Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Fermi's Paradox (2020) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Sono Luminus announces Fermi’s Paradox, a new album from viola da gambist Carolyn Surrick and lutenist Ronn McFarlane, with guest percussionist Jackie Moran, to be released worldwide on November 20, 2020. Fermi’s Paradox is Surrick and McFarlane’s first album together and was created and recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, when both performers’ usually busy concert schedules were cancelled. Surrick is well-known for her fifteen recordings with the group she founded in 1998, Ensemble Galilei. McFarlane, nominated for a Grammy in 2009, is the founder of Ayreheart and a founding member of the Baltimore Consort.

Carolyn Surrick and Ronn McFarlane were getting ready for an April concert together when the pandemic hit. Neighbors separated by only about 20 miles, their weekend rehearsals continued even after it was clear that the concert would not be happening. Late in March, Surrick proposed the idea of making a recording. She writes in the liner notes for this album, “We didn’t have much shared repertoire, at least that hadn’t already been recorded by the Baltimore Consort, Ensemble Galilei, Ayreheart, or Trio Galilei. That meant a huge investment of time and energy . . . But days passed and the reality of the pandemic settled in. Nothing else was going to be happening this spring. No concerts. No tours. Cancellation after cancellation, with no end in sight . . . We added rehearsals. Wrote harmony parts. Wrote new music. Arranged our favorite tunes for lute and viola da gamba. Set to work every day, practicing, dreaming, thinking, and planning.”

The album includes recordings of new music for lute and viola da gamba by Surrick (The Last Day, 2020) and McFarlane (Fermi’s Paradox, 2018; Daniel’s Chaconne, 2013; and Trinity Grove, 2019), as well as McFarlane’s arrangement of Blackwater Side and John Dowland’s only piece for two instruments, Adew for Master Oliver Cromwell. Little Martha, originally recorded by the Allman Brothers, made its way onto the album, as did The Rose of Raby by Dave Shepherd.

The program grew organically, with one tune leading to the next. A thoughtful, wide-ranging, and deeply felt album took shape. Surrick writes, “John Barleycorn fit perfectly with She Moved Through the Fair, an Irish tune I had never heard. It was a new song to be sung by my instrument. We both love Turlough O’Carolan and neither of us had ever recorded Planxty O’Rourke, Second Air with its mysterious blend of Irish and Italian sensibilities (tunefulness and raw emotion) so that made the short list . . . If there’s Dowland, then there must be Marin Marais, one of the greatest composers for the viol who ever lived. If the gamba is going to sing a traditional Irish tune, why not a recitative and aria by Telemann? If she’s going to sing something by Telemann, why not an Ave Maria, written by Gounod and based on thematic material belonging to Bach?”

TRACKLIST

01. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Fermi's Paradox
02. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - She Moved Through the Fair - John Barleycorn (Arr. for Lute, Viola da gamba & Bodhrán)
03. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Gånglåt efter Hammare - The Last Day - Suite No. 1 in D Minor: VI. Gigue la petite (Arr. for Lute & Viola da gamba)
04. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Down by Blackwaterside (Arr. R. McFarlane for Lute & Viola da gamba)
05. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - The Rose of Raby (Arr. for Lute, Viola da gamba & Bodhrán)
06. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Amazing Grace (Arr. C. Surrick for Lute & Viola da gamba)
07. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Daniel's Chaconne
08. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Trinity Grove
09. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Viola da gamba Sonata in E Minor, TWV 41:e5: I. Cantabile - III. Recitativo - Arioso
10. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Dowland's Adieu for Master Oliver Cromwell, P. 13
11. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (Harmonized by J.S. Bach) [Arr. C. Surrick for Lute & Viola da gamba]
12. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Sjungar-lars visa (Arr. for Lute & Viola da gamba)
13. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Little Martha (Arr. R. McFarlane for Lute & Viola da gamba)
14. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Planxty O'Rourke, 2nd Air (Arr. for Lute & Viola da gamba)
15. Carolyn Surrick & Ronn McFarlane - Ave Maria, CG 89a (After Bach's BWV 846) [Arr. C. Surrick for Lute & Viola da gamba]



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