Local BMOP/sound Label Releases New Album "Mobius Loop"

Mathew Rosenblum: Möbius Loop

Boston, MA (For Release 10.21.13) –Known as the nation’s foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music recordings, BMOP/sound today announced the October 22nd release of a new composer-centric album, Mathew Rosenblum: Möbius Loop, performed by the ever-intrepid Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and conducted by Gil Rose.  

Eschewing the traditional scale, Rosenblum’s music packs the octave not with 12 tones but with 21. Proving that microtonal music can really rock, his music borrows from classical, free jazz, rock, minimalism, folk and world music traditions. This album has a stylistically diverse and improvisatory sensibility as evident in the intermingling between the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and the Orchestra.

The eponymous three-part concerto Möbius Loop is presented in two different versions: orchestral and quartet. Referring to both the contemporary compositional loops (and smaller loops within larger ones) and the reflection on the enigma of life, Möbius Loop is a richly, layered work that “shimmers[ed] with vibrancy (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).” Using precise and imaginative orchestration, it’s Rosenblum’s first composition for saxophone, and a tribute to one of his idols, Sigurd Raschèr, founder of the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet.

An extension of the Raschèr/BMOP collaboration is the ebullient, five-moment Double Concerto. Inspired by both the artistry of baritone saxophonist Kenneth Coon and the rock infused intensity of percussionist Lisa Pegher, this piece clearly showcases the saxophone at its core, while intertwining the color capabilities of a multitude of percussion instruments.

Rounding out the album is a more rhythmically direct and “single-minded” work. Sharpshooter grew out of Rosenblum’s earlier piece Fantasy for Roberta Liss (2011). According to the composer, “the focused ensemble rhythms and pointed attacks – achieved through strikes on muffled piano and harp strings, piercing string pizzicato, and sharp brass hits – helped to generate the title ‘Sharpshooter.’”

About BMOP/sound

BMOP/sound, the Grammy-nominated signature record label of the acclaimed Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), an eclectic, composer-centric catalog of both rediscovered classics of the 20th century and the music of today's most influential and innovative composers. Since its launch in 2008, BMOP/sound recordings have received several accolades including: “Best of 2008” lists for its five inaugural releases in the New York Times, Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Time Out New York, American Record Guide, and Downbeat Magazine, among others; five Grammy nominations in 2009 for Charles Fussell: Wilde, in 2010 for Derek Bermel: Voices and in 2011 for Steven Mackey: Dream House.  The New York Times proclaimed, “BMOP/sound is an example of everything done right.” For more information, visit bmopsound.org.

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