Pierre Jalbert: Air in Motion, String Quartets Nos. 4 & 6

Following the release of his outstanding album String Theory on Orchid Classics, American composer Pierre Jalbert returns with Air in Motion: world-premiere recordings that celebrate his long relationship with the Escher Quartet, as well as paying tribute to flautist Carol Wincenc during her 50th anniversary season. Jalbert is an “acknowledged chamber-music master” (The New Yorker) and in his String Quartet No. 4, dynamic shapes such as spiral, waveform or labyrinth are the catalysts for each movement. His String Quartet No. 6, ‘Canticle’, invokes the idea of ritual, with colour added by the use of crotales (small, bell-like discs). Air in Motion brings a flute into the ensemble, adding a new dimension suggested by the flow of air through a column of metal. String Theory was praised in BBC Music Magazine: “There’s a thrilling freneticism to Jalbert’s music and it’s a vein which runs through most of these premiere recordings”. Jalbert is celebrated for music that “immediately captures one’s attention with its strong gesture and vitality” (American Academy of Arts and Letters) and that is “rhapsodic and skilfully written” (The New York Times).