The Roots and the Flower: Counterpoint in Bloom
Schumann Opus 56 & 60 

CD Catalogue No: 6.220675 
UPC: 747313167562

Jens E. Christensen playing the historic Baroque organ in Vor Frelser Church, Copenhagen

Although Robert Schumann's public role in the nineteenth century Bach revival is less well-known than that of Felix Mendelssohn, Schumann's engagement with the music of Bach not only helped to not only establish the Myth of Bach as the progenitor of musical Romanticism, but had a deep personal influence on Schumann's 
own musical thought.  

In 1843 he and Clara rented a custom-made pedalflügel - a dreadnought of an instrument combining a combination of Friedrich Wieck's grand piano with a pedal keyboard - that enabled the Schumann's to play Bach's organ music at home. During one of his periodic bouts of depression in 1845 Schumann became gripped by what he called Fugenpassion. His obsession with Bach and the academic disciplines of counterpoint, canon, and fugue seemed to have had a benevolent effect on his mental health, so he and Clara began writing counterpoint and fugues together. Among the first results were Opp 56 and 60.

The curious name of this album references Carl Nielsen’s advice to fellow composer Ture Rangström, namely, to get down to the roots of a piece so that it would truly flower. And so following Nielsen’s advice, acclaimed organist Jens E. Christensen, a master of styles ancient and modern, dug deep to uncover the roots of Schumann’s
imagination for this truly extraordinary program, a lovingly
cultivated German-Danish, Piano-Organ, Baroque-Romantic
hybrid, that will no doubt become a perennial favorite for fans of Schumann’s most florid contrapuntal creations.

Recorded in DXD audio format (Digital eXtreme Definition),
352.8 kHz/24 or 32bit. by producer Preben Iwan, www.timbremusic.dk

“This album is dedicated to the memory of my life companion, Henrik Sten Møller” - Jens E. Christensen

Music:
Excerpts from:

Studie op. 56 No. 1 C Major (Nicht zu schnell)
Fuge op. 60 No. 1 (Langsam)
Studie op. 56 No. 2 A Minor (Mit innigem Ausdruck)
Studie op. 56 No. 3 E Major (Andantino)
Fuge op. 60 No. 3 (Mit sanften Stimmen)
Studie op. 56 No. 4 A-flat Major (Innig)
Studie op. 56 No. 5 B Minor (Nicht zu schnell)
Fuge op. 60 No. 6 (Mässig, nach und nach schneller)

THE ROOTS AND THE FLOWER - COUNTERPOINT IN BLOOM - SCHUMANN OP. 56 AND 60

6.220675 - Schumann: The Roots and the Flower: Counterpoint in Bloom

Disco Pimp is proud to release their newest single, a wild ride through the wonderful music of Krzysztof Penderecki's 'Cappricio' for solo Tuba, except this time, we've spiced it up with a little disco and a shit load of pimp

Performing for you is the illustrious Jens Peterson, the truest of disco pimps, on Tuba, for whom the work was written.  Backing him up are members of The DiscoCactus, Matheus Garcia Souza on his sweet sweet 7-string electric violin, Brendon Randall-Myers swinging those hips on the guitar, Sam Suggs on bass wearing the most suave of white smoking jackets, Doug Perry dancing and pulling double duty behind the  glock and the bongos, Jonny Allen hitting those drums with the most fervent of passions for disco, and yours truly on the Wurlitzer with sunglasses not giving a fuck.

Disco Cappricio

After 30 years, and more than 70 international releases with recording companies like Philips/Polygram, RCA/BMG, and EMI, the Danish classical artists, recorder player Michala Petri and guitarist/lute player Lars Hannibal launched their own recording label, OUR Recordings on the first of November, 2006!

As the name suggests, their releases were intended to be mostly recordings featuring Michala Petri and/or Lars Hannibal. The idea was to have the full artistic and creative freedom and responsibility to record what they felt was necessary and consistent with their desire to explore new challenges.

In 2022 the Petri/Hannibal Duo celebrate their 30th Anniversary.

Future plans will also include collaborations with gifted young Danish artists, ensembles and even composers to help them release their “Dream Projects” to an international audience. 

To date, OUR Recordings has released 48 critically acclaimed recordings,and has earned international recognition, including the ECHO KLASSIK Award, and OPUS KLASSIK Award (Germany), four Grammy nominations (US) a Gramophone Award nomination (UK), Diapason d´Or de l´année 2015 (France) ICMA 2016 Award and ICMA 2017 and 2019 nomination (International Classic Music Award) Danish Music Award (P2 Prize) 2016 and 2019 for Best Danish Release, 2021 “Listeners Prize” as Best Release,  and 3 Danish Music Award nominations, FMA Award 2016, Gold and 2 Silver Global Music Awards, and several Editor Choice in Gramophone and CD of the Month in BBC Music Magazine.

Several ambitious cycles have already captivated collectors and critics alike, including the East Meets West series and Michala Petri's ongoing campaign to expand her instrument's modern concerto literature with Recorder Concertos from various countries as well as works for recorder and choir. Also the series with music by late Danish composer Axel Borup-Jørgensen and the releases with Danish National Vocal Ensemble has been receiving overwhelming response.

Upcoming releases include:

Poul Ruders: Harpsichord Concerto with Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord, and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam.

Olivier Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du Temp, with the four solo players from Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Christina Åstrand, violin. Johnny Teyssier, clarinet, Henrik Dam Thomsen, cello and Per Salo, piano). 

Olivier Messiaen Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus with Kristoffer Hyldig, piano.

Lars Hannibal: Tang Dynasty Poems, with Stephen Yeseta, countertenor, Lars Hannibal, guitar, Gert Mortensen, percussion, Xu Ziling, erhu and Michala Petri, recorder.  

Baroque Masterworks for Recorder, Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord, featuring the Petri/Perl/Efsahani Trio Michala Petri, (Michala on recorder, Hille Perl, viola da gamba, and Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord).

J.S.Bach: The 6 Cello Suites in new arrangements by Michala Petri. The sheet music will also be published and available for purchase!

ALL albums will be available on all major streaming platforms and in Dolby Atmos!

The “OUR Recordings Sound” has been developed in close collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer Preben Iwan, (www.timbremusic.dk)  and are available in nearly every resolution, including  DXD audio format (Digital eXtreme Definition), 352.8 kHz/32bit.

OUR Recordings cover art and graphics are made by CEZBP. Lise Mierca, webmaster (lm@pixelpost.dk).

OUR Recordings is distributed globally by NAXOS (www.naxos.com).