Spectrum

Mark Abel pushes his music further forward with striking chamber works and three powerful vocal pieces featuring acclaimed singers Isabel Bayrakdarian, Hila Plitmann and Kindra Scharich. Abel's own evocative lyrics are heard in two moving song cycles, while poet Kate Gale's libretto powers Two Scenes from "The Book of Esther." He writes: "For me, Spectrum represents both an expansion of horizons and a summing-up of the ground traveled during my decade with the Delos label. The 2020 release The Cave of Wondrous Voice introduced my first three chamber pieces; it was followed a year later by Approaching Autumn, a duet that appears on cellist Jonah Kim's album of the same name. Spectrum continues this trend, featuring three new and compact instrumental works that partner the piano with strings, horn and flute."