Nico Muhly: A Good Understanding

all concerned with this album's making convey absolute belief in the genuinely accessible, fecund, thought-provoking work of a young composer worth hearing...Muhly's hypnotic brass riffs and... — Classic FM Magazine, December 2010, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 6th Sep 2010
Catalogue No: 4782506
Label: Decca
Length: 58 minutes

Muhly: Bright Mass With Canons

Work length13:29

$3.40

$4.60

Tamara Bevard (soprano), Karen Hogle Brown (soprano), Kimo Smith (organ), Tracy Van Fleet (mezzo-soprano)
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon
Recorded: 2010-06-11
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

1. Kyrie

Track length3:24

$0.85

$1.15

2. Gloria

Track length4:11

$0.85

$1.15

3. Sanctus

Track length2:45

$0.85

$1.15

4. Agnus Dei

Track length3:09

$0.85

$1.15

Muhly: First Service

Work length8:09

$1.70

$2.30

Lesley Leighton (soprano), Kimo Smith (organ)
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon
Recorded: 2010-06-11
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

1. Magnificat

Track length5:19

$0.85

$1.15

2. Nunc Dimittis

Track length2:50

$0.85

$1.15

Muhly: Senex Puerum Portabat

Work length7:13

$0.85

$1.15

David Washburn (trumpet), Marissa Benedict (trumpet), Andrew Ulyate (trombone), Kristy Morrell (french horn), Michael Hoffmann (trombone), Alvin Veeh (trombone), Terry Cravens (trombone), Fred Greene (tuba)
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon
Recorded: 2010-06-11
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Muhly: A Good Understanding

Work length6:30

$0.85

$1.15

Kimo Smith (organ), Michael Englander (percussion)
Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Children's Choir
Grant Gershon
Recorded: 2010-06-11
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Muhly: Expecting The Main Things From You

Work length23:12

$2.55

$3.45

Joseph Mitchell (percussion), Kimo Smith (organ), Aaron Smith (percussion), Claire Fedoruk (soprano), Michael Englander (percussion), John Walz (cello), Kazi Pitelka (viola), Steve Scharf (violin), Ralph Morrison (violin), Drea Pressley (mezzo-soprano)
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon
Recorded: 2010-06-11
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

1. I Hear America Singing

Track length10:57

$0.85

$1.15

2. A Farm Picture (Interlude)

Track length4:46

$0.85

$1.15

3. Poets To Come

Track length7:29

$0.85

$1.15

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About

Decca Music Group have signed a new recording agreement with one of America’s outstanding choirs, the Los Angeles Master Chorale – described as “the most exciting chorus in the country” and “a matchlessly polished choir” (Los Angeles Times).

The choir make their Decca debut with a recording of music by America’s hottest young composer, Nico Muhly, entitled A Good Understanding.The Los Angeles Master Chorale is the resident chorus of the landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall, with its acclaimed acoustics, where the album was recorded in June 2010.

Three of the works on the disc have already received West Coast premieres from the choir including Expecting The Main Things From You, a three movement work for organ and string quartet, performed by the choir in February 2009; Bright Mass With Canons and First Service. Also included are Senex Puerum Portabat for brass and voices, and Like As The Hart, for violin percussion and voice, as well as the title track A Good Understanding.

Music Director Grant Gershon, who conducts the recording, is in his tenth season with the choir. “Nico Muhly is a brilliantly eclectic composer whose tastes… run the gamut from William Byrd to Björk, with many, many detours in transit,” states Gershon. “Nico's music is honest and sly, transcendent and earthy, radiant and austere. He writes beautifully for the voice, and his music springs off of the page with grace and unbuttoned joy. I am thrilled to be making the first major label recording of Nico's brilliant choral works, and I am especially pleased that the Los Angeles Master Chorale is creating this recording with the legendary Decca label. The partnership between Decca and the Master Chorale is a natural fit and holds exciting promise for the future.”

Reviews

December 2010

all concerned with this album's making convey absolute belief in the genuinely accessible, fecund, thought-provoking work of a young composer worth hearing...Muhly's hypnotic brass riffs and hymn-like choral writing and the wild central section of his compelling Senex puerum portabat, for example, are expertly integrated under Gershon's direction

December 2010

As he freely acknowledges in his notes, his time as a chorister influenced him profoundly...Certainly, the heritage of Howells and others is clearly audible [in the First Service], but the shimmering organ writing, haloing the choir, gives it a very particular quality...All the music receives outstandingly good performances, both precise and impassioned.

The Independent on Sunday 26th September 2010

The strongest work here is the Walt Whitman triptych "Expecting the Main Things from You", the weakest "Senex puerum portabat". Under Grant Gershon, the LA Master Chorale and Children's Chorus sing with dynamic control.

Nico Muhly: A Good Understanding

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