Quartet’s discography. — Joe Goetz

Forgotten Sounds; Graeme Steele Johnson and others (Delos)
Award winning clarinetist and arranger Graeme Steele Johnson has issued a new chamber music recording on Delos, Forgotten Sounds, featuring his arrangements of music by Claude Debussy and French-inspired Charles Martin Loeffler. In addition to Johnson, the ensemble of talented wind and string players includes David Shifrin, Johnson’s clarinet teacher from Yale University, where Johnson earned his master’s degree. The recording features Johnson’s arrangement for octet of Debussy’s colorful Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, as well as two lovely works by Loeffler, the recently rediscovered Octet for Two Clarinets, Harp, Two Violins, Viola, Cello and Double Bass, and Forgotten Sounds (Timbres Oubliés) for clarinet and harp. While researching Loeffler for another project, Johnson became acquainted with his music. Born in 1861 in Berlin, violinist and composer Loeffler traveled throughout Europe, emigrated to the United States in 1881 and became a U.S. citizen in 1887. He served as assistant concertmaster for the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1882 until 1903. His works were performed regularly by the Boston Symphony and other American orchestras. At the time of his death in 1935, Loeffler was referred to as the Dean of American Composers, although he often referred to himself as French. Johnson discovered that the Library of Congress held an unpublished manuscript of Loeffler’s octet and spent a year reviewing its 75 pages and editing a new edition. In 2022, he assembled an ensemble to give the work its first reading in over a century. Thanks to his expert arranging talents, this first recording of the octet offers tuneful insight into Loeffler and his harmonic style influenced by Brahms, Ravel and Debussy, among others. — Robin Gehl

Jean Sibelius and Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concertos; Janine Jansen, violin; Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä (Decca)
Violinist Janine Jansen, known for her gorgeous recordings of Romantic-era works by Johannes Brahms, Max Bruch and Ludwig van Beethoven, hadn’t released a recording of concertos in nine years. In that time, conductor Klaus Mäkelä has emerged as one of the top interpreters of Romantic repertoire, especially the compositions of Jean Sibelius. It only makes sense that this new release of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with their powers combined would be absolutely amazing. Her performance is lush and lively, with the crisp technical ability and lyrical warmth often expected from Jansen’s playing. The fiery Oslo Philharmonic is particularly nimble in the final movement, energetically supporting Jansen’s vibrant interpretation. Their performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s magical First Violin Concerto is equally lovely and spirited. — Jennifer Allen

Decoda: Decoda (Bright Shiny Things)
The debut album from the chamber music collective Decoda didn’t mess around with a fancy album design or title, opting instead to just make the ensemble’s name and its title one and the same. Founded in 2012, the group performs everywhere from Carnegie Hall (with which it is affiliated) to maximum-security prisons. The goal of its debut album, per the group, is to “reflect the human desire to connect through revelry and celebration.” Exuberant works by Valerie Coleman and Reza Vali are featured alongside original arrangements of three rags by William Bolcom. Two of the artists featured, pianist David Kaplan and flutist Catherine Gregory, are partners in life, as well as in music (and, full disclosure, close friends of mine), making this colorful debut a true labor of love. — Joe Goetz