(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Dorian Komanoff Bandy is thrilled to present Lovers and mourners: Variations and Sonatas from Seventeenth-Century Germany, his first record on Leaf Music, set to be released on August 18, 2023. Recorded at Église St-Augustin in Quebec, the album is an exploration of one of the most fertile periods for the development of violin writing and performing. Bandy draws on some of the periods’ most sombre, meditative works to deliver an album of refined elegance and measured delivery, featuring himself (baroque violin), Hank Knox (harpsichord) and Elinor Frey (viola da gamba).
Lovers and Mourners focuses on three seventeenth century composer-performers: Johann Jakob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Johann Georg Pisendel. Bandy guides the listener through a series of variation sets and themes, simultaneously offering faithful interpretations of the music while injecting his own unique touch. Speaking about the creation of the album, Bandy says, “These composers created a body of work that is by turns quirky, beguiling, heartfelt, and brazenly virtuosic. It deserves far wider appreciation than it has so far received.”
Dorian Bandy is a musicologist and performer specializing in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. He is the author of Mozart the Performer, as well as numerous academic articles. He leads a vibrant career as a conductor, baroque violinist, and historical keyboardist, with a repertoire spanning four centuries and performances – acclaimed for their vitality, drama, and warmth — that have taken him to venues across Europe and North America, including London’s Wigmore and Cadogan Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and New York’s Symphony Space. This recording was made possible thanks to an SSHRC Development Grant.
Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making 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. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt, peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).
