Sing To Me Again

Sing to Me Again by Madeline Hildebrand and Caitlin Broms-Jacobs explores and reimagines music from Eastern European countries for oboe and piano. This recording results from a decade of discovery, growth and artistic partnership between the two musicians. Works by Gayane Chebotaryan, Zlatev-Cherkin, Vítěszlava Kaprálová, Mikhail Glinka, Srul Irving Glick, Pavel Haas, and Fikret Amirov capture the oboe’s wistful, sweet and powerful sound, together with the piano’s rich, warm and resonant sound.

Sing to Me Again references the lyrical nature of the repertoire on this album. It opens with Chebotaryan’s Six Preludes for Piano arranged by Broms-Jacobs. This selection of preludes incorporates elements of classical Russian traditions with modal references, sombre sounds, and dance rhythms from Armenia. Following is Bulgarian composer Zlatev-Cherkin’s Sevdana, a work suggesting the composer’s unrequited love for a girl named Sevdana. Next, Jitro (Morning) is by a young and remarkable Czech composer, Kaprálová, whose music is being rediscovered through the efforts of a Canadian-based foundation called Kaprálová Society. Dances from Ruslan and Lyudmila, by the “father of Russian music” Glinka, employ folk tunes of Eastern European origins, within the light-hearted embrace of ballet music. Next, Glick’s traditional and contemporary Suite Hébraïque No. 6 speaks to the essence of the Jewish Canadian experience with its klezmer and traditional Jewish melodies. After that comes the Czech-Jewish composer Haas’s Oboe Suite, Op. 17. Research suggests this work was initially conceived as a song cycle; Haas’s writing, suggestive of vocal recitative, is heard in the oboe. This recording follows Haas’s original musical indications, thanks to Juri Vallentin’s research. Following the intensity of Haas’s suite, the album closes with a calming and lilting Nocturne by Amirov. Traditional Azeri elements like modality, ornamentation, and the sound of the tar are sweetly sung by the oboe and piano.