Our album begins in the shadowy world of Dutch composer Nico Richter's Trio for flute, viola, and guitar (1935). Richter was born into a Jewish family in Amsterdam in 1915. He began composing at the age of 12. Unlike many of his peers and teachers, Nico wasn't so interested in the music of French composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Fauré. Instead he drew inspiration from the Second Viennese School, especially the lyrical style of Alban Berg and the miniatures of Anton Webern. In 1942 Nico was arrested by occupying Nazi officers and sent to a series of concentration camps. He died in 1945 at the age of 29. Like all of his chamber music, this trio is dense, energetic, and overflowing with musical ideas. 

Learn more about Nico here.

The Sonata for flute, viola, and harp (1915) is among the last works by
Claude Debussy. It was written during the height of World War I while the
composer was suffering from terminal cancer. Debussy wrote to Igor Stravinsky that he was writing “pure music in the old form,”
and this can be heard not only in his evocation of the sonata form, but also
in his uncharacteristic use of familiar sounding tonal progressions. We present this masterpiece in an arrangement for guitar by Andrea
Förderreuther which was edited by Daniel Conant.

Czech guitarist-composer Štěpán Rak is most known for his unique
and virtuosic solo guitar music. Dances Con Brio (1994), a set of five dances, is a triumph of musical wit. Rak toys with each familiar dance form by introducing unexpected harmonies and rhythms in ways sure to keep our listeners smiling. Rak’s ecstatic approach to composition pushes our instruments to the limit.

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