After fifteen years of pushing the envelope, show-casing and commissioning chamber works by young Canadian composers, Continuum contemporary music is launching its first CD, entitled Continuum 1.

Continuum 1 features five compositions, four of which were commissioned by Continuum. According to Artistic Director Jennifer Waring, “The CD isn’t representative of all that Continuum does or is. We decided to hone in on a particular feel within the broad range of work that we do.” From the haunting lyricism of Jocelyn Morlock’s Bird in the Tangled Sky to the intimacy of Wendy Prezament’s Fantasy for Piano, there is something elemental about all of the pieces. The expansive, synthesized sounds contrasting with the detailed figuration in Ron Smith’s Flux; the driving rhythms of Micheline Roi’s Of Breath and Touch; and the high-density Incidents in Transition by Chris Paul Harman, fuse in this varied but complementary collection.

The Chalmers Award-winning group is renowned for its innovative, broad spectrum programming in concert, and this long awaited disc is refreshingly well recorded evoking the magical live concert experience for which Continuum is known.

What the critics say:

“Jocelyn Morlock looked to the world of birdsong for her evocative Bird in the Tangled Sky which exploited the bending of a single pitch against a static one to plaintive effect and featured…lovely pliant playing from violinist Mark Fewer.”
– Elisssa Poole, The Globe and Mail

About Of Breath and Touch: “This highly concentrated piece for clarinet and percussion has an elemental eroticism that can justify the steamiest interpretation…”
– Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen

JOCELYN MORLOCK

1. Bird In The Tangled Sky

WENDY PREZAMENT

2. Fantasy for Piano, no. 1

RONALD BRUCE SMITH

3. Flux

MICHELINE ROI

4. Of Breath And Touch

CHRIS PAUL HARMAN

5. Incidents In Transition