Decca releases two albums of the music of Nico Muhly, featuring the Los Angeles Master Chorale

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This fall, Decca Classics will release two new albums featuring the music of eminent American composer Nico Muhly.

It is only natural that Decca Classics would wish to add this engaging musical figure to its impressive list of artists. The first Nico Muhly album Decca will release is A Good Understanding, a recording of six choral pieces performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by the chorale’s acclaimed musical director Grant Gershon. Muhly has said, “Writing choral music is one of my greatest pleasures in life,” and his joy in and connection to this genre are apparent in these works. A Good Understanding, which employs both adult and child voices, explores and expands upon traditional uses of music and text in religious and secular settings. This album will be released digitally as an iTunes exclusive on September 7 and physically on September 21.

"We are thrilled to be working with the Los Angeles Master Chorale,” said Paul Moseley, general manager of Decca. “Under Grant Gershon, the group has established itself as a premier chorus with innovative programming that presents important works by contemporary composers. Decca is delighted that our first disc with LAMC focuses on the choral music of Nico Muhly. His original yet accessible music continues in the line of Decca’s historical connections with composers such as Benjamin Britten, Michael Torke and Mark-Anthony Turnage."

The second album, I Drink the Air Before Me, will be released digitally and physically alongside the physical release of A Good Understanding on September 21. Conceived as the score for a dance work by choreographer Stephen Petronio and performed as part of the 25th anniversary of the Stephen Petronio Dance Company in 2009, the music of I Drink the Air Before Me received high praise throughout the press. The New York Times raved, "...the score, by Nico Muhly, evokes turbulent undercurrents in which the frantic sounds of flute and strings are woven with the more tumultuous notes of a trombone and piano. Without being literal, the music and choreography create a sonic, ephemeral wave." Following the release of the album, the full work will be performed in London's Barbican Hall on October 5 and 6.

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