account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
Four in One - 35 Years of BRISK
Various composers

Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam

Four in One - 35 Years of BRISK

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Globe
UPC: 8711525528307
Catnr: GLO 5283
Release date: 26 November 2021
Buy
1 CD
✓ in stock
€ 19.95
Buy
 
Label
Globe
UPC
8711525528307
Catalogue number
GLO 5283
Release date
26 November 2021
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

Four musicians sharing their musical worlds as equals: that is an intimate and refined art which requires a huge commitment and deep mutual trust. Four in One stands for four individuals who form a close creative unity while keeping their own identities. That is why Four in One is the perfect motto for the 35th anniversary of the BRISK Recorder Quartet Amsterdam.

But this motto does not only relate to BRISK’s anniversary, it also refers to the canon, the best-known musical form of four-in-one. By using one melody in succession, a polyphonic whole is created. Canons from Dufay and Obrecht to Brahms, Skryabin and Zuidam constitute the common thread of this CD.

In addition, other imitative forms are presented which have been eagerly used in music history. Thus the finely woven web of voices in Flemish Burgundian polyphony and Bach's fugues also originated in canonical writing.

Moreover, Four in One is a showcase of BRISK’s rich repertoire, with early music, new work written for the quartet and arrangements of romantic music.

The recorder has a relatively small repertoire, but this limitation presents a challenge. BRISK has done everything in its power to enlarge the repertoire, making countless arrangements in the tradition of the instrument.

Organ music has been a constant source of inspiration. Again and again BRISK have been told that sometimes they sound just like a small organ. “It is as if an organ is being played by a player who is awake in all his fingers,” a reviewer once wrote about the quartet. Each voice takes on its own colour, and together they are much more than one person playing a four-part piece. It is precisely the personal contribution and the diversity of several players that turn it into a lively whole.

Arranging vocal music, with diminutions and embellishments after historical models, is also one of BRISK’s favourite activities. In 1535, Silvestro Ganassi wrote in Opera intitulata Fontegara that the recorder is able to imitate the human voice through articulation and the flow of the player’s breath. For this musician and music theorist, that was an ideal to be pursued as much as possible. That approach is tailor-made for BRISK.

Vier Musiker, die ihre musikalischen Welten gleichberechtigt teilen: das ist eine intime und anspruchsvolle Kunst, die ein großes Engagement und tiefes gegenseitiges Vertrauen erfordert. Four in One steht für vier Individuen, die eine enge kreative Einheit bilden und dabei ihre eigene Identität bewahren. Deshalb ist Four in One das perfekte Motto für das 35-jährige Bestehen des BRISK Blockflötenquartetts Amsterdam.
Aber dieses Motto bezieht sich nicht nur auf das Jubiläum von BRISK, sondern auch auf den Kanon, die bekannteste musikalische Form des Vier-in-einem. Durch die Aneinanderreihung einer Melodie entsteht ein mehrstimmiges Ganzes. Kanons von Dufay und Obrecht bis Brahms, Skryabin und Zuidam bilden den roten Faden dieser CD.
Darüber hinaus werden weitere imitatorische Formen vorgestellt, die in der Musikgeschichte häufig und gerne verwendet wurden. So haben auch das fein gewobene Stimmengeflecht der flämisch-burgundischen Polyphonie und Bachs Fugen ihren Ursprung in der kanonischen Literatur.
Darüber hinaus zeigt Four in One das reiche Repertoire von BRISK mit Alter Musik, neuen Werken, die für das Quartett geschrieben wurden, und Bearbeitungen von romantischer Musik.
Die Blockflöte hat ein relativ kleines Repertoire, aber diese Einschränkung stellt eine Herausforderung dar. BRISK hat alles in seiner Macht Stehende getan, um das Repertoire zu erweitern, indem es zahlreiche Bearbeitungen in der Tradition des Instruments vorgenommen hat.
Die Orgelmusik war eine ständige Quelle der Inspiration. Immer wieder hat man BRISK gesagt, dass sie manchmal wie eine kleine Orgel klingen. "Es ist, als ob eine Orgel von einem Spieler gespielt wird, der in allen Fingern wach ist", schrieb einmal ein Rezensent über das Quartett. Jede Stimme bekommt ihre eigene Farbe, und zusammen sind sie viel mehr als eine Person, die ein vierstimmiges Stück spielt. Gerade der persönliche Beitrag und die Vielfalt mehrerer Spieler machen es zu einem lebendigen Ganzen.
Das Arrangieren von Vokalmusik mit Diminutionen und Verzierungen nach historischen Vorbildern gehört ebenfalls zu den Lieblingsbeschäftigungen von BRISK. Silvestro Ganassi schrieb 1535 in Opera intitulata Fontegara, dass die Blockflöte in der Lage ist, die menschliche Stimme durch Artikulation und den Atemfluss des Spielers zu imitieren. Für diesen Musiker und Musiktheoretiker war dies ein Ideal, das es so weit wie möglich zu verwirklichen galt. Dieser Ansatz ist wie geschaffen für BRISK.

