Smith / Nally - Arc in the Sky - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. Song in the Night 2. Impromptu, Op. 86 3. Clair de Lune 4. I. Andante Cantabile 5. II. Allegretto 6. III. Andante 7. IV. Allegro 8. V. Allegro 9. VI. Presto Misterioso 10. VII. Andante 11. Straightforward, Like a Hymn 12. Very Slow 13. Brisk and Smooth 14. Delicate 15. 1/8 = 80 16. Really Fast and Dry 17. 1/4 = 76 18. Strong and Rapid 19. Nocturne for Harp, Op.20 No. 1

Navona Records presents A NATIVE HILL from Philadelphia's professional chamber choir, The Crossing. This monumental unaccompanied work is the result of a collaboration with composer Gavin Bryars, whose previous work for The Crossing won them their first of two recent Grammy awards. With intimate knowledge of the individual voices and art of each singer, Bryars composed A NATIVE HILL to capitalize on the group's unique sound, personality, and esprit de corps. A NATIVE HILL is based on American author and environmentalist Wendell Berry's 1968 essay of the same name, which examines bucolic elements of rural life, suffused with deeper metaphysical and political implications. The new album is full of rich, complex vocal textures, dense chromatic clusters, and moments of profound simplicity, offering an opportunity to reflect on life's timeless questions. Album Tracks 1. A Native Hill (2019) Music By Gavin Bryars (B. 1943), Words By Wendell Berry (B. 1934) 2. I. the Sense of the Past 3. II. the Path from 4. III. Sea Level 5. IV. the Pool 6. V. the Road 7. VI. the Music of Streams 8. VII. Questions 9. VIII. Topsoil 10. IX. the Hill 11. X. Animals and Birds 12. XI. Shadow 13. XII. at Peace

True to their mission as a collaborative ensemble, The Crossing commissioned Gregory Spears, Joel Puckett, and Toivo Tulev for this widely varied collection that draws on words and poetry of Keith Garebian, Denise Levertov, Thomas Merton, the Botswanan shaman Kxao =Oah, and Walt Whitman. The results in Tulev's hands, a churning, haunting rumination on death; in Spears', a sometimes hymnlike, at other exuberant study on the collision of religion, technology, and conservation; and in Puckett's, a mesmerizing mediation on transformation and the coming together of body and spirit into oneness. The Crossing has firmly established itself as a fixture of the choral and new-music worlds, holding a unique position at the intersection, indeed apex, of both, with recordings that have garnered two GRAMMY Awards and six additional nominations, collaborations with the major orchestras and museums of the United States, and sold-out performances in Europe. The artful dedication and sheer emotional power behind their performances place them at the forefront of the genre, and draws a seemingly bottomless interest from collaborators and listeners alike. Album Tracks 1. A Child Said, What Is the Grass? (2015) 2. I. 80 from the Tower and the Garden (2018) 3. II. in the Land of Shinar from the Tower and the Garden (2018) 4. III. Dungeness Documentary from the Tower and the Garden (2018) 5. IV. 80 from the Tower and the Garden (2018) 6. I Enter the Earth (2015)