Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS) celebrates some of the most world’s most popular contemporary composers in its first-ever CD. The new disc is titled A Place Between, and features world première recordings of works by John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Valentin Silvestrov, Alexander Knaifel as well as pieces by Henryk Górecki and John Cage. All of these composers have, in various ways, been deeply influenced by profound spiritual, religious or cultural encounters. The CD, which is released on the Society’s Louth Sounds record label on 1 May 2009, comes in a beautiful limited edition release.
The new release features a number of world renowned performers including the soprano Patricia Rozario, the Callino Quartet, pianist Michael McHale, violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan, flautist Vourneen Ryan and percussionist Stephen Kelly. The recordings were made in the acoustically superb historic setting of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland in Drogheda, and the mixing, mastering and editing were carried out in the state-of-the-art Rainbow Studios in Oslo. A Place Between will be available for purchase both as a CD and online at the iTunes Store and CD Baby from 1 May 2009.
The CD intersperses, to wonderful effect, beautiful works for string quartet (Silvestrov's meditative “Ikon”, Tavener's deeply moving “Ikon of Joy/Sorrow," Pärt's reflective “Da Pacem Domine”) with two solo piano works (Pärt's uplifting “Hymn to a Great City," Cage’s melodic and expressive “In a Landscape”). Górecki's memorial for Michael Vyner "Good Night" and Knaifel’s mystical “O Heavenly King” both feature the haunting voice of soprano Patricia Rozario. Silvestrov's 25.X.1893 lullaby is a melancholic and lyrical piece for violin and piano.
The English composer John Tavener’s (b. 1944) The Ikon of Joy/Sorrow (1999), a first recording, is a beautifully evocative short instrumental piece that opens the recording.
Arvo Pärt’s (b. 1935) Da Pacem Domine, which began life in 2004 as a vocal setting gets a first recording in a version for string quartet by the acclaimed Callino Quartet. Hymn to a Great City is scored for two pianos (double-tracked for this CD recorded by Michael McHale, winner of the Terence Judd/Hallé Award 2009), and was written in 1984 as a tribute to New York.
The Polish composer Henryk Górecki's (b. 1933) Good Night (1990) is a requiem in memory of Michael Vyner, the artistic director of the London Sinfonietta. Scored for soprano, alto flute, piano and three low-pitched gongs it is meditation on death and dying that evokes an ecstatic timelessness that has been described as "saintly stillness." Only in the last movement does the soprano sing the words that the music has already been implying. Magnificently sung here by Patricia Rozario, the final moments of the third movement are indeed chilling.
Like Pärt and Górecki, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937) has attracted increasing attention in the west. Arvo Pärt has declared that Silvestrov is “undoubtedly the most interesting composer of today, even if the majority is sure to understand that much later on.” Silvestrov’s view that “music is not a philosophy, but a song sung by the world about itself, a sort of a musical testimony of existence” — is embodied in the first recording of the subtle counterpoint of Ikon for string quartet performed by the Callino Quartet, and in the Lullaby from 25.X.1893 ... in memoriam P. I. Tch (2004), a memorial to Tchaikovsky performed here by Ioana Petcu-Colan and Michael McHale.
Alexander Knaifel's (b. 1943) O Heavenly King (1994) is a setting of a hymn to the Holy Spirit. This version recorded for the first time for celeste/piano, string quartet and voice is performed as an inner, personal meditation reflecting the hymn’s embodiment of the Holy Spirit as the comforter.
The beauty inherent in Californian composer John Cage's (1912–92) nine-minute piano piece In a Landscape (1948) performed here by Michael McHale is simply startling.
A Place Between is presented with funding from the Music Network/Arts Council Music ~Recording Scheme 2008, and financially supported by Drogheda Arts Office, Louth County Arts Office and Dundalk Arts Office.
For more information and sound samples go to www.louthcms.org or http://cdbaby.com/cd/aplacebetween
The new release features a number of world renowned performers including the soprano Patricia Rozario, the Callino Quartet, pianist Michael McHale, violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan, flautist Vourneen Ryan and percussionist Stephen Kelly. The recordings were made in the acoustically superb historic setting of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland in Drogheda, and the mixing, mastering and editing were carried out in the state-of-the-art Rainbow Studios in Oslo. A Place Between will be available for purchase both as a CD and online at the iTunes Store and CD Baby from 1 May 2009.
The CD intersperses, to wonderful effect, beautiful works for string quartet (Silvestrov's meditative “Ikon”, Tavener's deeply moving “Ikon of Joy/Sorrow," Pärt's reflective “Da Pacem Domine”) with two solo piano works (Pärt's uplifting “Hymn to a Great City," Cage’s melodic and expressive “In a Landscape”). Górecki's memorial for Michael Vyner "Good Night" and Knaifel’s mystical “O Heavenly King” both feature the haunting voice of soprano Patricia Rozario. Silvestrov's 25.X.1893 lullaby is a melancholic and lyrical piece for violin and piano.
The English composer John Tavener’s (b. 1944) The Ikon of Joy/Sorrow (1999), a first recording, is a beautifully evocative short instrumental piece that opens the recording.
Arvo Pärt’s (b. 1935) Da Pacem Domine, which began life in 2004 as a vocal setting gets a first recording in a version for string quartet by the acclaimed Callino Quartet. Hymn to a Great City is scored for two pianos (double-tracked for this CD recorded by Michael McHale, winner of the Terence Judd/Hallé Award 2009), and was written in 1984 as a tribute to New York.
The Polish composer Henryk Górecki's (b. 1933) Good Night (1990) is a requiem in memory of Michael Vyner, the artistic director of the London Sinfonietta. Scored for soprano, alto flute, piano and three low-pitched gongs it is meditation on death and dying that evokes an ecstatic timelessness that has been described as "saintly stillness." Only in the last movement does the soprano sing the words that the music has already been implying. Magnificently sung here by Patricia Rozario, the final moments of the third movement are indeed chilling.
Like Pärt and Górecki, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937) has attracted increasing attention in the west. Arvo Pärt has declared that Silvestrov is “undoubtedly the most interesting composer of today, even if the majority is sure to understand that much later on.” Silvestrov’s view that “music is not a philosophy, but a song sung by the world about itself, a sort of a musical testimony of existence” — is embodied in the first recording of the subtle counterpoint of Ikon for string quartet performed by the Callino Quartet, and in the Lullaby from 25.X.1893 ... in memoriam P. I. Tch (2004), a memorial to Tchaikovsky performed here by Ioana Petcu-Colan and Michael McHale.
Alexander Knaifel's (b. 1943) O Heavenly King (1994) is a setting of a hymn to the Holy Spirit. This version recorded for the first time for celeste/piano, string quartet and voice is performed as an inner, personal meditation reflecting the hymn’s embodiment of the Holy Spirit as the comforter.
The beauty inherent in Californian composer John Cage's (1912–92) nine-minute piano piece In a Landscape (1948) performed here by Michael McHale is simply startling.
A Place Between is presented with funding from the Music Network/Arts Council Music ~Recording Scheme 2008, and financially supported by Drogheda Arts Office, Louth County Arts Office and Dundalk Arts Office.
For more information and sound samples go to www.louthcms.org or http://cdbaby.com/cd/aplacebetween