Artist(s)

Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam

BRISK, the ensemble’s name, is intended to convey an idea of liveliness and wakefulness. A critic once described the ensemble as providing “a coup de grâce for the recorder’s respectable image”. BRISK’s concerts exhibit variation of style and mood, virtuosity and light-heartedness in equal measure. The quartet always appear on stage with an enormous assembly of recorders. Since their founding in 1986, BRISK has given many concerts in important concert halls and festivals throughout Europe, in Bolivia, Canada and the USA. BRISK has recorded for radio and television both in the Netherlands and abroad, as well as recording over ten CDs that have been well received by both press and public. Its daring programming of early music in combination with contemporary...
more

BRISK, the ensemble’s name, is intended to convey an idea of liveliness and wakefulness. A critic once described the ensemble as providing “a coup de grâce for the recorder’s respectable image”. BRISK’s concerts exhibit variation of style and mood, virtuosity and light-heartedness in equal measure. The quartet always appear on stage with an enormous assembly of recorders. Since their founding in 1986, BRISK has given many concerts in important concert halls and festivals throughout Europe, in Bolivia, Canada and the USA. BRISK has recorded for radio and television both in the Netherlands and abroad, as well as recording over ten CDs that have been well received by both press and public.

Its daring programming of early music in combination with contemporary music is designed to expand the borders of the ensemble’s repertoire. Many composers have dedicated works to the quartet. BRISK works regularly with fellow musicians as well as with artists from other related disciplines such as actors, directors, librettists and film-makers.

BRISK made its name through lively performances of early music, the search for little-known repertoire, and for the many arrangements that the ensemble has made, which suit the style and tradition of the instrument. BRISK has collaborated with Amaryllis Dieltiens, Michael Chance, Marcel Beekman, Johannette Zomer, Maarten Koningsberger, the Egidius Kwartet, the Gesualdo Consort, Bernard Winsemius, Leo van Doeselaar, Rainer Zipperling, Mike Fentross and Camerata Trajectina amongst others.

The long list of composers that have written music for the quartet includes Martijn Padding, Kate Moore, Calliope Tsoupaki, Bart Visman, Klaas de Vries, Roderik de Man and many others.

New works are presented as a comment on or as a contrast to older works in BRISK’s programmes. There is also a large quantity of new music in BRISK’s programmes for younger audiences. BRISK regularly gives concerts in collaboration with specialists in contemporary music such as pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama, composer and improviser Guus Janssen, vocalist Greetje Bijma and percussionist Ramon Lormans.

BRISK has created a number of highly successful productions for children with directors David Prins, Jetse Batelaan, Marc Krone, Gienke Deuten and actors Porgy Franssen, Bart Kiene and Hans Thissen.

The quartet possesses a great variety of instruments; its extensive contacts with recorder makers throughout the world ensure that its collection is in a state of continual development. This variety of instruments enables the ensemble to perform works from the Renaissance and the Baroque as well as the 20th and 21st centuries in their correct tuning and with the correct timbre.


less

Laurens de Man (organ)

