Three Tributes features three works by award-winning composers Kevin Puts, Andrea Clearfield and Gunther Schuller. The album was commissioned by Robert and James Freeman as a way of honouring their family’s musical legacy, which spans three generations...

This album was commissioned by fellow musicians (and brothers) Robert and James Freeman as a way of honouring their family’s musical legacy, which spans three generations. Their parents, Henry and Florence Knope Freeman, were both children of musicians and graduated from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester in 1930.

Tree Tributes, on paper, sounds a rather odd idea (dare I say, vanity project) for an album. Here two brothers commission three composers to write three works that pay tribute to their grandparents, their parents and themselves... and then credit the album under their own names. How self indulgent is that?, you could be forgiven for thinking. And why didn't they write their own music?

It's not overly important that you know the background to the project in order to enjoy these pieces. However, once you read the accompanying booklet and get to know the family a little better, you will come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of what the composers have crafted.

Three Tributes opens with Kevin Puts's Quintet for Piano and Strings: “The Red Snapper” (2005) which is a traditional work as is Andrea Clearfield's Romanza for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (2007).

The first movement of Puts's "The Red Snapper", 'Molto Adagio', is heart wrenchingly beautiful, carrying this album's heart and soul. Andrea Clearfield's Romanza for Violin and Chamber Orchestra is a little more measured and balanced, whilst adding a little chaos into the mix.

However, Gunther Schuller's Sonata for Two Pianos, Four Hands (2010) is a little more experimental and slightly off-kilter. I wasn't really a fan of this part of the recording as I tend to listen to classical music to be enriched emotionally, not annoyed. I understand it as an art form - I just found it painful to listen to.

That said, this is a wonderfully diverse and layered collection of pieces and should find a welcome home in the collection of any lover of chamber orchestra performances.

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Darren Rea