Leaf Music

Canadian Scenes

Canadian Scenes: New Works for Oboe and Piano is an album 13 years in the making. Comprising five works commissioned between 2009 and 2022, it is a wide-ranging collection of Canadian vignettes expressed through music. One of Oboist Chip Hamann’s goals with this project was to capture a broad array of artistic statements from composers of sometimes vastly different backgrounds, all couched under the umbrella of the Canadian milieu. The composers were prompted with two starting points for their compositions. The first prompt, nature, was intended to serve as a call for the composers to meditate on the role nature plays in their life. The second turned out to be the pandemic, which casts the compositions into a different light. Each composer’s individual experience with both nature and the pandemic is stamped on their respective compositions, resulting in a multi-faceted album featuring a plethora of sound and perspective. Album Booklet

Around Baermann

Around Baermann sees historic clarinet specialist Maryse Legault spotlight the early 19th century clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann, who was one of the most important yet overlooked clarinetists in the history of the instrument. Born in Potsdam in 1784, Heinrich Baermann honed his skills under the tutelage of virtuoso clarinetist Josef Beer, who was a key figure in the development of the clarinet and its repertoire. B Baermann went on to tour extensively and significantly impacted the clarinet’s role in classical music, particularly in France. Around Baermann is Legault’s tribute to Baermann; a giant in his field and one of the more important developers of the clarinet’s style, technique, and repertoire. Album Booklet

James Oswald: Airs for the Seasons

Airs for the Seasons is Rezonance Baroque Ensemble’s rendition of James Oswald’s remarkable two sets of 48 Airs for the Seasons, 96 in total. Each air includes two to four separate movements in different time signatures and tempos. Airs for the Seasons showcases Rezonance Baroque Ensemble at their dynamic peak, oscillating between the delicate Spring bloom, the icy Winter frost, and the seasons in-between. The sonatas of Airs for the Seasons reflect a composer whose control of both the macro and micro are complete. Album Booklet

Schubert: Three Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Op. 137

Renowned pianist Peter Takács and Icelandic violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson present Schubert: Three Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Op. 137, their first record in collaboration with one another and their first record on Leaf Music. Largely unknown at the time of Schubert’s death, the Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Op. posth. 137) were composed during a prolific two-month span in March–April of 1816. In addition to completing his Fourth Symphony (“Tragic”) during this creative outpouring, the nineteen-year-old penned some two dozen songs and a twelve-movement Stabat Mater (D. 383) for choir and orchestra. Schubert himself was a capable violinist (and violist) and had already written a significant body of work for strings, but this was his first foray into the violin sonata proper. Album Booklet

How Like a Golden Dream

Darkness, mystery, grief, rest, and quiet: night-time has inspired people to tell stories since before the written word. This music for voice and lute weaves together many perspectives on the night, from the courts and musical spheres of 17th-century England and Italy, to ancient folk melodies from Ireland and new compositions. Recalling the monastic rites of Vespers and Compline, this program seeks to create a beautiful and sacred space to contemplate the darkness through the lens of ancient music. In addition to familiar songs by John Dowland and Thomas Campion, there are rarely recorded and previously unrecorded songs by John Corprario and George Handford, as well as original arrangements for lute and voice. Sinéad White, soprano Jonathan Stuchbery, lute and theorbo Louise Hung, organ Album Booklet

Theme: Variation

Theme : Variation traces an arc spanning 400 years of composition, beginning with Orlando Gibbons’ The Italian Ground ca. 1605, and culminating in Variations on a Fantasia of J.S. Bach (2017), an original work from Rogosin’s friend Kevin Morse. The result is an album whose explorative gusto is matched by its sweeping scope. Theme : Variation sees Rogosin navigate through hundreds of years of compositional variation with aplomb. The liner notes, found in the accompanying iTunes booklet and written by Rogosin, are an indispensable companion as you listen through the record. Rogosin meticulously explains the variations and technical underpinnings of each track while highlighting important or noteworthy nuggets for the discerning listener to catch. Interspersed with technical explanations are personal asides, offering insights or anecdotes surrounding his relationship with the composition. Album Booklet

I and Thou

VC2’s second full-length album, I and Thou, reflects on the role relationships play, whether fleeting or lasting, in how humans construct meaning in the world. The title of the record, and the philosophy to which it refers, comes from Philosopher Martin Buber. This idea became particularly salient during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the relationships we enjoyed with our family, friends, and community weathered a strain never before seen in modern times. In the spirit of the album’s context, VC2 invited some colleagues with whom they enjoy the closest of relationships to contribute to the album. Together, they form the record I and Thou. A pensive, deliberate rumination on the power of relationships to undergird a pillar of a person’s well-being; the need for meaning. Album Booklet

Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs

Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs is a personal exploration of a unique aspect of Elisha Denburg’s Jewish and musical heritage: Judeo-Spanish poetry and song. Although not a direct descendant of Jews who lived in—and were exiled from—the land called S’farad (Spain), these folk traditions have been shared in his family through the teachings and performances of his uncle, Moshe Denburg, and grandmother, Miriam Ben-Ezra Denburg. In this song cycle, each one tells a different story, yet all are interwoven, lyrically or conceptually. The poems’ traditional melodies have been used as springboards to a newly rendered work, in the Jewish tradition of “renewing days as of old.”   Maureen Batt - Soprano Tara Scott - Piano Elisha Denburg - Composer

Album Booklet

Haydn Op. 77 & Mozart K. 614

The Rosebud String Quartet was formed in 2013 at the inaugural Rosebud Chamber Music Festival, an annual summer chamber music showcase in rural Alberta. Comprised of principal players from the Edmonton Symphony and the orchestras of the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet of Canada, the RSQ is one of Canada’s most dynamic ensembles with a unique voice and a deep love for the music of Haydn. This recording brings together three great, late works by the acknowledged masters of Viennese classicism, Mozart and Haydn, and on it displays the Rosebud String Quartet's remarkable chemistry and depth. Album Booklet

After

Kate Read’s debut solo album After has arrived on Leaf Music. Artfully mixing Baroque repertoire with experimental electronics, After delivers a stirring mix of antiquity and modernity from one of Newfoundland’s most in-demand violists. Read takes listeners on a journey that entwines the purity of Bach with the chaos of electronic improvisation in ways equally surprising and satisfying. She’s joined on the last track, Aftermath, by award-winning audio engineer Michelle LaCour, whose improvisational synth stabs and found effects provide a counterpoint to Read’s modern interpretation of Bach.

Album Booklet

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that specializes in producing and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. We are also a leading provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services, and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

We offer a comprehensive range of audio and video production services, including live concert, studio, and location recording, as well as editing, mastering, and audio restoration. We also offer professional video production and post-production services, which include capturing footage, video editing, colour grading and closed-captioning. Our Integrated music marketing and distribution services are designed to help our clients promote and sell their music through effective marketing campaigns and distribution plans.

Our team is composed of experienced professionals with a passion for classical music and a commitment to delivering high-quality results. We are dedicated to working closely with our clients to understand their needs and exceed their expectations. Our services aim to provide a complete package of audio and video production, post-production, music distribution and marketing support to help our clients succeed in the music industry. Contact us for more information about our services and team.

Leaf Music est une maison de disques indépendante dont le siège se trouve à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse. Elle se spécialise dans la production et la diffusion d’enregistrements de musique classique de grande qualité réalisés par des artistes et des compositeurs des différentes régions du Canada. Notre catalogue de plus en plus diversifié comprend des enregistrements de solistes, d’ensembles de musique de chambre et d’orchestres. Sa distribution est assurée par l’entreprise Naxos of America et nos disques se retrouvent ainsi chez les grands détaillants dans le monde et sur les plateformes numériques de diffusion en continu à la demande et de vente en téléchargement. Notre maison est également un chef de file des services professionnels de production d’enregistrements audio et vidéo et de postproduction et des services intégrés de distribution et de marketing d’œuvres musicales au Canada.

Nous offrons un éventail complet de services de production d’enregistrements audio et vidéo, avec notamment des services d’enregistrement de spectacles, d’enregistrement en studio et d’enregistrement dans des locaux choisis, ainsi que des services de montage et de matriçage et des services de restauration d’enregistrements audio. Par ailleurs, nous offrons des services professionnels de production et de postproduction d’enregistrements vidéo : tournage, montage, étalonnage colorimétrique et sous-titrage. Nos services intégrés de distribution et de marketing d’œuvres musicales sont conçus en vue d’aider nos clients à assurer la promotion et la vente de leur musique, au moyen de campagnes de marketing et de plans de distribution efficaces.

Notre équipe se compose de spécialistes professionnels expérimentés qui se passionnent pour la musique classique et qui sont attachés à l’offre de services de grande qualité. Nous nous efforçons de travailler en collaboration étroite avec nos clients afin de bien comprendre leurs besoins et d’aller au-delà de leurs attentes. Notre approche se fixe pour objectif d’offrir un ensemble complet de services de production audio et vidéo, de postproduction, de distribution et de marketing de la musique, afin d’aider nos clients à connaître la réussite dans l’industrie de la musique. N’hésitez pas à communiquer avec nous pour vous informer sur notre équipe et nos services.

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