Capricci armonici sopra la chitarra spagnola by Ludovico Roncalli (1654-1713) is the last in a long line of books for the Baroque guitar (or chitarra spagnola as it was called back then) published in Italy, spanning nearly one hundred years. These publications run the gamut from rudimentary instruction books with simple pieces intended for beginners to collections of highly sophisticated music.

The latter elevated the status of the guitar from an accompaniment instrument used in popular music to a solo instrument with a serious and respectable repertoire. Capricci armonici contains arguably some of the best music written for the guitar and thus is one of the most important sources for the instrument.

Cynthia Stillman Gerdes

All of the places she's lived have influenced her music: From the sagebrush and wild west of Pasco and Boise in the "Idaho Toccata Trio" to the more cosmopolitan influences of San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.

Backyard Toccata ia one of those early spring days when the breeze moves the wind chimes, backyard birds are trying to attract mates and stake out territories in the big trees. It's easy to find the scene comic to irritatingly restless. At the end a door closes, an attempt to shut out nature's uproar. Of course it doesn't.

Idaho Toccata Trio is a love song to a community (Boise, Idaho) and an era (late 1940s). It's written from the un-conflicted perspective, musically and otherwise, of a ten year old. One melodic motif knits the piece together.

The mandolino, or the Baroque mandolin, was the predecessor to the modern mandolin. Unlike its offspring, it had 6 courses of strings (instead of 4) and was mostly played with the fingertips (instead of with a plectrum). Though mostly unknown today, it enjoyed a modest popularity in the 17th- and 18th-centuries and a sizeable repertoire.

This recording contains pieces from the Filippo Dalla Casa Manuscript, dated 1759 from Bologna, Italy. Though by mostly unknown composers, the quality of the music is very high and compares with the best lute, keyboard, and chamber music from the period. Mandolino is played by Hideki Yamaya, and continuo on lute is played by John Schneiderman.

Ferdinand
the Bull
and Friends

...holiday-themed albums OregonLive.com
Review by James McQuillen - Nov. 15, 2010:
      "In contrast to the general run of amped-up children's fare, Fish's "Ferdinand" is a gentle take on the story of the gentle bull, and the rest of the album - with glossy cards featuring Ogden Nash's verses for the "Carnival" and a booklet with "Ferdinand" and "Mother Goose" texts - is an utter delight."

The One Horse
Open Sleigh

De Organographia: Philip Neuman, Gayle Stuwe Neuman and associates again apply their scholarship, performance talents and instrumental expertise, this time to a collection of 16th-to-19th-century music for the holiday season, on original period instruments and reconstructions.

"...selections include Auld Lang Syne, with walking stick recorder; When Jesus Christ was Twelve, with flageolet, harp and glockenspiel; I Saw Three Ships, with clarinet, ballad horn and Chinese cymbals; and 21 other carols. If the person on your list already has CDs of grandiose carols... this collection is a perfect complement."
-- The Oregonian

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Cantores in Ecclesia
In Rome

NPM's newest reissued audio CD, not by popular, but rather by cognoscente demand. NPM has brought out on its own label an award winning ensemble in a volume of vocal choral works from the Renaissance by on of Portland's most cherished local artistic treasures.