American Recorder

John Turner organized A Garland for John McCabe as a tribute to the noted English composer (1939-2015) and Turner performs on 12 of the 19 tracks. McCabe’s dual career as pianist and composer placed him in contact with many in the art music world; the 19 composers who contributed these pieces include his friends, colleagues and students.

The sequencing of pieces on this disc crates an engaging flow of sound. The notes from each composer combine with the essay by the composer’s widow Monica McCabe to create a moving text tribute that heightens the impact of the music.

All of these short pieces (durations range from 1’53” to 7’42”) are combinations for recorder, clarinet, viola and piano (with one piece a viola solo and another a piano solo). The musical languages are tonally centered, and the affect largely contemplative (but not mournful). The timbral combinations – including use of very high and low recorders – capture the listener’s ear.

The recording quality of the disc is excellent. A viable alternative is either the high definition (such as HD 24-bit) or the CD quality (FLAC 16-bit/44k) downloads,

Divine Art Recordings deserves much praise for providing the booklet online. They deserve further praise for making the recordings available via YouTube.

—Tom Bickley