Jim Turner - The Dazzler - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Bartok / Kodaly / Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Bartok & Kodaly [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/10/2015

Although the recorder boasts an immense repertoire from the Renaissance to the Baroque, to which Philip Lane pays tribute with his Suite Ancienne, this recording presents an exciting selection of 20th-century music for this popular instrument.

On Dazzling Light Christopher Lowrey and his vocal ensemble Altera explore light in all it's forms. There is a remarkable body of choral music that evokes light's many facets the light of morning and evening, sacred light, light as a symbol of Christ, light as the conqueror of darkness and even (thanks to the James Webb telescope) the light of distant galaxies. This programme includes works primarily from the 20th and 21st centuries, with music by John Rutter, Jonathan Dove, Matthew Martin, Toby Young, Charles Wood, Ko Matsushita, Sir William Harris, Eric Whitacre, Thomas Tallis, Michael Garrepy and David Hill. There is also an evening prayer by English composer Joanna Marsh, a work by South African composer Motshwane Pege, the winner of Altera's third composition competition, and John Cameron's arrangement of Edward Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma Variations; this work, entitled Lux aeterna, is perfectly suited to Altera's strengths.