Jeffrey Jacob: Reawakening Jeffrey Jacob

• 1 Awakening 10:12
• 2 The Loch Before Sunrise 10:30
• 3 A Mirror upon the Waters 06:52
• 4 Music for Haiti 06:12
• 5 Remembrance of Things Past 06:21
• 6 Cello Sonata: I. Lullaby 06:59
• 7 Cello Sonata: II. Expectant - Soaring 06:39
• 8 Reawakening 08:48
• Total Runtime 01:02:33

Info for Jeffrey Jacob: Reawakening

Composer and pianist Jeffrey Jacob returns to Navona Records with REAWAKENING, a collection of varied works for orchestra and chamber ensembles. Jacob’s lush, mystical style pervades the album, often blending his piano’s sound with orchestral arrangements to create rich musical imagery, as in The Loch Before Sunrise and A Mirror Upon the Waters.

The title work is a composition for piano and orchestra, which was debuted on Ansonica Records' second Cuba-based album INTERSECTIONS. It’s one of the first pieces by an American composer to be recorded by the Cuban National Symphony in 50 years. Jacob found inspiration from Thomas Hardy’s poem of the same name, writing that Hardy’s “unforgettable images of the natural world as it struggles toward spring and rebirth were irresistible.”

The Loch Before Sunrise and A Mirror Upon the Waters follow, both colorful works for piano and orchestra that explore imagery from different Alpine lakes. Music for Haiti for piccolo and strings contrasts these themes, evoking the sorrow, loss, hopefulness, and rebirth of Haiti following the devastation of its recent earthquake.

Remembrance of Things Past, another piece inspired by literature, takes its title from a Shakespearean sonnet. It features a soloist showcase for oboe, as well as a meditative chaconne. Jacob’s Sonata for Cello and Piano has two remarkable contrasting movements, opposing the gentle opening “Lullaby” with a faster, more anxious movement with sweeping melodic lines. The album closes with a work for solo piano Rewakening, recalling the opening piece and bringing the album full circle.

National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba
Enrique Perez Mesa, conductor
Jeffrey Jacob, pianist
The Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey
Daniel Spalding, conductor
The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchester
Daniel Spalding, conductor
Lara Turner, cello

Jeffrey Jacob
Described by the Warsaw Music Journal as “unquestionably one of the greatest performers of 20th century music,” and the New York Times as “an artist of intense concentration and conviction,” Jeffrey Jacob received his education from the Juilliard School (Master of Music) and the Peabody Conservatory (Doctorate) and counts as his principal teachers, Mieczyslaw Munz, Carlo Zecchi, and Leon Fleisher. Since his debut with the London Philharmonic in Royal Festival Hall, he has appeared as piano soloist with over 25 orchestras internationally including the Moscow, St. Petersburg, Seattle, Portland, Indianapolis, Charleston, Saõ Paulo and Brazil National Symphonies, the Silesian, Moravian, and North Czech Philharmonics, and recently, the London Symphony and the New Jersey Philharmonic. A noted proponent of contemporary music, he has performed the world premieres of works written for him by George Crumb, Vincent Persichetti, Gunther Schuller, Samuel Adler, Francis Routh, and many others. He has performed solo recitals in London, Dublin, Glasgow, Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague, Warsaw, Bucharest, Milan, Madrid, Helsinki, Rio de Janeiro, Saõ Paulo, Havana, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Jakarta, Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland, Toronto, Ottawa, and throughout the U.S.

Mr. Jacob has recorded over 120 works for solo piano and piano and orchestra including his critically acclaimed series of CDs of the complete piano music of Samuel Barber and George Crumb and major works of Bela Bartok. Fanfare Magazine recently devoted a feature article to his series of CDs for New Ariel Recordings entitled “Contemporary American Eclectic Music for the Piano.” Additionally, he has made radio recordings for Radio Warsaw, Radio Prague, and Brazil National Radio, as well as a series of recordings of American music for the BBC.

As a composer, he has written four symphonies, three piano concertos, and numerous works for piano and chamber ensemble. Raymond Leppard and the Indianapolis Symphony premiered his Symphony: Winter Lightning. The London Symphony recorded his Symphony No. 3. The Moscow and St. Petersburg Symphonies premiered respectively his Piano Concertos 1 and 2 with the composer as soloist. The Gregg Smith Singers premiered his Sleeping at Last for mixed chorus and solo cello. Mr. Jacob’s Persistence of Memory was premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony at the 1999 College Music Society National Convention, and was selected by the Charles Ives Center for American Music for a performance by the Charleston Symphony at the 2002 Charleston Spoleto Festival. Other works have been premiered and recorded by the Orquesta de Baja California, the Chamber Orchestra of the Rhein, the North Czech Philharmonic, the Cavani Quartet and sopranos Mary Nessinger and Laurel Thomas. Two CDs of Mr. Jacob’s orchestral music have been released by Centaur Records and Vienna Modern Masters, and recordings of individual works appear on several labels including Albany, Opus One, Capstone, and New Ariel. Currently Emeritus Professor at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, he recently received the Artist of the Year Award from the International New Music Consortium at New York University for his work as composer, pianist and educator.

Booklet for Jeffrey Jacob: Reawakening