Tavener: To a Child Dancing in the Wind & Birtwistle: Entr'Actes and Sappho Fragments

On this CD:

1. To a Child Dancing in the Wind, for soprano, fllute, harp, & viola
Composed by John Tavener
Performed by Heidi Grant Murphy

2. Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments, for soprano, flute, oboe, violin, viola, harp & percussion
Composed by Sir Harrison Birtwistle
Performed by James M. Baker, Heidi Grant Murphy, John Ferrillo
Conducted by Paul Hostetter

Editorial Reviews
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I have long thought that Tavener's cycle To a Child Dancing in the Wind is one of his loveliest creations. As other works such as the Akhmatova cycle also demonstrate, Tavener's music can be surprising indeed when he makes an incursion into the secular world (or the apparently secular: the composer would be the first to point out the sacred elements in the poetry he has set), and these songs are a magnificent explosion of dramatic lyricism in response to a very well-chosen sequence of Yeats's poetry centring on the theme of love. The work has been recorded before – by Patricia Rozario on the now-defunct Collins label – but this new reading definitely surpasses it. Heidi Grant Murphy's voice is quite different from Rozario's and, I would argue, is in fact more suited to this particular piece. She captures the Irishness and the tenderness of the work in no uncertain terms, and her range of vocal colour astonishingly partners every nuance of Tavener's lovely settings. Her accompanists, the musicians of Auréole, are extraordinary. They move with her in a way which I can only describe as organic.The presence of Birtwistle's Entr'Actes and Sappho Fragments, superficially an unlikely companion for the Tavener, is amply justified in the thought-provoking notes by Tina Chancey. The music is, of course, a completely different listening experience, but there is a similar sense of fragility and transparency of texture that makes them in some sense natural companions, quite apart from the various stylistic connections elaborated on in the notes. This music is more enigmatic and reticent than the Tavener work, certainly, but Murphy and Auréole bring to it the same passion and precision. The only criticism I have of this release is that there are mistakes in the printed texts of the Yeats; otherwise, this is a disc that absolutely demands to be heard. Ivan Moody

Tavener: To a Child Dancing in the Wind & Birtwistle: Entr'Actes and Sappho Fragments, Music, Heidi Grant Murphy, Aureole, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble, Vocal, Vocal Music

Average customer rating:

John Tavener: A Portrait Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tavener | Tavener, John Kenneth | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Organ | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Cello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Guitar | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Minnesota Orchestra | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music ASIN: B0001AXQI2 Release Date: 2004-04-20

Tracks:

1. In Alium - Eileen Hulse
2. To A Child Dancing In The Wind - Heidi Grant Murphy
3. The Lamb - Choir Of St. John's College, Cambridge
4. The Tyger - Choir Of St. John's College, Cambridge
5. Movement 1: Fos I, Doxa - The Sixteen
6. Movement 2: Piu Intensita - The Sixteen
7. Mandelion For Organ (Extract) - Kevin Bowyer
8. Chant For Guitar (Extract) - Jonathan Richards
9. Ikon Of Saint Cuthbert Of Lindisfatne - Ian Shaw
10. The Protecting Veil For Cello And Orchestra - Maria Kliegel
11. Mary Of Egypt - Stephen Varcoe
12. Akhmatova Songs For Soprano And String Quartet - Patricia Rozario
13. Solemn - The Vanbrugh Quartet
14. [Rehearsal Letter I] - The Vanbrugh Quartet
15. Song For Athene - Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge

Tracks:

1. Zodiacs For Piano - Thalia Myers
2. Prayer Of The Heart - Brodsky Quartet
3. Movement 2: Eros - Jorja Fleezanis
4. Mother And Child - Nigel Short
5. 'My Earliest Musical Memories...' - John Tavener
6. 'I Saw In The Russian Orthodox Churck...' - John Tavener
7. 'I Think The Protecting Veil...' - John Tavener
8. 'The Icelandic Pop Singer Bjork...' - John Tavener
9. 'The Fact That I've Been Given...' - John Tavener
10. 'When My Publishers Ring...' - John Tavener
11. 'The Only Goal...' - John Tavener

Average customer rating: Moving

Tavener: To a Child Dancing in the Wind Manufacturer: Collins Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Tavener | Tavener, John Kenneth | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000003VYL Release Date: 1994-09-13

Tracks:

1. To A Child In The Wind: He Wishes For The Clothes Of Heaven
2. To A Child In The Wind: The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Water
3. To A Child In The Wind: To A Child Dancing In The Wind
4. To A Child In The Wind: Two Years Later
5. To A Child In The Wind: The Fiddler Of Dooney
6. To A Child In The Wind: A Deep-Sworn Vow
7. To A Child In The Wind: Sweet Dancer
8. To A Child In The Wind: The Stolen Child
9. To A Child In The Wind: He Wishes For The Clothes Of Heaven
10. To A Child In The Wind: The Countess Cathleen In Paradise
11. Lamenation, Last Prayer And Exaltation: Lament
12. Lamenation, Last Prayer And Exaltation: Last Prayer
13. Lamenation, Last Prayer And Exaltation: Exaltation
14. A Mini Song Cycle For Gina: When You Are Old
15. A Mini Song Cycle For Gina: A Cradle Song
16. A Mini Song Cycle For Gina: He Reproves The Curlew
17. A Mini Song Cycle For Gina: When You Are Old
18. Melina

