DCD 010 - A new release -- and a new label

Our tenth podcast was to be a showcase for another new label we've picked up; the University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Music. It still basically is. We just had to make room for a new release.

Musica Rediviva's latest effort is an interesting collection of music by Helena Ek. A specialist in the field of early music, Ek presents a survey of songs devoted to various aspects of the Virgin Mary. There are some obvious choices, like selections from the Cantiguas de Santa Maria, the famous collection of Alfonso X. But mixed in with that are some other medieval, renaissance and even baroque compositions give the recital added dimension. Ek even includes some traditional folk songs and a contemporary composition or two. It's a compelling listen, and I (for one) thoroughly enjoyed it. On the podcast I play two tracks to give you an idea of the flow and overall sound of Maria.

The rest of the program is devoted to the releases of the UW-Madison label (that's not an official abbreviation, but the full name is a mouthful). There's some contemporary music commissioned by the school, as well as some outstanding performances by the faculty.

By an interesting confluence, the two newest labels to the DCD family also share the same artists. The Pro Arte Quartet has been the resident artists at UW-Madison since about the First World War, and their current lineup has recorded several quartets on the school label. They also, about a decade ago, recorded for Laurel Records. Next time, then, we'll finish our look at UW-Madison and continue our profile of Laurel by playing tracks from the Pro Arte Quartet on both labels.

And please remember that all comments are welcome! Positive more than negative would be nice, but criticism is given equal weight with kudos in influencing the direction of these podcasts. E-mail me at mailto:info@dcdrecords.com?subject=Podcast.


- Ralph Graves
President, DCD Records



This program, we play the following:

Söderström: Jungfru Maria
Trad. 1500: St.Göran och draken
Helena Ek, soprano; Göran Måsson: pipes, frame drum, string drum, hurdy-gurdy
Musica Rediviva

Larsen: Concert Dances, Mvt. 1
UW-Madison Symphonic Wind Ensemble; David E. Becker, conductor
UW-Madison

Schubert: Irrlich
Paul Rowe, baritone; Martha Fischer, piano
UW-Madison

R. Strauss: “Improvisation” from the Violin Sonata, Op. 18
Parry Karp, cello; Howard Karp, piano
UW-Madison