The Lyris Quartet; Cedric Berry, baritone; Alyssa Park, violin; Timothy Loo, cello; Michael Matsuno, flute; Jon Stehney, bassoon; Sidney Hopson, vibraphone; Jacqueline Marshall, harp; Andreas Foivos Apostolou, piano;
Anthony Parnther, conductor

James Newton’s (b. 1953) third New World release continues and extends his musical testimony based on biblical scripture and his own spiritual discernment. It is a fascinating, if not mystical, experience of the intersection of Newton’s personal faith, creativity, and theological introspection.

Newton is a quintessential twenty-first-century composer whose influences and inspirations are many. Anyone familiar with his performance trajectory and formation as flautist, composer, and improvisor will recognize that he is the result of many influences and inspirations. Like many of his generation, he is heir to multiple musical legacies and musical/cultural traditions. Newton acknowledges these influences, from Monteverdi to Messiaen to Mahalia Jackson, from the music of John and Alice Coltrane to Javanese gamelan and the music of the Central African rainforest. And yet it would be a fool’s errand to attempt to tease out each of these inspirations. Newton’s influences are not only musical, but also theological. This recording reflects his inspiration from theologians past and present such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Howard Thurman.

Newton’s musical language is elusive and must be understood as an aesthetic unity. His imagination as an improviser is not lost in the translation to these fixed compositions. All the compositions on this recording reflect the composer’s extensive background and singular approach to improvisation. Each of these pieces has an improvisatory character, yet they are all through-composed.

This music could perhaps be best described as pantonal, although there are clear references to modal constructions that can be heard on the musical surface. The pitch organization defies systematic categorization. The music does not fit easily within a single system or style and thus defies many of the analytic methods currently used by music theorists and musicologists. It is in the syntax, the aural experience, that one perceives the coherence and cohesion of each piece.

Compassion and Mustard Seeds in Perilous Times (2022–2023) [string quartet], Jesus’ Prayer at Gethsemane (2024) [baritone, flute, bassoon, vibraphone, piano, harp, violin, cello], The Image of the Invisible (1995, rev. 2020) [string quartet]