Maw, Nicholas - One foot in Eden still, I stand - Shepherd, Mark

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Leveranstid: Skickas vanligtvis inom 2-5 dagar

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ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10

SOUND QUALITY: 10

(CLASSICSTODAY.com)



All works except for One foot in Eden still, I stand and Balulalow are here recorded for the first time.


Nicholas Maw is a dominant force in contemporary British music. His Violin Concerto won for Joshua Bell the
Mercury Music Prize for Classical Album of the Year in 2000, while his latest opera, Sophie’s Choice—a Covent
Garden commission setting William Styron’s harrowing tale of Auschwitz and its aftermath—is currently receiving
its American premieres.


Throughout his long career Maw has periodically found time amidst his predominantly orchestral and operatic output
to craft some inimitable choral works. This new recording by Schola Cantorum of Oxford present many first recordings
and gives a broad overview of Maw’s choral achievements.


Swelling organ accompaniment opens the programme with the Three Hymns; Maw’s reponses to these metaphysical
texts are innovative and effective. Two cycles of five miniatures, Epigrams and Irish Songs, show a very different
complexion. From the ribald humour of On a noisy polemic to the intense lyricism of Ringleted youth of my love Maw puts
his singers to the test, with results that are at once entertaining and moving.


The programme is completed by five carol settings and One foot in Eden, commissioned by King’s College Cambridge as
part of their 500th anniversary celebrations in 1990. It demonstrates a composer in total command of his medium and is
impressive in its varied choral writing and striking use of harmony and melody.


Performances by Oxford University’s crack chamber choir, Schola Cantorum, under their director Mark Shepherd, are
taut and responsive, the perfect vehicle for this music which deserves the opportunity to reach a wider public.
Schola Cantorum of Oxford/Mark Shepherd
Three Hymns

1 Morning Hymn

2 Pastoral Hymn

3 Evening Hymn



Five Epigrams

4 On a noisy polemic

5 On the death of Robert Ruisseaux

6 On a henpecked country squire

7 On a lady famed for her caprice

8 Andrew Turner



9 The angel Gabriel

10 Our Lady’s song

11 Balulalow

12 Corpus Christi Carol

13 Swete Jesu



Five Irish Songs

14 I shall not die for thee

15 Dear dark head

16 Popular song

17 Ringleted youth of my love

18 Jig



19 One foot in Eden still, I stand