Mary Howe

Between Us

Navona, 2022

8/10

Listen to Between Us

The composer and music activist Mary Howe brings us pieces for smaller ensembles here, where premiers of her duos are fleshed out with plenty of melodic gestures that pay close attention to timbres of the piano, voice, and stringed instruments.

“Sonata For Violin And Piano” opens the listen with Laura Talbott-Clark’s violin and Pi-Ju Chiang’s piano interacting with a stirring intimacy as well as playful moments, and “Ballade Fantasque” follows with Chiang’s keys and Meredith Blecha-Wells’ cello emitting a very poetic and gorgeous tone of heartfelt musicianship.

“Patria” lands in the middle and showcases Jacqueline Skara’s versatile viola alongside Chiang’s agile finger acrobatics, while “Merles De Coulenne” recruits Erin K. Murphy’s flute for the dreamy landscape that spotlights April Golliver-Mohiuddin’s stunning mezzo-soprano.

The final track, “Interlude Between Two Pieces”, is the best, and pairs Murphy’s flute with Chiang’s piano for a very soothing, mysterious, sometimes cinematic exit.

The compositions present are quite timeless, and make good use of romanticism and 20th-century idioms, ultimately defying classification in Howe’s inimitable vision.

Travels well with: Gibbs Street Duo- Memories Unsettled; Lee Bradshaw- The Ties That Bind