Laurens de Man (’s-Hertogenbosch, 1993) is a versatile and enterprising keyboard player. He was the first organist to win the Nederlandse Muziekprijs, the highest distinction for classical musicians, awarded by the Dutch government. He studied piano and organ at the Amsterdam Conservatory with, among others, David Kuyken, Jacques van Oortmerssen and Johan Hofmann. He then pursued further organ studies with Leo van Doeselaar at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, where he obtained his Konzertexamen diploma with the highest marks. He has been awarded several prizes as a pianist and organist, including competitions in The Hague, Würzburg, Groningen (International Martini Organ Competition, 1st prize), and Freiberg (Silbermann Wettbewerb, 1st prize, ECHO Young Organist of the Year 2020). In 2018, he...
more
Laurens de Man (’s-Hertogenbosch, 1993) is a versatile and enterprising keyboard player. He was the first organist to win the Nederlandse Muziekprijs, the highest distinction for classical musicians, awarded by the Dutch government. He studied piano and organ at the Amsterdam Conservatory with, among others, David Kuyken, Jacques van Oortmerssen and Johan Hofmann. He then pursued further organ studies with Leo van Doeselaar at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, where he obtained his Konzertexamen diploma with the highest marks. He has been awarded several prizes as a pianist and organist, including competitions in The Hague, Würzburg, Groningen (International Martini Organ Competition, 1st prize), and Freiberg (Silbermann Wettbewerb, 1st prize, ECHO Young Organist of the Year 2020). In 2018, he won the Sweelinck-Mullerprijs. As a pianist of the Chimaera Trio, among others, he performs and arranges chamber music spanning four centuries; the trio has recorded two CDs. In 2012, he was appointed principal organist of the Janskerk in Utrecht, where he plays an instrument by Bätz-Witte (1861). In the seasons 2021-2023, he held the position of Organist in Residence at the Contius organ in Leuven (BE). He teaches classical piano technique for jazz pianists at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and organ at the Utrecht Conservatory.

less

Composer(s)

Press

Play album Play album
01.
Canon
02:20
(Cipriano de Rore) Laurens de Man, Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
02.
Invidia nimica
02:40
(Guillaume Dufay) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
03.
A l’arme, a l’arme
01:48
(Grimace) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
04.
Fuga duorum temporum
02:17
(Guillaume Dufay) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
05.
Aerinon
03:33
(Calliope Tsoupaki) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
06.
Salupita
02:30
(Juan Felipe Waller) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
07.
Dualfin
01:26
(Juan Felipe Waller) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
08.
Fuga
02:24
(Jacob Obrecht) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
09.
Super flumina Babylonis
03:23
(Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
10.
La Tortorella
01:53
(Jacob Obrecht) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
11.
Generations around me
05:58
(Celia Swart) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
12.
Angelus Domini
04:10
(Jacobus Clemens non Papa) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
13.
Méditations sur la liberté et l’égalité III
03:46
(Robert Zuidam) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
14.
Chorale ‘Das alte Jahr vergangen ist’, BWV 288
01:08
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
15.
Chorale Prelude ‘Das alte Jahr vergangen ist’, BWV 614
02:00
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
16.
Fuga a 4 voci, alla duodecima from Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080
02:59
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
17.
De Meesterfout
04:21
(Guus Janssen) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
18.
Canon in D minor
02:50
(Alexander Scriabin) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
19.
Nocturne, Opus 19, No. 4
03:30
(Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, Toek Numan) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
20.
Einförmig ist der Liebe Gram
02:42
(Johannes Brahms) Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam, Laurens de Man
show all tracks

Often bought together with..

Johann Sebastian Bach, Guus Janssen, Toek Numan
BRISK plays Bach
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam

You might also like..

Various composers
Vom Reden und Klingen - Bach, Kuhnau, Mozart and Kurtág at the Contius Organ Leuven
Laurens de Man
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner, an Organic Journey - Eight Historical Organ Transcriptions
Laurens de Man
Various composers
Always About Love
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
Various composers
Cançâo - Music From the Iberian Peninsula
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
Johann Sebastian Bach, Guus Janssen, Toek Numan
BRISK plays Bach
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk
Kadanza
Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk
Various composers
Dutch Diversity
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam, Marcel Beekman
Various composers
Ich stuend an einem Morgen
Brisk Recorder Quartet, Marcel Beekman
Various composers
The Spirit of Venice
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
Various composers
Vintage Brisk
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam
Johann Hermann Schein, Samuel Scheidt
German Consort Music of the 17th Century
Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam