Within Earth Apollo Chamber Players

• Leo Brouwer (b. 1939): String Quartet No. 6 "Nostalgia de las montañas":
• 1 String Quartet No. 6 "Nostalgia de las montañas": I. Introduction - II. Preámbulo 06:18
• 2 String Quartet No. 6 "Nostalgia de las montañas": III. Sonata 06:03
• Christopher Walczak (b. 1970): 4 Dreams (Excertps):
• 3 4 Dreams (Excertps): No. 1, The Dream of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 04:26
• 4 4 Dreams (Excertps): No. 2, The Dreams of the Statue and the Tree 04:19
• 5 4 Dreams (Excertps): No. 3, The Dream of the Ladder 05:36
• Vân-Ánh Võ & Vũ Nhât Tân (b.1970):
• 6 Mây for Đàn bầu & String Quartet 18:11
• Alexandra Du Bois (b. 1981):
• 7 Within Earth, Wood Grows 14:33
• Total Runtime 59:26

Info for Within Earth

On Navona Records’ WITHIN EARTH, Houston string quartet Apollo Chamber Players, described as “...infectious... intimate... provocative... fun…” (Gramophone Magazine) presents an album that demonstrates the contemporary possibilities in string music, continuing Apollo's innovative 20x2020 project. The album contains three new multicultural commissions, as well as a contemporary work by Alexandra Du Bois.

Leo Brouwer's Nostalgia de las Montañas is an homage to his affection for Brazil's lush mountains and landscapes, and reflective of his love of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian dances and rhythms. The three-movement work plays to the Apollo Chamber Players’ passion for contemporary music as well as to the individual talents of the performers. The irregular metric patterns, distantly reminiscent of Brazil's varied dance music, require an extraordinary steadiness and sense of rhythm, which is demonstrated impeccably. Matthew Dudzik's cello part impressively keeps the rest of the music in line.

But also the viola, played by Whitney Bullock, gets its share of glory: in Christopher Walczak's Four Dreams, it is the middle voice that ties the three-movement quartet together, this time thematically. Remarkably, during the entire album, it is almost impossible to differentiate between the first and second violin: both Anabel Ramirez Detrick and Matthew J. Detrick, respectively, play with great empathy to both the music and their fellow quartet members.

Mây [Cloud] by Vũ Nhât Tân and Vanessa Võ (the latter a Emmy and Grammy Award winner and Academy Award Contributor) is scored for string quartet and the Đàn bầu, a Vietnamese monochord zither. The result is ethereal, otherworldly, and like a cloud, changes constantly over the course of nearly 20 minutes, eventually fading away without a trace.

The final track, the album's namesake Within Earth, Wood Grows by Alexandra du Bois is the musical interpretation of a line in the I-Ching. Again, the Đàn bầu features prominently, and yet, this time, it is the overall team spirit that shines through, between Apollo and the guest ensembles WindSync, Kinetic and Loop38. Indubitably, it is the same spirit of unity which lends the Apollo Chamber Players their emotionally charged, homogenous sound, and the same spirit which led them to commission the contemporary works presented here.

Apollo Chamber Players

Apollo Chamber Players
Apollo’s “performances have rhythmic flair and doses of virtuosity” (The Strad), and the ensemble has “found fruitful territory” (Houston Chronicle) in the cultural diversity of its hometown Houston, TX. Apollo Chamber Players has gained prestige through innovative, thematically-programmed concerts and educational activities, and the commissioning of new music. During their 2013 East Coast Tour and Carnegie Hall debut, the group performed for over 1,000 enthusiastic concert-goers, including dignitaries from the Consulates General of Bulgaria and the Czech Republic of New York. Recent touring engagements include concerts for Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, Seattle University (WA), Grand Junction Symphony (CO), and in Lake Charles (LA) and Fredericksburg (TX).

Winner of HoustonPress’ 2014 MasterMinds award, Apollo was one of three organizations in Houston to be recognized for positively impacting the local arts community. This past season Apollo collaborated with Houston METdance for concert productions at Wortham and Miller Outdoor Theaters, and it was the featured ensemble for Concert at the Villa, an AIDS Ministry event sponsored by Catholic Charities Houston. In September 2014, the organization launched a multi-year commissioning project, 20x2020, with a new work by Grammy winning composer Libby Larsen, and in recent seasons the ensemble has collaborated with acclaimed artists James Dunham, Ivo-Jan van der Werff, Timothy Pitts, Ismail Lumanovski, and Viktor Valkov. Apollo is featured frequently on American Public Media’s nationally syndicated program, Performance Today.

"European Folkscapes makes folk music come to life effectively." (American Record Guide.) Apollo’s debut album earned ‘Album of the Week’ honors by WQXR in New York City has reached millions of listeners through national and international airplay. Passionate about arts education, the ensemble curates culturally-enriching programs for performance through Young Audiences of Houston, and it presents concerts and masterclasses for schools and festivals across the country.

This album contains no booklet.