On An Overgrown Path

 


Produced by:
Lyrical Strings Duo and Billy Oskay.
Recorded live to 2-track and mastered by Billy Oskay at Big Red Studio, Corbett, OR. July-August, 2015.

Design by:
Lia Miternique of Avive Design.
Cover art based on Alfons Mucha’s 1911 poster for the Moravian Teachers’ Choir.

Album Co-Producers:
Alan & Nancy Loose, Bremen House, David Lingren & Ilana Schatz, Engin Yenidunya, George A. Loose Jr., Ilya Sheyman, and Patrick & Yukari Kane.

Album Sponsors:
Aaron Elliot Ross, Beth & Mark Perlman, Brent Cohen, Ellen Becker & Howard Hamburger, and Jason Fromme.

Physical CD:

$12.99 Add to cart

 

Download MP3s:

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For the Lyrical Strings Duo’s second album, Lucie and Stephen visit the melodies and folklore of Central and Eastern Europe. Lucie’s childhood home in Prague was filled with the music of Leoš Janáček, her mother’s favorite composer. His piano collection On An Overgrown Path, in particular, was frequently heard on the phonograph. Taking this work as their starting point, the duo explores a fascinating repertoire of pieces from Bohemia, Moravia, Poland and Ukraine. Every piece on this album is either inspired by or drawn directly from folk songs and folk tales. It is the power of these stories, new and ancient, familiar and exotic, that inspired the duo to arrange this music for violin and guitar and to create this album.


“Some of the greatest composers wrote the most beautiful miniatures. This album takes several of the most gorgeous small scale piano, vocal and chamber pieces by Janacek, Martinu, Wieniawski and Lysenko and arranges them for shimmering guitar and a violin aspiring to the power of speech. The result is both visionary and delightful. Those who know these pieces will be excited to hear them in their new musical garb, and those who do not, are in for the biggest treat.”
Michael Beckerman, Professor of Music, New York University; Recipient of Janacek Medal from Czech Ministry of Culture; Laureate of the Czech Music Council.


“My Delight of the Week! I have such a crush on this CD [On An Overgrown Path] that I have already given it as a present. Interpretations of mostly piano works, re-imagined for guitar and violin, mostly by Eastern European composers, including little known works like Martinu’s “Puppets” and some showstoppers like Wieniawski’s “Legend.”  … The exceptional blend of these two, and their arrangements and interpretation make each work (or set of works) worth repeated and intentional listening, and their interpretations may very well inform the interpretation of future soloists.” 
– Kara Dahl Russell, WSCL Music Director / Delmarva Public Radio