Discography

The path of the album, graciously couching the themes of Hildegard, follows the trajectory of the falling darkness.  Amy Beach, in her “A Hermit Thrush at Eve”, carries us softly into the darkness with bird song calling clearly from the upper ranges of the piano.  Once the night has fallen, the inner spirit emerges. bruises, paraphrase, a new work by Maya Miro Johnson, explores the frailty of the human body and Canticles of Hieronymus, by Ruth Schönthal honors the rambunctious imagination of our medieval counterparts.

But, we are not left in that darkness.  Sláva Vorlová, Síla světla (The Power of Light) brings back the early rays of sunshine and then suddenly – we hear the bird song again, singing to greet the sun.   Amy Beach, The Hermit Thrush at Morn, reminds us the hope and glory of music, nature, and humanity.

In Kate’s words, “The direction of this album follows a more personal path than my previous work.  The initial germ was a memory from my early student years and the culminating force, the death of a friend and colleague – Lenka Hlávková.  I looked for the music that drove inexorably inward - searching for that point deep in the core where we lose our differences.

In the timeline of my musical life, Hildegard’s voice stands as a solid point of inspiration. As I was re-creating her music, I was overcome with an overwhelming mystical nostalgia.  The years of teaching and study, of concertizing fell away.  All the music I have had in my hands was still and I heard only the pure resonance of the magic and mystery of that memory.”