BACKGROUND
And So Flows the River is to be released on May 19, 2023, by Flower Pot Productions. The album features lutenist Ronn McFarlane and viola da gamba player Carolyn Surrick performing an assortment of selections not usually associated with Renaissance instruments.
Both these artists have long been associated with Early Music ensembles, among them the Baltimore Consort, Ayreheart, and Ensemble Galilei. McFarlane and Surrick are joined by percussionist Yousif Sheronick.
THE MUSIC
W. Lee’s Reel – Ronn McFarlane; Gymnopédie 1 – Erik Satie; Gymnopédie 2 – Erik Satie; Sinfonia from Cantata 29 – J. S. Bach; I Wonder as I Wander – John Jacob Niles; Mrs. Judge’s Jig – Turlough O’Carolan; Hornpipe – Henry Purcell; Gymnopédie 3 – Erik Satie; Greenmount Avenue – Carolyn Surrick; Over the Rainbow – H. Arlen; Where Mountains Meet the Sky – Ronn McFarlane; Lachrymae – John Dowland; Liane’s Ocean – Carolyn Surrick; Beach Spring – Benjamin Franklin White; Miss Noble – Turlough O’Carolan; Clear Creek – Ronn McFarlane; Recercada Primera – Diego Ortiz; Recercada Segunda – Diego Ortiz; The Water is Wide / Shenandoah – Traditional
THE PERFORMANCE AND THE RECORDING
Ronn McFarlane and viola da gamba player Carolyn Surrick deliver pure musical magic with their enchantingly elegant arrangements of a tour that takes the listener from the 16th and 17th centuries of England’s John Dowland and Henry Purcell and the Spain of Diego Ortiz to their own contemporary compositions. They stop along the way to bring to life folk melodies by John Jacob Niles, a pop tune by Harold Arlen, and Irish-inflected and Early American melodies that end with a hauntingly heartfelt rendering of a medley of The Water is Wide and Shenandoah.
The album is exquisitely produced by Lindsey R. Nelson and Dan Merceruio, faultlessly engineered, mixed, and mastered by Brian Doser and Charlie Pilzer, and enriched by Carolyn Surrick’s liner notes.
Rafael de Acha © 2023
ALL ABOUT THE ARTS 
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