BMOP/sound Releases Eric Nathan: The Space of a Door Album

Eric Nathan: The Space of a Door

Composer: Eric Nathan (b.1983)

Release Date: May 19, 2020

TRT: 60:08

Works: Paestum for Orchestra (2013), Omaggio a Gesualdo (2013 rev. 2017), the space of a door (2016), Timbered Bells (2011), Missing Words I (2014), Icarus Dreamt (2008), Paestum for Sinfonietta (2013)

Performers: Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), led by Gil Rose (conductor)

Boston, MA (For Release 05.19.20) — Known as the nation’s foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music, Grammy Award-winning BMOP/sound today announced the release of Eric Nathan: the space of a door, led by conductor Gil Rose and performed by the intrepid Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). In this portrait album of the composer’s orchestral and large ensemble music, Nathan proves he is one of today’s must-hear new American voices.

Nathan serves as David S. Josephson Assistant Professor of Music in composition and theory at Brown University's Department of Music. He is also Composer-in-Residence with the New England Philharmonic. His music has been called “as diverse as it is arresting” with a “constant vein of ingenuity and expressive depth” (San Francisco Chronicle), “thoughtful and inventive” (The New Yorker), and as “a marvel of musical logic” (Boston Classical Review). According to the composer, his compositions are like children “that go off into the world and grow into their own selves. I learn from them and hope they continue to surprise me. Great joy comes from witnessing what they become.”

This album frames a body of work that spans eight years (2008-2016), from Nathan’s student days to the present. The most recent piece is the album’s eponymous track, the space of a door. Dedicated to the composer’s mentor Steven Stucky, it was premiered in 2016 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Often inspired by engaging with old places such as historic churches, cathedrals or concert halls, Nathan’s creative energy was sparked for the space of a door by the Providence Athenaeum built in 1836. “Mr. Nathan’s cinematic the space of a door directly borrows from Brahms, taking its opening gesture from the motif that starts the Second Symphony. Rich with asynchronous strings, and full of light and shade, it hurtles toward a nostalgic end. Engaging, from a voice we will hear more of.” (The New York Times)

About BMOP/sound         
BMOP/sound, BMOP’s independent record label, was created in 2008 to provide a platform for BMOP’s extensive archive of music, as well as to provide widespread, top-quality, permanent access to both classics of the 20th century and the music of today’s most innovative composers.

BMOP/sound has garnered praise from the national and international press. It is the recipient of a 2020 Grammy Award for Tobias Picker: Fantastic Mr. Fox as well as eight Grammy Award nominations, and its releases have appeared on the year-end “Best of” lists of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Time Out New York, American Record Guide, DownBeat, WBUR, NewMusicBox, and others. Admired, praised, and sought after by artists, presenters, critics, and audiophiles, BMOP and BMOP/sound are uniquely positioned to redefine the new music concert and recording experience. Launched in 2019, BMOP's digital radio station, BMOP/radio, streams BMOP/sound's entire catalog and airs special programming. BMOPsound.org

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