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Track(s) taken from CDA68388

Lumen

First line:
Nunc dimittis servum tuum
composer
AATTBB; composed for and dedicated to The Gesualdo Six
author of text
Luke 2: 29-32

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: May 2021
All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: September 2022
Total duration: 3 minutes 3 seconds
 

Reviews

‘As always with The Gesualdo Six, the thing that strikes one most forcibly on first listening is the ensemble’s extraordinary vocal blend … the collection, centring on the theme of grief, is extremely well organised in terms of both contrast and similarity (of style and period), and I do recommend listening to it from beginning to end. Richard Rodney Bennett’s sumptuous A Good-Night provides a wholly appropriate finale to this thought-provoking journey’ (Gramophone)

‘This affecting collection contains music for mourning and remembrance … the great experience and skill of these singers provide perfect tuning in pieces such as Tallis’s In ieiunio (sung at low pitch) and superb phrasal breathing (especially in Morales’s Parce mihi)’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Vocal ensemble The Gesualdo Six is known for its Renaissance polyphony, with lucid and hauntingly beautiful performances of Josquin, Gesualdo, Tallis and the like, but with their album Fading—a couple of years ago—they began combining ancient and modern music with themes of darkness and light. Their new recording, Lux aeterna, takes this further: eternal light, an exploration of grief, musical responses to mourning and loss, uncertainty and hope. It’s a strikingly effective sequence … [A Good-Night is] a touching way to end this beautifully sequenced exploration of different sides of mourning and loss … six centuries of music, beautifully recorded’ (BBC Record Review)

‘A concatenation of music that delivers what it set out to do: exploring shades of positivity and the hope that the good someone has brought into the world will live on after they have passed. Perceptively and sensitively performed with outstanding musicality. Quite simply exquisite’ (Yorkshire Times)
For a number of years Donna McKevitt’s main compositional focus has been on music for film and contemporary dance. It was wonderful to collaborate with the composer to create Lumen, a setting of the Nunc dimittis. Responding to the text, McKevitt has selected certain words to be cycled through the vocal parts, giving the work a hypnotic quality. When the voices eventually break out into duets, the new line of text is highlighted by this textural contrast. Lingering dissonances, caused by overlapping voice parts, lend the piece a poignant, haunting feeling.

from notes by Owain Park © 2022

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