The String Orchestra of Brooklyn release their debut album, Afterimage, via Furious Artisans. The album features works by Christopher Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Niccolò Paganini and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi...

Afterimage contains 4 works (49 min, 28 sec) and the the main thing that unites all four of these very different compositions is they're all hauntingly beautiful.

Christopher Cerrone's 'High Windows' (2013) was inspired by the windows of St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn, the space in which the piece was first performed, and also refers to a Philip Larkin poem in which the author sums up the tumult of his youth.

Jacob Cooper's 'Stabat Mater Dolorosa' (2009) was inspired by the composers fascination of empirical studies that suggest we experience an extreme slowing-down of time at the moment of (near-) death. This concept of temporal hyper-magnification has been transformed to music, using a time-stretched version of the first movement of Pergolesi’s 1736 'Stabat Mater' as a point of departure. This is by far the most... I hesitate to say "frightening" as that's too simplistic a word. It's more a haunting piece that puts you face to face with your own mortality, in quite an eerie, yet beautiful way.

Niccolò Paganini's 'Caprice No. 6 In G Minor "The Trill" (1820) was the basis for elements of 'High Windows' and finally Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's 'Stabat Mater, I. "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" (1736)', was the main musical inspiration for Cooper's 'Stabat Mater Dolorosa'. It's based on the 13th Century Christian hymn 'Stabat Mater', which portrays Mary's grief as her son, Jesus Christ, suffers during his crucifixion.

It's quite simply one of the most life-affirming works of art I've heard in a long time.

Track listing:

01 - High Windows (2013) - Christopher Cerrone
Argus Quartet
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn
Eli Spindel (conductor)
Commissioned by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn and Toomai String Quintet

02 - Stabat Mater Dolorosa (2009) - Jacob Cooper
Mellissa Hughes (soprano), Kate Maroney (mezzo-soprano)
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn
Eli Spindel (conductor)

03 - Caprice No. 6 In G Minor "The Trill" (1820) - Niccolò Paganini
Rachel Lee Priday (violin)

04 - Stabat Mater, I. "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" (1736) - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Mellissa Hughes (soprano), Kate Maroney (mezzo-soprano)
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn
Eli Spindel (conductor)

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Darren Rea