The How and the Why of Memory

Nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2016 East Coast Music Awards

“Tim Brady’s Third Symphony, Atacama, (is) a work of haunting and explosive power.”
– GRAMOPHONE
“The most striking (performance) was Tim Brady’s Atacama: Symphony #3…it’s highly recommended.”
– WIRE

Three major new orchestral works by Tim Brady, featuring impressive live performances by Symphony Nova Scotia, with featured solosits Robert Uchida, violin, and Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, viola, under the direction of Bernhard Gueller.
Tim Brady is a composer, electric guitarist, producer and cultural activist in Montreal, QC, Canada. timbrady.ca

Founded in 1983, Symphony Nova Scotia is one of Atlantic Canada’s major cultural institutions. Its legendary versatility means it is active in baroque, classical, new music, pops and music education, bringing exciting and highly polished performances to life to a wide range of the public in Nova Scotia. Internationally acclaimed German-born conductor Bernhard Gueller has been music director since 2002, garnering acclaim for the exceptional quality of his interpretations. symphonynovascotia.ca

For a video introduction to the music on this CD, and for video concert excerpts, go to
Youtube: Tim Brady & Symphony Nova Scotia.

1 – 3 Requiem 21.5: Violin Concerto (2010-2012)
Robert Uchida, violin

4 The How and the Why of Memory: Symphony #4 (2010-2013)

5 Viola Concerto (2012-2013)
Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, viola

TT: 71:55

Reviews:

Montrealer Tim Brady is a fertilizing force on the Canadian new music scene. A composer, electric guitarist, improvising musician, concert and record producer, his active administrative engagement with the Canadian concert music community over the past few decades has been multifaceted and deep. On this album, as distinct from previous Brady albums I have reviewed in these pages, we hear his composer chops applied to orchestral forces: a symphony bookended by two string concertos, one for violin and one for viola. They are admirably rendered by Symphony Nova Scotia, conducted by Bernhard Gueller. Listening to The How and the Why of Memory: Symphony #4, (2010-2013), cast in a single continuously unfolding movement, I was repeatedly reminded of textures and rhythmic and harmonic ideas of composers active in the early- to mid-20th century. Perhaps those allusions are implied by the title. Brady however never allows such superficial affiliations to get in the way of musical momentum or dramatic gesture, characteristics embedded in his musical voice which engage listeners on an emotional level. Brady’s very confident Viola Concerto (2012-2013) is dominated by its violist Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot’s cocoa-coloured sound and brilliantly lyrical playing. It is also imbued with a heart-on-sleeve expressiveness, counterpointed by poised classicist melodic phrases and minimalist sequences. The multi-hued orchestration is endowed with plenty of rhythmic excitement and harmonic movement, relieved by mysterious moments of elegiac repose. The last section, marked “groove,” is particularly effective and texturally surprising. The Viola Concerto is my favourite work on the album and it makes a very valuable new addition to the international viola concerto repertoire.”– Andrew Timar, the WholeNote

“Brady has his own way, embracing modernist tradition while finding his singular voice authoritatively and imaginatively, ultimately fashioning it all in a way that is very contemporary. This is a composer who has mastered for himself the nuances of orchestral possibilities, plumbed his own expressively vibrant imagination to bring us three masterful works that have all the makings of music for the future standard repertoire. The How and Why of Memory gives us an excellent listen to a modern-contemporary composer of genuine stature. The performances are inspired and the music, indeed, lingers on in the memory as something to return to often. Very recommended.” – Grego Edwards, Classical Modern Music Blog