The Promises of Darkness

The Promises of Darkness marks the next chapter in the visionary collaboration between Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds and conductor/ producer Mathias Reumert. Released by Ekkozone, this landmark album showcases world premiere recordings of four major works, tracing four decades of Reynolds’s trailblazing contributions to contemporary music.

The title work, The Promises of Darkness (1975), pays homage to Reynolds’s mentor Roberto Gerhardt. Scored for an ensemble of 11 players, this piece masterfully conjures vivid colors and an almost cinematic sense of dread, revealing Reynolds as a composer unafraid to probe the edges of musical and emotional experience.

From 1985 comes Mistral, for strings, brass, and amplified harpsichord. Although inspired by an encounter with the forceful Mediterranean wind, the piece is “neither illustrative nor programmatic,” according to the composer. Mistral has previously been released in a lo-fi live recording, but the highly refined score-with its crystalline articulate harpsichord — is finally brought to life in this new version, which Reynolds himself has hailed as “a triumph.”

A relentless exploration of the interplay between two harmonic strata, Dionysus (1990) involves “a blend of metaphor and pragmatics” and is captured in a breathtakingly precise performance, with expressive solos from flutist Hélène Navasse and trumpeter László Molnár.

Closing the album is the electroacoustic Positings (2013), where the Mathias Reumert Group is joined by computer musician and Reynolds collaborator Paul Hembree. Seamlessly blending live performance with electronic textures, Positings embodies Reynolds’s innovative spirit, pushing the boundaries of sound and structure.

This release follows the critically acclaimed Wind Concertos, the first in the Reynolds/Reumert series, which earned Album of the Year (The Five Best) from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in 2024. With The Promises of Darkness, Ekkozone solidifies its reputation as a home for groundbreaking contemporary music, curated with Reumert’s exacting vision.