Beethoven by Special Arrangement is the second release at NativeDSD from the Sonolumina Ensemble on IsoMike. The album explores classic chamber music from Beethoven with a twist. New arrangements and orchestrations featuring clarinetist Russell Harlow and the Sonolumina Ensemble bring an added layer of depth and colors to enjoy on these already outstanding compositions.

IsoMike is a unique 4 microphone recording technique invented by Ray Kimber of Kimber Kable fame. It provides a very natural sound field in Stereo and full 4 Channel Pure DSD Surround Sound. We invite our listeners to pick up the latest in the IsoMike DSD recordings.

With this album we are proud to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. Composers from Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 -1750) to Igor Stravinsky (1882 -1976) have arranged their own music and the music of their peers to suit their specific needs. Bach not only arranged his own music but whole violin concertos of Antonio Vivaldi for organ solo. Perhaps he did this for his own study purposes or to present the pieces to an audience without the expense of having to pay an orchestra and soloists.

In the 20th Century, Igor Stravinsky made his own arrangements of the Canonic Variations on “Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her” by Bach for orchestra and chorus, as well as his own “Concertino for String Quartet” for various other instruments and his stage piece “L’histoire du Soldat” for piano, violin and clarinet. His main interest in doing so was to collect royalties on the new arrangements. Later, in 1981, composer Ramiro Cortes arranged Stravinsky’s forementioned “Concertino” for a small ensemble that included harpsichord. Cortes was in the process of arranging his own Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (1981) as a clarinet sonata. Because of his untimely death in 1984, he was unable to complete the sonata.

This is a Pure DSD release – recorded in Stereo and 4 Channel DSD 256 by Producer Ray Kimber and Recording Engineer Aaron Hubbard using the Hapi Analog to Digital Converter from Merging Technologies. The other DSD bit rates (DSD 512, DSD 128, DSD 64) were created in the DSD Domain by NativeDSD Mastering Engineer Tom Caulfield using the Signalyst HQ Player 4 Pro mastering software with no DXD processing.

Sonolumina Ensemble
Russell Harlow – Clarinet
Leslie Harlow – Viola
Hsiang Tu – Piano
Julie Bevan – Cello