Carion, one of the most celebrated wind quintets in the world, returns to Odradek with its own take on Terry Riley’s legendary In C, plus a new recording of a work for which the group has won much acclaim: Nielsen’s Wind Quintet, re-recorded in 2022 to coincide with the work’s centenary. ‘In C’ also alludes both to the name Carion and to their home of Copenhagen. The release is completed by Mozart’s Divertimento No. 1, Renate Stivrina’s A Cycle of Miniatures, ‘A Man Without a Country’, dedicated to Carion, and an arrangement of the ancient Danish song Dromte mig en drom i nat- the oldest notated Danish tune – made by the quintet’s horn player, David M.A.P. Palmquist.
Carion’s unique and fresh approach to chamber music has garnered stellar reviews from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, awards from Danish radio, and the Best Classical Album of 2015 on iTunes. Their trend-setting music videos on YouTube generate millions of views, with their landmark performance of Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles used as a reference recording by music students worldwide. By forgoing the customary chairs and music stands, Carion brings fresh and daring new interpretations to the stage. Like actors in a play, they freely move around, changing places and engaging in almost theatrical scenes with each other and their audiences.
Carion is well rooted in the established wind quintet works, but has received the most favourable critiques for its interpretations of Carl Nielsen and other 20th-century and contemporary composers. They bring this dynamic approach to Riley’s In C, taking a selection from the original 53 fragments to create a more concise work, while also playing with the textures that can be created in a recording studio. As Palmquist explains: “Recording allows us to go beyond the confines of a live performance. We can layer ourselves multiple times, we can mix, blend and filter the sound, so that it takes on new properties and guides the listener into an enhanced wind universe. This extensive work has brought forward something unique, something that can never be replicated on stage, even by ourselves! Like our performances, this is a ‘one-off’ created for the listener, and a new artistic direction for the ensemble.
