After 2 consecutive intense days at the Canterbury Music Company, my recording sessions with the Odin Quartet are now complete!

The Odin Quartet recording compositions by Frank Horvat for the From Oblivion to Hope album at Canterbury Music in Toronto.

Album Recording Team: Matt Antal (viola), Samuel Bisson (cello), Frank Horvat (composer), Tanya Charles Iveniuk (violin), Alex Toskov (violin)

Along with one day of recording in July, we’ve collectively recorded 9 of my compositions for string quartet that will make up an album called ‘From Oblivion to Hope’.

Odin Quartet recording Frank Horvat's The Four Seasons...in High Park.

Odin Quartet at Canterbury Music recording session for Frank Horvat's The Four Seasons...in High Park.

Odin Quartet and composer Frank Horvat

Odin Quartet and composer Frank Horvat

The album will have a serious and pessimistic tone to start. But, as we go from piece to piece, the tone will evolve to something more optimistic, ending with the heartfelt work, Hope. The idea of going from the negative to the positive is a mindset and a mental health issue I’m very fascinated by these days especially in the context of the pandemic and its outcomes.

All this would not be possible without the support of FACTOR and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Recording this album is just one part of a multi-phase project with Odin. It was a pleasure to attend their Music Mondays concert in September where they presented the world premiere performance of Hope, a work Odin commissioned dedicated to the idea that our collective humanity still has much to feel optimism about, despite our many current challenges. I’m grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for funding Odin’s commission of this work.

My composition, ‘The Four Seasons…in High Park’ will be the centrepiece of the album. So we’ve devised a plan to make music videos for each of the 4 movements, filming right in picturesque High Park, in each of the 4 seasons, to celebrate the beauty of the varied nature that Toronto is blessed to have access to.

I have been fortunate to have composed a lot for string quartet music over the years. I love the possibilities sonority-wise and rhythmically. I love Odin’s no-musical-barriers/limitations spirit. They’re quality musicians and fine human beings so it’s no surprise that we have already produced some amazing music together.

We’re hoping to start filming in High Park this winter, plus more filming, live performances and album and video releases scattered throughout 2023 and 2024. Stay tuned to my social media channels, my blog posts and my e-newsletter for updates on our progress.