About This Item
After a first album (Because, Alpha 936) devoted to Afro-American spirituals that won several awards (Opus Klassik, Edison Klassiek, GRAMMY® Award nomination), the American countertenor Reginald Mobley devotes this new recording to English repertoire with a simple combination of primarily voice, lute, and viola da gamba. Solitude opens with Henry Purcell's moving 'Tis Nature's Voice and other famous Purcell melodies, sails through John Dowland's deeply melancholy waves, and also reveals the declamatory charm of the 17th-century English composers who surrounded Samuel Pepys. We then travel to America, where contemporary composers Jonathan Woody and Douglas Balliett explore Inchthe indomitable resilience contained in the tale of a runaway slaveInch as told by the brilliant African-American haiku poet Crystal Simone Smith. With Brandon Acker on lute, theorbo and baroque guitar and Douglas Balliett on viola da gamba and double bass, Reggie completes this intimate journey with songs arranged in the 19th century by the black American guitarist, composer and abolitionist Justin Holland. Album Tracks 1. Hail, Bright Cecilia!~'Tis Nature's Voice 2. Music for a While 3. Chiacona 4. O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice 5. David 6. Go, Perjured Man 7. Beauty, Retire! 8. Phoebus, God Beloved by Men 9. Mad Lover Suite~Ground 10. Second Booke of Songs or Ayres~Flow, My Tears 11. Second Booke of Songs or Ayres~Sorrow, Stay 12. Fortune My Foe 13. Third and Last Booke of Songs or Aires~Time Stands Still 14. Sam 15. Ely or July 16. Ain't You My Child 17. Barcarolle 18. Dream Faces 19. Juanita 20. Ship That Never Returned
