RECORDINGS

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Four Jazz Preludes | Growl | Preludes 3, 4 and 5 | Letter to a Friend | Reveries 2 and 3 | Tango | Three Dance Portraits *with Daniel Epstein
Albany Records CD Troy 317

Available for Streaming, MP3 or Audio CD

Allen Shawn: Music to Robert Frost (1995) commissioned by "L’Ensemble" for 

soprano, violin and piano .
Ida Faiella, soprano, Barry Finclair, violin, 

Allen Shawn, piano

Allen Shawn: Romances for violin and piano (1996)

Barry Finclair, violin, Allen Shawn, piano

(CD also contains music by Heidi Jacob)

To obtain a copy, please contact Ida Faiella

vtdiva@aol.com

[Coviello Classics-2014]

“This recent recording offers an immersion into Mr. Shawn’s piano music, played brilliantly by Julia Bartha. The works range from “Aus/From: Four Jazz Preludes,” composed in 1980 for his father,  to his Piano Sonata No. 4 (2009), dedicated to Ms. Bartha. You hear lots of styles in Mr. Shawn’s voice: moody atonality, hints of Janacek, thickly chromatic lyricism, Messiaen-like cluster chords, rhythmic bursts that out-pummel Prokofiev. Yet Mr. Shawn’s own voice comes through in the deliberate, skillful, personal way he composes these pieces. And they are dazzlingly conceived for the piano. But none of the challenges daunt the impressive Ms. Bartha.” —Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

Available for Streaming, MP3 or Audio CD

Available from Bridge Records, Inc. as well as Amazon and other outlets:

The Music Teacher — an Opera Libretto by Wallace Shawn

Wallace Shawn, Parker Posey, Sarah Wolfson,Jason Forbach,Rebecca Robbins, Jeffrey Picon, Conductor Timothy Long

Bridge Records CD 9248 

Available on Audio CD

 (release date May 1, 2016) 

Suite for Cello Quartet (1989) Serenade for Cello and piano (1990) Blues and Boogie (1991) Five Miniatures (2011) Three Pieces (2011) Maxine Neuman, cello Allen Shawn, piano Duo Cellissimo (Mark Humburg, Maxine Neuman) Bennington Cello Quartet (Tom Calabro, Maxine Neuman, Michael Severens, Jared Shapiro) ALBANY RECORDS – TROY 1626

"Shawn’s music is replete with variety, written

 with warmth of tone and expressively romantic effect that makes it well worth bending  our  ears  to.  The  works  for  cello  duo  and quartet  are  beautifully  played,  and  Neuman and Shawn put across the rest with conviction." (American Record Guide)

"Like most composers of his generation, Allen Shawn (b. 1948) jumped on the scene with arrogance and belligerence, determined to make an impression and shatter the status quo. His Piano Sonata No. 1 from 1982  is clear evidence of this, with its highly aggressive and bellicose  first movement and unflinching harmonic harshness. By the time he'd written his Piano Sonata No. 4 in 2009, experience and mastery of the instrument have settled in, and fluidity of the musical discourse is achieved, along with a deeper  understanding of the piano's sonic palette and dynamics. And the 2017 Etudes, No. 6 most notably, raise the bar even higher.--Classical Music Sentinel

Piano Sonata No. 2 | Messages | Piano Sonata No. 3 | Nostalgic Pieces | Three Elegieso

Allen Shawn and John Van Buskirk, Pianos

Albany Records CD Troy 1049

Piano Sonata No. 1 I Piano Sonata No. 4 I

Nocturne for Y   

Daniel Epstein, Allen Shawn 

and Yoshiko Sato, pianos

Albany Records CD Troy 1346

"Music of high intelligence and considerable poetry..Sonata 1 (1982) includes a harsh, driving opening, a wistful waltz, and a majestic, brooding slow movement; [the CD] closes with a beautiful, bell-like Nocturne written in 2001 for Shawn’s wife, Yoshiko Sato, and played by her with exquisite tenderness. 

Recollections from 1998 and Sonata 4 from 2009 are intense and expressive....The whimsically demonic finale of Recollection is accurately described by Robert Carl in the excellent notes as “Broadway noir”. Daniel Epstein and Shawn himself play with nuance. Shawn told NPR that composing allows him an escape from his many phobias; given the confidence and freedom of this music, it sounds like good therapy. "--American Record Guide

Until I had the pleasure of listening to this CD, I’d never heard of Allen Shawn, let alone heard any of his music, but on the basis of this recording I’d hazard a guess that Robert Carl’s assessment—he wrote the insightful liner notes—that “this is one of the most substantial and memorable bodies of work for the instrument of any living American composer,” is not far off the mark....Anyone interested in music of quality, no matter its compositional “stance,” will find much to appreciate in this important release. Recommended.

