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Special offer. Jonathan Harvey: Madonna of Winter & Spring

Peter Prommel (percussion), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (soprano)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Peter Eötvös, George Benjamin

This is an impressive disc indeed: a strong cast, a varied programme, and music of great integrity and beauty. In relation to many British scores that have garnered recent critical praise, Harvey...

Special offer. Jonathan Harvey: Madonna of Winter & Spring

Peter Prommel (percussion), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (soprano)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Peter Eötvös, George Benjamin

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This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now lossless, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit
This is an impressive disc indeed: a strong cast, a varied programme, and music of great integrity and beauty. In relation to many British scores that have garnered recent critical praise, Harvey...

About

Contents and tracklist

Conflict
Track length7:46
Descent
Track length6:02
Depths
Track length4:36
Mary
Track length17:27
This track is only available as an album download.
I. First Movement
Track length13:14
This track is only available as an album download.
II. Second Movement
Track length4:39
III. Third Movement
Track length5:27
First Song
Track length2:37
Second Song
Track length2:37
Third Song
Track length5:46
Fourth Song
Track length7:29

Awards and reviews

2010

This is an impressive disc indeed: a strong cast, a varied programme, and music of great integrity and beauty. In relation to many British scores that have garnered recent critical praise, Harvey more than holds his own. The three pieces – two of them recorded here for the first time – date from the 1980s and 90s. Each introduces a 'foreign' element to the orchestra in a slightly different way. There are elements of the competitive streak between soloist and orchestra in the Percussion Concerto; in Song Offerings relations between the two elements are more symbiotic, as one might expect; but in Madonna of Winterand Spring, the most extended piece here, the 'foreign' element is assumed by synthesisers and electronics. This piece, in particular, sums up Harvey's preoccupations: the interaction of the different media, and the programmatic elements derived from the composer's faith.
At intervals the orchestra recedes, creating electro- acoustic 'windows' reminiscent of similarly mixed-media scores (Birtwistle and Boulez come to mind); at others, individual instruments appear in a quasi-soloistic context, adding an extra dimension to the texture. Moreover, the quality of these interpretations gives this recording a special appeal. The electro-acoustic element is well captured, and conveys something of the spatial imaging mentioned in the composer's insert-notes.
All three pieces receive committed, dynamic interpretations: if only contemporary music could always enjoy such advocacy.

...this is an important disc by any standards..

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