Old and new sounds collide—and merge into a musical universe that is as radical as it is poetic. The album "Continuum XXI – Music of Extremes" combines Baroque masterpieces and contemporary compositions played on historical instruments, continuing an idea that the ensemble has pursued since its founding: understanding tradition in order to make the present audible.
At the center is the tension between opposites: anger and fragility, order and chaos, silence and eruptive sound. Telemann meets Ligeti, Monteverdi meets Lazkano, Rebel meets Berio – connected by a common aesthetic attitude. Mechanical soundscapes, microtonal nuances, physical noisiness, and expressive affects condense into a dialogue spanning centuries. Works such as Ligeti's Continuum and Alberto Arroyo's MELODIA MECHANICA II push the harpsichord to its physical limits, while Monteverdi's Entrata e ballo and Telemann's Trio Sonata shed new light on Baroque expressiveness.
A special element of the album are the lyrical interventions by Friedrich Hausen, which give the musical extremes an additional poetic perspective: texts that expand, reflect, or refract sound and open up new approaches for the listener.
Continuum XXI, with its unusual instrumentation of recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord, is one of the most innovative European ensembles for historical instruments. International awards, world premieres by renowned composers, and interdisciplinary collaborations characterize its work.
The album “Continuum XXI – Music of Extremes” is an expression of this artistic vision: a bold statement for the sensuality of sound, the power of experimentation, and the vitality of music that carries both the past and the future within it.
Programme
Continuum XXI – Music of Extremes
Early & Contemporary Music on Historical Instruments
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)
Trio Sonata in D minor TWV 42:d 10
arranged for recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, archlute/baroque guitar, and percussion
[01] I. Allegro
[02] II. Adagio
[03] III. Allegro
[04] IV. Presto
[05] Interlude I: Improvisation on one single tone – Omaggio a Giacinto Scelsi *
for recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, and electronics
Alberto Arroyo (*1989)
[06] Qué extraño pájaro (2025) *
for recorder, viola da gamba, harpsichord, and archlute
György Ligeti (1923–2006)
[07] Continuum (1968)
for solo harpsichord
[08] Interlude II
José Mª Sánchez-Verdú (*1968)
[09] El laberinto de Dédalo (2023–24)
for recorder, Baroque violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord
Luciano Berio (1925–2003)
[10] Gesti (1966)
for recorder solo
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666–1747)
[11] Le Cahos
arranged for recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, archlute, and percussion
Alberto Arroyo (*1989)
[12] MELODIA MECHANICA II (2025) *
for recorder, Baroque violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord
[13] Interlude III *
Ramón Lazkano (*1968)
[14] Ibaiadar 2 (2021) *
for solo baroque violin
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
[15] Entrata e ballo
arranged for recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, archlute, and percussion
Total time: 65:29
* World premiere recordings
Continuum XXI
Moisés Maroto, recorder
Adrián Pineda, Baroque violin
Marina Cabello, Viola da Gamba
Darío Tamayo, harpsichord
Rafael Arjona (guest), archlute & baroque guitar
Daniel Garay (guest), historical percussion
Alberto Arroyo, Artistic Director
Ferdinand Vicončaij, author and voice [Interlude I, II, III]
Ziggy Docherty Sanchez, vocals [Interlude I, II, III]
Sandra Lanuza & Vasily Ratmansky, Electronics [Interlude I]
Arrangements by Moisés Maroto
Biographies
Continuum XXI
Creating a new repertoire for historical instruments. Understanding tradition and approaching the avant-garde. Collaborating with contemporary composers and artists from other disciplines. Rediscovering historical instruments and exploring their limits. Questioning and understanding humanity in all its facets. These are some of the goals we pursue at Continuum XXI when we perform early and contemporary music.
Alberto Arroyo (Artistic Director of Continuum XXI)
Since its founding, the ensemble has combined contemporary repertoire with works from the Middle Ages, the Baroque and the Renaissance in its concerts throughout Europe. With its original instrumentation of recorder, baroque violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord, it has premiered pieces of different aesthetics and formats (electronics, video, poetry, improvisation), demonstrating the ensemble's wide range of expressive possibilities.
Continuum XXI has premiered works written for historical instruments, including compositions by Peter Ablinger, Raphaël Cendo, José M. Sánchez-Verdú, Hanna Eimermacher, Eloain Lovis Hübner, Alberto Bernal, Helga Arias, and Ramón Lazkano. Continuum XXI has won important prizes and scholarships, including Podium Gegenwart (German Music Council), #MusikerZukunft (German Orchestra Foundation), and is a member of the ULYSSES Platform, a European network for contemporary music. Continuum XXI has performed at major festivals and venues throughout Europe, including the European Center for the Arts Hellerau, the cresc... Biennale for Contemporary Music in Frankfurt (together with IEMA), the Guggenheim Museum, the Kühlhaus Berlin, cercle – concert series for new music in Vienna, and with the Divertimento Ensemble in Milan.
A special feature of the ensemble are interdisciplinary projects in which early and contemporary music enter into dialogue with other art forms: dance (dancers from the Berlin State Ballet), performance and music theater (AuditivVokal Dresden, Sophie Negoïta, theatrale subversion), electronics, video and visual arts (Romy Rexheuser, Joan Gómez Alemany), poetry, lyrics and philosophy (Friedrich Hausen, Kathrin Assauer). Educational projects such as “InTrance!” are also an important part of the ensemble's activities. Research projects such as those on the Arciorgano (a 16th-century microtonal organ) and collaboration with the archives of the SLUB (Saxon State and University Library) in Dresden are also part of the ensemble's work.
Continuum XXI won the CESAR-Etopia Labs 2020 residency and released the interdisciplinary work Continuum XXI: TRACES with visual artist and composer Joan Gómez Alemany. The ensemble was also interviewed on the Música viva podcast (RNE) and in the online magazine Sul Ponticello, and was selected for the renowned Libro de Oro de la Música Española (Melómano). It has been supported by institutions such as the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the German Music Council, the Music Fund, the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, Sparkasse Dresden, Klangnetz Dresden, CESAR-Etopia Labs, SLUB Dresden, Kühlhaus Berlin, etc.
More information
Catalogue number: NEOS 22502
EAN: 4260063225024
