Birds of Paradise

The hazy beauty of the opener...and the ecstatic beauty of its soprano solo by Grace Davidson, sets the tone for a programme unified by close-knit choral blend, soft-focus at its edges, and a... — Gramophone Magazine, March 2016 More…

Release Date: 11th Dec 2015
Catalogue No: KTC1529
Label: Etcetera

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Harvey, J: Song of June

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Berg: Die Nachtigall

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Schmitt, F: La Mort du Rossignol

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Finzi: Nightingales (No. 5 from Seven Partsongs - Poems by Robert Bridges, Op. 17)

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Mendelssohn: Die Waldvogelein (No. 4 from Lieder für gemischten Chor, Op. 88)

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Vaughan Williams: The Turtle Dove

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Schumann: Mondnacht (No. 5 from Liederkreis, Op. 39)

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Cox, D: The Crow

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Rheinberger: Abendfriede

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Stanford: The Blue Bird, Op. 119 No. 3

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Humperdinck: Frühlingssehnsucht

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Hindemith: Un Cigne

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Brahms: Waldesnacht, Op. 62 No. 3

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Ravel: Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis (No. 2 from Trois chansons, M69)

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Wilkinson, S: The lark in the clear air

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

Davies, I: The Prayer of the Raven

Octopus Chamber Choir
Bart van Reyn

About
Reviews
Explore

About

The singing of birds has been the subject of human song since earliest times. They have always been our companions in garden and field, and the effortless elaborate power of the sound emanating from such a tiny creature has drawn our imagination. We like to imagine that birds sing the way we do, expressing joy, grief, tenderness, or even greed in the case of Ivor R Davies’ raven; but in fact not only are the mechanics of their song different - they produce sound with a stretched membrane, the syrinx - but the reasons for their song are also not apparently aligned with ours - most of their song serves to mark territory or attract a mate. So when we put the voice of love or despair into the beaks of our feathered friends, it is purely a reflection of ourselves. Here then is a brief survey of the ‘throes’ of the human heart - as Robert Bridges’ nightingales describe them - heard by human ears in the voices of birds.

Reviews

March 2016

The hazy beauty of the opener...and the ecstatic beauty of its soprano solo by Grace Davidson, sets the tone for a programme unified by close-knit choral blend, soft-focus at its edges, and a real lyric generosity and warmth...Harvey's Song of June is an unexpectedly direct piece of musical word-painting, its descriptive pastoral leavened with percussive rhythmic energy.

Birds of Paradise

CD

Contents

Download queue