℗ 2024 LAWO Classics
| Released | February 9, 2024 |
| Duration | 54m 40s |
| Record Label | Lawo Classics |
| Catalogue No. | LWC1275 |
| Genre | Classical (Modern Composition) |
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Four Tchaikovsky Sketches
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1.1
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No. 1
Olav Anton Thommessen; POING |
3:35 | |||
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1.2
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No. 2
Olav Anton Thommessen; POING |
5:14 | |||
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1.3
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No. 3
Olav Anton Thommessen; POING |
5:20 | |||
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1.4
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No. 4
Olav Anton Thommessen; POING |
7:16 | |||
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Symphony No. 6 (Arr. for saxophone, accordion and double bass by POING)
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1.5
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III. Scherzo, Wuchtig
Gustav Mahler; POING |
14:37 | |||
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Mahler Mixtape
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1.6
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I. A Beautiful Day
Eivind Buene; POING |
2:53 | |||
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1.7
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II. Welt
Eivind Buene; POING; Eivind Buene |
3:28 | |||
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1.8
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III. Crazy Weather
Eivind Buene; POING; Eivind Buene |
5:49 | |||
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1.9
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IV. Blue Eyes
Eivind Buene; POING |
3:21 | |||
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1.10
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V. The Dead of Night
Eivind Buene; POING |
3:07 | |||
On the album Almost Classic, POING visits the classical repertoire: Music by Mahler and Tchaikovsky is treated in different ways in its own arrangements, and through recompositions by contemporary composers Olav Anton Thommessen and Eivind Buene. In Eivind Buene's Mahler Mixtapes, Mahler's songs are sung in ordinary voices by the musicians in the trio, far removed from the classical lied tradition.
POING has arranged the scherzo movement from Mahler's 6th symphony himself: Here they show ingenuity and playfulness in meeting the greatest symphonic composer in history. Folk music elements approach folk music again, and playing techniques from modern music are interwoven to give richness of sound in this work where three musicians alone perform music written for a large orchestra.
Olav Anton Thommessen's Four Tchaikovsky Sketches was composed for POING. Thommessen himself writes about this highly virtuosic work: "During 1891, the break between Tchaikovsky and his benefactor Nadezda von Meck was a fact. Although he no longer needed her financial support, the break was a sign that he could no longer hide his sexual orientation , and that his reputation was in danger. This resulted in him stopping work on three major works: the tone poem Voyevoda, the third piano concerto, and the 'seventh' symphony in Eb major."
Through three fast and dramatic scherzo movements, Thommessen is inspired by the great personal crisis linked to Tchaikovsky's approach, and unfinished works by the composer from the same period. In the last movement, the mood is completely different, it appears as a meditation on Tchaikovsky's two important contributions to the Orthodox church song: opus 41 St. Johannes Chrysostomos and opus 52 Vespers.
POING - consisting of Håkon Thelin (double bass), Frode Haltli (accordion) and Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (alto saxophone) - started playing together in 1999, and this year celebrates its 25th anniversary! Since the beginning, they have been one of the world's leading ensembles for contemporary music with over 150 first performances, but are also unique in their cross-genre activity.
96 kHz / 24-bit PCM – Lawo Classics Studio Masters
| Track title | Peak (dB FS) | RMS (dB FS) | LUFS (integrated) | DR | |
Album average Range of values | -3.88 -6.65 to -0.32 | -23.33 -24.46 to -21.71 | -20.41 -22.00 to -18.40 | 12 10 to 14 | |
| 1 | No. 1 | -0.32 | -21.71 | -18.7 | 14 |
| 2 | No. 2 | -0.33 | -23.76 | -20.9 | 14 |
| 3 | No. 3 | -5.18 | -24.46 | -22.0 | 13 |
| 4 | No. 4 | -4.55 | -24.15 | -21.1 | 12 |
| 5 | III. Scherzo, Wuchtig | -1.59 | -23.21 | -19.9 | 14 |
| 6 | I. A Beautiful Day | -5.18 | -23.94 | -20.5 | 11 |
| 7 | II. Welt | -6.61 | -23.87 | -21.7 | 10 |
| 8 | III. Crazy Weather | -3.05 | -21.75 | -18.4 | 11 |
| 9 | IV. Blue Eyes | -6.65 | -23.97 | -21.2 | 11 |
| 10 | V. The Dead of Night | -5.31 | -22.48 | -19.7 | 10 |