Piano

Benny Andersson

Had his output ended with ABBA, Andersson would still rank high among contemporary melodists if only in terms of quantity. But the quality that emerged in his writing (alone and with Björn Ulvaeus) midway through ABBA’s career continued, resulting in a wealth of lovely, hauntingly melancholy songs distilled from the pre-rock influences that he absorbed as a baby boomer Swede. A dozen of this album’s 21 selections originated in either ABBA or Chess. The crystalline, music-box delicacy of his touch, however, is something new. And special.

Sevenfive: The John Corigliano Effect

Gaudete Brass

It’s often said that serious composers abandoned the mainstream by becoming obscure. But couldn’t the mainstream also be faulted for becoming lazy? There’s plenty in these sensitively performed compositions by Corigliano and his students to engage anyone willing to invest a little time and imagination (brushing up on Carl Sandburg, for instance, in preparation for the four-movement Prayers of Steel). Anyway, sometimes the titles do the heavy lifting. If “Gazebo Dances Overture,” The Record of a Lost Tribe, and “Roar” don’t focus one’s expectations, nothing will.

American Sonatas for Violin and Piano

Ching-Yi Lin, Zachary Lopes

Juxtaposing one violin-and-piano sonata apiece by Charles Ives (1914), William Bolcom (1979), and John Corigliano (1963), Lin and Lopes locate a common thread identified in the liner notes thus: “They all enjoy mixing classical and popular music, as well as tonal and atonal passages, in a unique manner.” Maybe that’s why it’s easy to hear these pieces as one big 11-movement work. How easy? Select the “shuffle” setting and let your device of preference determine the movements’ running order. Warning: There are 39,916,800 possible variations.

New Worlds

Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends

There’s a concept (something to do with the meeting of twains—Europe and America, music and literature) as well as inspired playing (Vogler on cello, Mira Wang on violin, and Vanessa Perez on piano). Alas, there’s also Bill Murray. He does well reading Thurber, and his unexpurgated Twain does not shy from political incorrectness. His Whitman, however, falls flat. And although his singing can be cute, it can also be atrocious. Royalties or not, Van Morrison must surely regret having signed off on “When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God.”

ENCORE

Only one of the two new Kronos Quartet releases has “folk” in its title, but both showcase traditional song—Mali’s in the case of Ladilikan (World Circuit) (featuring Trio Da Kali), Europe’s in the case of Folk Songs (Nonesuch) (featuring Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant). And, whether swooping or droning, the Quartet plays an integral role in making both vibrant.

Most of the droning occurs on Folk Songs and adds emotional complexity and otherworldly ambience to musical tales that might otherwise seem simpler or more mundane than they are (Giddens’ self-composed “Lullaby” among them). Most of the swooping occurs on Ladilikan. The instrumental “Samuel” is especially impressive. It’s also the only song on which the Quartet doesn’t augment Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, a singer whose emotive, serpentine alto makes the booklet’s English and French translations of the lyrics almost unnecessary. For listeners who already know the two Mahalia Jackson covers, there’s no “almost” about it. —A.O.