Featured Album August 2024: BLOCK4 "Beneath a Pale Moon"
August once again brings Recorder31, our annual celebration of all things recorder. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for this month's Featured Album to be a recorder album! We're delighted to share with you the long-awaited debut recording from recorder quartet BLOCK4. An enticing and varied journey through four-part music ranging from medieval to contemporary, this disc is the perfect choice for those who like their consort music served with a dash of magical storytelling. Read on to find out why...
Beneath a Pale Moon
BLOCK4 Recorder Quartet
OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR AUGUST 2024
Click here to order now!
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More about the album:
Beneath A Pale Moon is the debut album from BLOCK4.
Formed in 2012, BLOCK4 is a British-European professional recorder quartet, presenting a dynamic approach to contemporary consort music as well as offering a captivating interpretation of music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
BLOCK4 is passionate about sharing the recorder’s diverse repertoire with a wide audience, and performs in all types of venues – in recent years the ensemble has been spotted in concert halls, museums, churches, schools, pubs, clubs, and libraries, among many others. In addition to concerts, BLOCK4 leads outreach work throughout the UK and frequently gives workshops for young recorder players, for those new to the instrument, and for both mainstream and SEND schools.
Beneath A Pale Moon features music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Matthew Olyver, Francisco Guerrero, Michael Praetorius, Andrew Crossley, Tarquino Merula, Michiel Mensingh, Wojtek Blecharz and arrangements of anonymous folk and medieval tunes. The CD booklet contains an accompanying story by Essa Flett.
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Why The Early Music Shop loves "Beneath a Pale Moon":
The debut album from British-European recorder quartet BLOCK4, Beneath a Pale Moon, is presented in Super Audio CD format by TRPTK Records. We often praise our Featured Albums for taking listeners on a musical journey, but BLOCK4 take things one step further with a creative approach to both the music and its presentation.
The disc offers a varied programme, with Renaissance and Medieval melodies rubbing shoulders with new works receiving their premiere recording. In such a musically diverse set, there needs to be something else to offer cohesion through the set; fortunately, BLOCK4 have two tricks up their sleeves.
Firstly, the ensemble’s sound. A tight, rich tone is on offer, with the low consort used on much of the album providing an impressively expansive sound for a four-piece consort. Performed on instruments including consorts by the late Adriana Breukink, and Paetzold by Kunath, the group make the most of the resources available to them – with contemporary pieces such as Matthew Olyver’s dissonant My Last Breath and Andrew Crossley’s explorative Bardo No. 1 allowing them to explore the sonic and expressive possibilities of their instruments in striking contexts. Michiel Mensingh’s Wicked is rhythmic and virtuosic, cleverly finding some common ground between Renaissance polyphony and contemporary composition.
Secondly, an inspired presenting decision means the CD is accompanied by very little in the way of programme notes; instead, the booklet contains a compelling story of magic and discovery, written for the group by Aberdeen-based musician and writer Essa Flett. The understanding that Flett has of the music performed (being a trained recorder player) means the story is intrinsically linked to the music. When combining the two, listeners are encouraged to play tracks in different orders to follow characters’ arcs, which turns the listen into quite an immersive experience. One can imagine a live iteration of the programme with staging and lighting/projections would be quite the occasion.
BLOCK4, while clearly at home exploring contemporary repertoire, produce an impressive sound when working as a Renaissance consort. Music by Praetorius, Merula and Guerrero appears, and the quartet’s clear understanding of polyphonic music shines, with expressive phrasing. Merula’s La Lusignuola is a particular highlight; the rich tones of BLOCK4’s instruments are very reminiscent of organ music, which is especially fitting when you remember this was Merula’s instrument.
Special mention must go to Brendon Heinst for the recording and production of this disc; it’s a great skill to be able to present this music with such clarity, yet without losing the ambience of the resonant Lutheran Church in Haarlem where it was recorded. This is one of the best-captured recorder quartet discs this listener has heard in a long time.
Fans of recorder consort music will find much to enjoy on this varied and well-programmed disc, but moreover, those who like their music to take them on a journey – in this case one of magic and enchantment – are in for a real treat. Put on some headphones and immerse yourself in the experience.
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Beneath a Pale Moon is available now from The Early Music Shop online or in our Snape Maltings showroom.
Click here to order now!