Sphinx Virtuosi’s latest release, American Mirror (Deutsche Grammophon), brings together seven works by American composers with sharply defined musical voices. Throughout the album, the music takes shape through clear ideas and compelling rhythmic grooves.
Quenton Blache’s “Habari Gani” opens the album with violins rising in celebration. Dancing patterns over a shifting harmonic landscape propel the music with purpose and warmth. An air of joyous pomp here announces the ensemble’s collective presence.
Derrick Skye’s “American Mirror, Pt. 1” begins with quiet simplicity, an expectant drone evoking a pastoral America. The work soon reveals a more layered texture. Gentle chorale harmonies give the impression of many voices synchronizing at subtle rhythmic offsets. Shades of sadness and mourning arise, then fade. Melodic lines unfold in simple shapes, marked by subtle turns and inflections rather than broad gestures. Dialogues unfold between soloists, ebbing and flowing. By the end, the music achieves resolution through its rhythmic insistence and clear melodic direction. Yet the final chord arrives abruptly, leaving the music open in a way that feels deliberate rather than incomplete, as if Skye is posing a question to the listener.
Curtis Stewart’s “Drill for Prepared Drumset and Strings” brings new energy to the album, providing forward drive and near-breakneck momentum. A sense of wit and subtle delight courses through intertwining drum and string textures. The juxtaposition of spacious moments with dense, almost claustrophobic ones accentuates the piece’s humor and structural rigor. Toward the end, the music breaks into a fuller, more raucous expression, suggesting how electrifying this work would feel in live performance.
Juantio Becenti’s “Hané” introduces a darker hue, somber and deliberate. In moments when larger gestures briefly emerge, they seem somehow both inevitable and tenuous. Its second section erupts into frenetic, fragmented material before receding into a delicate dance. This moment of respite feels lush yet light. But the music’s calm never fully settles as the momentum builds again, leaving the listener with a stark, cautionary conclusion — an uncommon but effective ending.
Andrea Casarrubios’s “Herencia” begins with a lament. The harmony carries a subtle tartness in its dissonances, balanced against larger arcs that rise and fall. A groove arrives in the second part, giving the piece a sense of urgent purpose as multiple layers of string lines coalesce into a singular gesture. Later, wordless vocals enter with softness that yields depth, an ancestral voice resonating within the ensemble. The concluding dance combines deliberation with frenetic motion, its tremolo-driven energy achieving hard-won resolution.
Stewart’s “Invention #1: Double Down for Two Violins” foregrounds conversation. The two violins engage in close counterpoint that feels familiar yet fresh, as if long-ingrained musical camaraderie were behind every exchange. Stewart’s knowledge of violin technique is on display here, lending heft to textures far beyond the ostensible limitations of a violin duet. At moments, the effect calls to mind incantatory strains, here rendered with kinetic momentum and vivid interaction.
The final work on the album comes from Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: his “Sinfonietta No. 2 ‘Generations.’” Perkinson wrote the piece in 1996, describing it as a connection to his family, past and present. Its four movements work through recurring material drawn from traditional sources, shaped by a steady, practiced hand. The piece is mindful of its cultural inheritance without ever sinking into nostalgia. Closing the album, it looks backward and forward at the same time.
Across American Mirror, the Sphinx Virtuosi realize diverse idioms with a unified ensemble voice. Forward motion and clarity bind the album’s varied parts. The Sphinx Virtuosi shape each work with balance and intent, keeping the larger arc in view. The result is a recording that rewards both sustained attention and repeated listening.