(Fanfare)

Ursula Oppens, piano; Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller, conductor.

Albany Records CD Troy 441

available as  Audio CD only

String Quartet No. 4 | Childhood Scenes | Candles | Episodes for cello and piano | Cabaret Music

Steve Klimowski, clarinet; Curtis Macomber, violin; Maxine Neuman, cello; Yoshiko Sato, piano; Allen Shawn, piano; Music from Salem Quartet.

Albany Records CD Troy 777

Available on Audio CD 

Music by Donald Crockett and Allen Shawn

Shawn: Sleepless Night (for String Quartet)

Shawn: Wind Quintet No. 2

Daniel Epstein, Allen Shawn and Yoshiko Sato, pianos

Albany Records CD Troy 1346

ALSO  Stream on Amazon MUSIC or listen to excepts on 

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-ceiling-of-heaven-music-of-donald-crockett-and-allen-shawn-mw0001417647

Allen Shawn: Three Nightscapes

Palisades Virtuosi: Margaret Swinchoski, flute; Donald Mokrynski, clarinet; Ron Levy, piano.

Albany Records CD Troy 1022

Available for Streaming, MP3 or Audio CD

Allen Shawn: Three Dance Portraits

Available from sonoluminus.com as well as Amazon and other outlets:

Mosh Pit
ZOFO Keisuke Nakagoshi and Eva-Maria Zimmermann.
Dorian Sono Luminus DSL92167

available on  Blu-ray disk 

Allen Shawn: Woodwind Quintet (No.1)
Aspen Wind Quintet : Barli Nugent, flute; Claudia Coonce, oboe; David Krakauer, clarinet; Celeste-Marie Roy, bassoon; Kaitlin Mahony, horn.
Bay Cities BCD 1030

Blues and Boogie
Piano Trio
Sextet for Piano and Winds
Song of the Tango Bird
Aspen Wind Quintet—Barli Nugent, flute;Robert Ingliss, oboe; Todd Levy, clarinet; Chris Komer, horn; Susan Heineman, bassoon; Ursula Oppens, piano; Joanna Jenner, violin; Maxine Neuman, cello; Elizabeth Wright, piano; Su Lian Tan, flute; Allen Shawn, piano.
Northeastern Classical Arts NR 258-CD

Available on Audio CD  

Eclogue for two pianos
Trio for clarinet, cello and piano
Winter Sketchbook for violin and piano
Joanna Jenner,violin; David Krakauer, clarinet; Maxine Neuman, cello; Allen Shawn, Elizabeth Wright, pianos.
OPUS ONE CD 157.

Allen Shawn: Suite for Cello Quartet, 1989

Bennington Cello Quartet: Maxine Neuman, Tom Calabro, Michael Severens, Jared Shapiro, cellos
OPUS ONE CD 148

Allen Shawn, piano

Michael Bisio, bass

release date Oct. 16, 2020

**** AAJ
“Shawn and Bisio feed off each other's nature, producing personal music  by turns complex, evocative, ominous, and calming. Highly recommended.”
Karl Ackermann  www.allaboutjazz.com/improvisations-allen-shawn-michael-bisio-self-produced__31469
 

****1/2 AAJ
“This music is so properly presented, it has all the elements of  composed music. To acknowledge these eight tracks as instant composing  is sort of mind-blowing.” “From their instant composing we have fully  formed works of art.”
Mark Corroto  www.allaboutjazz.com/improvisations-allen-shawn-michael-bisio-self-produced

Fantasia for solo cello, Aria-Caprice for double bass and piano, Summer Suite for trumpet and bassoon, In Memory Of for clarinet, violin, cello and piano

"Shawn

wrote these 19 improvisations for his son, to

whom the album is dedicated, during Covid

lockdown. He began improvising at age 10

before learning notation, so this exercise is

natural for him. These unplanned miniatures

are wistful, tuneful, jazzy, raucous, intensely

creative, and mostly tonal. You can listen to a

few or put the whole album on. It works either way.

Shawn never intended this to be any more

than a 'sketch book' but decided it was 'pos-

sibly deserving consideration in its own right'.

Indeed, it is. "

---American Record Guide

Bassist Michael Bisio and pianist Allen Shawn presenting their Second Album, "January", in Eight Tracks:

1.Night Piece

2. Dyptich

3. If Not Now, When?

4. REM Sleep

5. The Heart of Things

6. Coruscations

7. Ice Path

8. Through the Veil