Ensemble Nomad

The last recording programmed and directed by famed new music advocate Paul Zukofsky before his death in 2017, this release groups three first recordings: Jo Kondo's Syzygia for 14 instruments, Craig Pepples Pine Cones Fall for shakuhachi, bass, cello and piano, and Kondo's Snow's Falling for mixed chorus and piano, on a 1929 Japanese text by Chuya Nakahara. Recorded in Tokyo in June 2016, the program features performances by members of Ensemble Nomad, a group long associated with Jo Kondo, as well as the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, with Satoko Inoue on piano, all conducted by Mr Zukofsky. The three pieces together evoke a restrained elegance, which culminates in the icy poem of the final track: Snow is falling, in the distance...