For the Record, Op. 324: Attacca Quartet; Keir GoGwilt; Alina Ibragimova; Owls

March 14, 2025, 11:13 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

The Attacca Quartet. Photo by David Goddard.

Ravel's String Quartet in F
Attacca Quartet
Amy Schroeder, violin
Keiko Tokunaga, violin
Nathan Schramm, viola
Andrew Yee, cello

The two-time Grammy-award winning Attacca Quartet commemorates the 150th anniversary of Ravel's birth with this recording of Ravel's String Quartet in F. Ravel’s quartet was dedicated to the pillar of French music Gabriel Fauré but modeled on a string quartet written just nine years earlier by Claude Debussy. The Attacca Quartet was formed at the Juilliard School by Amy Schroeder and Andrew Yee in 2003. BELOW: String Quartet in F Major, M. 35: II. Assez vif – très rythmé.

The Edinburgh Rollick
Ruckus Baroque band
Keir GoGwilt, violin

This album revels in the music of Niel Gow (1727-1807), Scotland’s most celebrated fiddler who is often credited with helping define and shape the distinct identity of Scottish fiddle music. "Given that Ruckus is a baroque continuo band, some of the 18th-century Italianate influences visible in Gow’s collections are baked into our sound: gut strings, short bows, and instruments like the harpsichord, baroque bassoon, and viola da gamba," said Ruckus violinist Keir GoGwilt. "Rather than accepting the notated versions in Gow’s collection as authoritative texts, we play these melodies with an ear to their cumulative historical and contemporary soundings. Precisely because these books played a significant role in the selective canonization of Scottish folk music, it has been a gratifying journey to work our way through and beyond these texts, and to find a sound unique to our own hybrid paths through these musical traditions." BELOW: a taste of Ruckus's album "The Edinburgh Rollick," from "The Jenny Nettles Set."

Schumann: Violin Sonatas
Alina Ibragimova, violin
Cédric Tiberghien, piano

Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien have recorded many works for violin and piano over their 16-year musical partnership, and for their latest collaboration they present Robert Schumann’s three violin sonatas. These works were written for and first performed by some of the leading violinists of the day, in the early 1850s. BELOW: Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105: I. Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck

Rare Birds
Owls string quaret
Alexi Kenney, violin
Ayane Kozasa, viola
Gabriel Cabezas, cello
Paul Wiancko, cello

"Owls first gathered as a nameless pick-up group in 2019 with the intention of playing a single show in New York City. It only took a few notes for us to realize how special this group was. Our guiding principle was simple: All four of us must completely love everything we play," reads a statement from the quartet. "Rare Birds" offers a new take on a seemingly familiar form, inverting the string quartet with two cellos instead of two violins, while incorporating a playful approach to repertoire curation. The six pieces on Rare Birds feature music by an eclectic range of composers, traditions, and eras including: Owls’s own Paul Wiancko; Dan Trueman and Monica Mugan folk duo Trollstilt, Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, 18th Century composer François Couperin; and progenitor of American minimalism Terry Riley. BELOW: Paul Wiancko's "Vox Petra"

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.

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