HENRY THACKER BURLEIGH (1866-1949): Plantation Melodies, Old and New, FLORENCE PRICE (1887-1953): 5 Folksongs in Counterpoint, LIBBY LARSEN (b.1950): Sorrow Song and Jubilee, ERBERK ERYILMAZ (b.1989): Thracian Airs of Besime Sultan, HAJIME KOMATSU (b.19??): 4 Japanese Folk Songs, MARTY REGAN (b.1972): Splash of Indigo (all World Premiere Recordings).

Description: This odd mixture is easily explained: the performers here have commissioned the Larsen, Eryilmaz and Regan works as part of a project to have 20 new pieces inspired by folk music written for them by the year 2020. Larsen uses African-American spirituals; Regan Japanese folk music meeting French Impressionism and Eryimaz folk music of Thrace and of the Roma people. These are joined by black composers Burleigh’s 1901 pair of melodies and Price’s 1951 settings of well-known folk songs and contemporary Japanese composer Komatsu’s equivalent suite from 1996. Apollo Chamber Players.