Customer Reviews:

Moving.......2002-01-18

The former is the most substantial work on the disc. It is scored for an ensemble of soprano, harp, flute and viola, and thus sounds very light and airy for most of its duration. Tavener strings together settings of poems depicting several ideas on various levels: the ages of human life; the blissful innocence of childhood giving way forever to the experience of adulthood; the passage from birth to death. It displays some astounding word painting, of which an arresting example is "The Fiddler of Dooney," in which the singer's vocal line (reminiscent of an Irish jig but actually inspired by Indian music) is augmented by her steady clapping and a drone on the viola. Other moments are subtle and exquisite: "He wishes for the cloths of Heaven" appears twice in virtually the same setting, and is a moving melody set in strict canon with the flute to create a most haunting atmosphere (not dissimilar to the effect produced using the same techniques in the composer's "Hymn to the Mother of God"). The final movement - "The Countess Cathleen in Paradise" - is deeply haunting, with a low melody taken from Russian Orthodox funeral chant that gradually dies away to nothing. Throughout the piece, Tavener makes use of his 'Byzantine palindrome' to generate melodic lines and by implication harmonic structures. It is extremely simple, but it works very well and sustains interest. The "Mini Song Cycle for Gina" uses the familiar combination of soprano and piano, although the soprano is always in the foreground, with the piano part being confined to octave drones (sustained in the pedal), gentle doubling and harmonisation of the simplest vocal melody ("The angels are stooping," written to sound like a music box) and a wild tremolando effect ("O curlew, cry no more in the air"). It ends with an exact repeat of the beginning - "When you are old and grey and full of sleep."

"Lament, Last Prayer and Exultation" is obviously religious in character, even going so far as to suggest incorporating ritualistic elements into a performance. It is scored for soprano and handbells, which are for the most part independent of each other - at the very opening, for instance, the bells begin a repetitive note row that accelerates and crescendos wildly, creating a halo of sound around the soprano's melismatic and virtuosic lines. There are no melodies as such in this work; it is at best a collection of musical patterns that serve as a vehicle for the text, which begins with a Lament from Norse folklore, moves through a setting of the Last Prayer of Mary Queen of Scots (spoken at her execution) and ends with a setting in Slavonic of a Hymn to the Mother of God - a rich sequence of text with a complex sequence of music behind it. This is less accessible than the rest of the programme, but it is still interesting.

"Melina," for unaccompanied soprano, is perhaps more heartfelt than anything else. Tavener himself explains in the notes that he wrote it on the death of a close friend - a Greek woman named Melina - when he wished to offer condolences to her family but was unable to find their contact details. Using only the single name as text, Tavener crafts a meltingly beautiful monody, mournful and tear-jerking yet filled with spirit, soaring up and down like the violin solo in Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending." In an age wherein music strives to be increasingly innovative, a piece like this might seem trivial, but on listening to it, one finds it is simply light-years away: on the threshold between pure music and pure emotion.

Patricia Rozario is the star of this recital, as she is in all four works. The powerful effect she produces when interpreting Tavener's music - a carefully-measured use of vibrato and an extraordinarily flexible range - is wonderfully captured here. Her accompanists are discreet and well-poised; of especial note, Tavener himself is the pianist for "Mini Song Cycle for Gina," thus offering a rare opportunity to hear him play.

Strangely beautiful, this disc may not suit all tastes, in part because much of the text (and the musical counterpart Tavener finds for it) is hard to grasp. Nonetheless, the programme as a whole represents Tavener at his most moving. Devotees need not hesitate.

Average customer rating: HAD I THE HEAVENS

Tavener: To a Child Dancing in the Wind & Birtwistle: Entr'Actes and Sappho Fragments Heidi Grant Murphy , and Aureole Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Tavener | Tavener, John Kenneth | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005O6DG Release Date: 2001-09-25

Tracks:

1. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
2. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Winter - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
3. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: To A Child Dancing In The Wind - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
4. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: Two Year Later - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
5. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: The Fiddler Of Dooney - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
6. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: A Deep-Sworn Vow - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
7. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: Sweet Dancer - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
8. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: The Stolen Child - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
9. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
10. To A Child Dancing In The Wind: The Countess Cathleen In Paradise - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy
11. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: I - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
12. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: II - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
13. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: III - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
14. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: IV - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
15. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: V - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
16. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Entr'acte I - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
17. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Cantus I - Mother I Cannot Mind My Wheel - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
18. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Entre'Acte II - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
19. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Cantus II - Round About Me - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
20. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Entre'Acte III - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
21. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Entre'Acte IV - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
22. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Cantus III - Love Like Mountain Wind - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
23. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Entre'Acte V - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
24. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Cantus IV - The Moon And The Seven Pleiades - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
25. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Cantus V - Like The Wild Hyacinth Flower - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter
26. Entr'actes And Sappho Fragments: Coda - Aureole/Heidi Grant Murphy/Jacqui Carasco/John Ferrillo/James Baker/Paul Hotstetter

Customer Reviews:

HAD I THE HEAVENS.......2002-01-12

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