The Promises of Darkness Mathias Reumert Group
Album info
Album-Release:
2025
HRA-Release:
01.09.2025
Label: Ekkozone
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Artist: Mathias Reumert Group
Composer: Roger Reynolds (1934)
Album including Album cover Booklet (PDF)
- Roger Reynolds (b. 1934): The Promises of Darkness:
- 1 Reynolds: The Promises of Darkness: I. Section 1 08:10
- 2 Reynolds: The Promises of Darkness: II. Section 2 02:55
- 3 Reynolds: The Promises of Darkness: III. Section 3 07:04
- 4 Reynolds: The Promises of Darkness: IV. Section 4 04:22
- Mistral:
- 5 Reynolds: Mistral 20:15
- Dionysus:
- 6 Reynolds: Dionysus 15:55
- Positings:
- 7 Reynolds: Positings: I. Posit 1 01:10
- 8 Reynolds: Positings: II. Response 1 02:17
- 9 Reynolds: Positings: III. Posit 2 01:11
- 10 Reynolds: Positings: IV. Response 3 01:52
- 11 Reynolds: Positings: V. Posit 3 02:10
- 12 Reynolds: Positings: VI. Response 5 02:48
- 13 Reynolds: Positings: VII. Posit 4 00:44
- 14 Reynolds: Positings: VIII. Response 2 02:57
- 15 Reynolds: Positings: IX. Posit 5 02:39
- 16 Reynolds: Positings: X. Response 4 05:25
Info for The Promises of Darkness
The Promises of Darkness marks the next chapter in the visionary collaboration between Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds and conductor/ producer Mathias Reumert. Released by Ekkozone, this landmark album showcases world premiere recordings of four major works, tracing four decades of Reynolds’s trailblazing contributions to contemporary music.
The title work, The Promises of Darkness (1975), pays homage to Reynolds’s mentor Roberto Gerhardt. Scored for an ensemble of 11 players, this piece masterfully conjures vivid colors and an almost cinematic sense of dread, revealing Reynolds as a composer unafraid to probe the edges of musical and emotional experience.
From 1985 comes Mistral, for strings, brass, and amplified harpsichord. Although inspired by an encounter with the forceful Mediterranean wind, the piece is “neither illustrative nor programmatic,” according to the composer. Mistral has previously been released in a lo-fi live recording, but the highly refined score-with its crystalline articulate harpsichord — is finally brought to life in this new version, which Reynolds himself has hailed as “a triumph.”
A relentless exploration of the interplay between two harmonic strata, Dionysus (1990) involves “a blend of metaphor and pragmatics” and is captured in a breathtakingly precise performance, with expressive solos from flutist Hélène Navasse and trumpeter László Molnár.
Closing the album is the electroacoustic Positings (2013), where the Mathias Reumert Group is joined by computer musician and Reynolds collaborator Paul Hembree. Seamlessly blending live performance with electronic textures, Positings embodies Reynolds’s innovative spirit, pushing the boundaries of sound and structure.
This release follows the critically acclaimed Wind Concertos, the first in the Reynolds/Reumert series, which earned Album of the Year (The Five Best) from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in 2024. With The Promises of Darkness, Ekkozone solidifies its reputation as a home for groundbreaking contemporary music, curated with Reumert’s exacting vision.
Mathias Reumert Group
Mathias Reumert, conductor, triangles, computer triggering
Mathias Reumert
Multi-percussionist, conductor and producer Mathias Reumert is one of the most sought-after musicians on the Danish contemporary music scene, active as soloist and in ensembles such as Mathias Reumert Group (formerly “Ekkozone”), Reumert/Elten Percussion Duo, PACE Percussion Trio and Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen. He also heads the newly established record label, Ekkozone Records.
Reumert won 1st Prizes at three international competitions (Concours International de Vibraphone 2002; PASIC Solo Competition 2004; Gaudeamus Interpreters’ Competition 2007) and then made his debut on CD in Poul Ruders’ Percussion Concerto, Monodrama, conducted by Thomas Søndergård, a disc that received praise in several publications, including in the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. This release was followed by a large number of recordings of works for solo percussion by composers such as Xenakis, Stockhausen, Ferneyhough, Donatoni, Henze, Globokar, Reynolds and Jodlowski.
The DVD, Mathias Reumert: Solo (Percussion Meets Art Cinema), which consists of works for solo percussion and performance art, marks an artistic highpoint. ‘Solo’ garnered top reviews in Danish and international magazines and was described by Denmark’s largest nationwide newspaper, Politiken, as “nothing short of ground-breaking” and “a colossal achievement” (18/2-2016).
The crossover ensemble Mathias Reumert Group is a continuation of Ekkozone, which Reumert formed in 2013 and led to international recognition. In order to enable greater touring activity, the number of musicians was reduced in 2023 and the band name changed to Mathias Reumert Group. On the same occasion, the record label Ekkozone Records was established.
Booklet for The Promises of Darkness