Creation CD

This disc, which made its debut at #4 on Apple Music's classical music playlist, features works by Beethoven, a world-premiere recording of Triptych, by Spanish-American composer Octavio Vazquez (commissioned by the Poulenc Trio), and a special pairing of Alfred Schnittke's Suite in the Old Style with a spoken word performance by poet Lia Purpura, a frequent New Yorker contributor and Guggenheim Fellowship awardee. The Schnittke pairing features five poems taken from Purpura's book, It Shouldn't Have Been Beautiful, including Creation, from which the CD takes its name. Recorded at the GRAMMY-winning Sono Luminous Studios in Boyce, Virginia.

Composers: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Alfred Schnittke, Octavio Vazquez

FROM DELOS: The ever-impressive Poulenc Trio is a first-rate chamber ensemble comprised of distinguished oboe, bassoon, and piano virtuosos. In this – the group’s debut recording for Delos – we are treated to a fascinating and beautifully played program centered on works by Russian master Alfred Schnittke alongside music both old and new by Beethoven and Spain’s Octavio Vasquez.

The two Schnittke pieces are actually different versions of the same arresting work, Suite in the Old Style, written after this erstwhile “bad boy” of Soviet-era music had abandoned his radically serial style in favor of a more accessible approach. The first version pairs each of its five movements with a poem by award-winning poet Lia Purpura (from her collection It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful), while the second omits the poetry. The remaining works are Beethoven’s charming “Gassenhauer” Trio and the Triptych for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano – a captivating piece that Vasquez composed specifically for the Poulenc Trio, which is committed to commissioning, performing, and recording new works from living composers.

Cover Artwork: from Divan Japonais (1893) by Toulouse Lautrec; Package Designer: Bryan Young