Catalogue

Summary:

“Epic … with thrilling orchestral textures … Riveting”  ★★★★  - BBC Music magazine

“… there can be no doubting the intent of his musical vision or of the commitment that the Northwest Sinfonia has invested into this music under the assured direction of Clyde Mitchell – heard to advantage in a spacious but never unfocused acoustic” – Gramophone

“Having now listened to the Nickel Symphony No. 2 numerous times and having come to enjoy and appreciate it more and more with each listening … an intensely focused and powerful 53-minute work… listening to it is a rewarding experience, and although it is an intense experience, it can be an uplifting, energizing experience. A stretching experience, if you will.” – Karl W. Nehring – Classical Candor

“… The music is tightly woven and hangs together sturdily. There is no dwindling of vitality across these 53 minutes…”  – Rob Barnett, MusicWebInternational.com

“… the conclusion has an intriguing mix of triumph and unease that recapitulates the various harmonic developments over the course of the work… The Northwest Symphony (it is the U.S. Pacific Northwest that is meant) was involved in the symphony’s genesis and plays the work confidently and cleanly…” – James Manheim, AllMusic.com

Vast, deep and emotional are apt descriptions of the single-movement, 53-minute-long Symphony No. 2 by Christopher Tyler Nickel. The award-winning Canadian composer elaborates, “One can think of this music as consisting of mirrors between ideas that equally disturb yet entice. Each side of the reflection is in itself conceivably valid, but when facing each other friction and dissonance are created. The exquisitely alluring and the grotesque exist simultaneously. Perhaps another way to understand the symphony is as a meditation on the state of cognitive dissonance.” The entrepreneurial Clyde Mitchell conducts the Seattle-based Northwest Sinfonia on this world-premiere recording.

critical acclaim for Christopher Tyler Nickel

“Nickel’s music is full of life: imagination, invention, variation … This is composition at its best – arresting and masterful.” (The Whole Note)

“the athleticism of both Nickel’s music and the performers is exhilarating … The orchestral writing is strikingly beautiful” (MusicWeb International on Christopher Tyler Nickel’s Concertos for Oboe)

“An enjoyable and skillful set of neoclassic concertos for anyone” (AllMusic on Christopher Tyler Nickel’s Concertos for Oboe)

Also available: two single excerpts (click to listen):

Tracklist:

CHRISTOPHER TYLER NICKEL (b. 1978)

Symphony No. 2 (2016, rev. 2018)
1. I. Grave – Andante – Grave – Mysterioso – Fatalistically – Grave (53.00)

Total time: 53.00

Recorded 5 November 2019
St. Thomas Chapel at Bastyr University, Kenmore, Washington, USA
Producer: Christopher Tyler Nickel
Balance Engineer: David Sabee
Second Engineer: Brooke Vlahos
Mixing and Mastering: Vince Renaud