A collection of chamber works spanning the range of Jonathan Harvey‘s creative vocabulary. The album opens with the exuberant Dutch group Het Trio performing The Riot (an anagram of their name). An explosion of energy and colours with jazzy overtones. This is followed by Nachtlied for soprano, piano and tape, featuring legendary soprano Jane Manning and pianist David Mason. A meditative work, based on writings by Goethe and Rudolf Steiner, representing the soul’s nightly journey towards spiritual light and back. A painting by Turner ‘Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm’ is the inspiration for the next piece. Performed by the Belgian group Ensemble Musique Nouvelle including live electronics and synthesizers, the work, like the painting, is a continuous shifting of light and colours. The album ends with a tape piece Mythic Figures which brings together all the electronic techniques used by Harvey in previous works like Mortuos Plango, Bhakti, Song Offerings and others. Originally written for Michelle Anne de Mey‘s dance company, it is a regrouping of the ‘Mythic Figures’ that inhabit Harvey’s past creations. Outstanding performances and sublime music make this album a Harvey must-have.
Credits:
Ensemble Musique Nouvelle – Het Trio – Jane Manning: soprano – David Mason: piano
The Riot and Nachtlied recorded at the Royal College of Music studios – London. Engineer: Rolf Schamberger
Valley of Aosta recorded at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liege – Belgium. Engineer: Nicolas Bartholomee
‘Mythic Figures’ recorded at IRCAM – Paris. Engineer: Sebastien Naves
Produced by Jonathan Harvey – All music published by Faber Music
TRACK LIST:
1. THE RIOT (7:46)
2. NACHTLIED (25:32)
3. VALLEY OF AOSTA (13:26)
4. MYTHIC FIGURES (8:33)
Also available as downloads:
