Hello everyone.
I've mentioned this before, and I apologise for hijacking this group for something not directly related to BBC Radio (though it has been featured on The Choir).
Over the last two or three years my chamber choir, Sospiri, has commissioned a new collection of choral settings of poetry and writing from the 1st World War. There are a great many song settings of writings from this period and famous choral examples, such as Britten's War Requiem, but surprisingly few a cappella choral settings, and our project has added a good 90 minutes of music to this particular genre. We launched the project with a concert in Oxford on Sunday, and the CD recording is available here:http://conviviumrecords.co.uk/x/rele...ude-of-voices/ and from Amazon/iTunes and the major CD shops.
The list of composers, along with their pieces and the texts they set is here (they are not all on the disc, but I hope that we might be able to make a 2nd one at some point):
Francis Pott Sentinel (Edward Thomas and Isaac Rosenberg)
Cecilia McDowall Standing as I do before God (on the death of Edith Cavell, Seán Street)
Alexander L'Estrange Rain (Edward Thomas)
Richard Allain Pain (Gurney sonnet on the death of Rupert Brooke)
David Allen In Flanders Fields (John McCrae)
Colin Mawby A Soldier’s Grave (Francis Ledwidge)
Colin Mawby If I Live (Tom Kettle)
David Bednall Three Songs of Remembrance (Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Charlotte Mew)
Frank Ferko Trois Chansons de Guerre (Guillaume Apollinaire)
Gabriel Jackson Am Abend (Georg Trakl)
John Duggan Urtod (Primal Death) (August Stramm)
Matthew Martin A Remembrance (text anon. in memory of Geoffrey Gunther, who left Eton in 1917 and died in November 1918)
There is also a collection of six more pieces by John Duggan on this disc http://www.amazon.co.uk/Requiem-Sospiri/dp/B003YCM0JA which we recorded a few years ago. For this John set Futility, Anthem For Doomed Youth, The Send Off (Owen), Returning We Hear The Larks (Rosenberg), Everyone Sang (Sassoon) and Requiem (Gurney), all published by Shorter House
I would love to have any feedback or comments people might have on this project, and I really hope that the pieces will be picked up and performed by as many choirs as possible over the next few years. If people are interested in any of the pieces I would be happy to put them in touch with the composers or publishers.
Thanks
Chris
I've mentioned this before, and I apologise for hijacking this group for something not directly related to BBC Radio (though it has been featured on The Choir).
Over the last two or three years my chamber choir, Sospiri, has commissioned a new collection of choral settings of poetry and writing from the 1st World War. There are a great many song settings of writings from this period and famous choral examples, such as Britten's War Requiem, but surprisingly few a cappella choral settings, and our project has added a good 90 minutes of music to this particular genre. We launched the project with a concert in Oxford on Sunday, and the CD recording is available here:http://conviviumrecords.co.uk/x/rele...ude-of-voices/ and from Amazon/iTunes and the major CD shops.
The list of composers, along with their pieces and the texts they set is here (they are not all on the disc, but I hope that we might be able to make a 2nd one at some point):
Francis Pott Sentinel (Edward Thomas and Isaac Rosenberg)
Cecilia McDowall Standing as I do before God (on the death of Edith Cavell, Seán Street)
Alexander L'Estrange Rain (Edward Thomas)
Richard Allain Pain (Gurney sonnet on the death of Rupert Brooke)
David Allen In Flanders Fields (John McCrae)
Colin Mawby A Soldier’s Grave (Francis Ledwidge)
Colin Mawby If I Live (Tom Kettle)
David Bednall Three Songs of Remembrance (Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Charlotte Mew)
Frank Ferko Trois Chansons de Guerre (Guillaume Apollinaire)
Gabriel Jackson Am Abend (Georg Trakl)
John Duggan Urtod (Primal Death) (August Stramm)
Matthew Martin A Remembrance (text anon. in memory of Geoffrey Gunther, who left Eton in 1917 and died in November 1918)
There is also a collection of six more pieces by John Duggan on this disc http://www.amazon.co.uk/Requiem-Sospiri/dp/B003YCM0JA which we recorded a few years ago. For this John set Futility, Anthem For Doomed Youth, The Send Off (Owen), Returning We Hear The Larks (Rosenberg), Everyone Sang (Sassoon) and Requiem (Gurney), all published by Shorter House
I would love to have any feedback or comments people might have on this project, and I really hope that the pieces will be picked up and performed by as many choirs as possible over the next few years. If people are interested in any of the pieces I would be happy to put them in touch with the composers or publishers.
Thanks
Chris
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