Zinman - Protecting Veil - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Transcendent With Awesome Majesty. John Tavener wrote these words above the opening cello notes of The Protecting Veil, immediately communicating the scale of this universal, timeless, structurally perfect and emotionally powerful work. In the composer's words InchThe cello represents The Mother of God and never stops singingInch. Indeed, the cello sings without stopping for the entire 46 minutes of the piece, requiring huge mental and physical stamina. Matthew Barley leads Sinfonietta Riga in this exploration of Tavener's musical works and inspirations, interspersing performances with readings of WB Yeats and Frithjof Schuon by renowned actors Julie Christie and Olwyn Fouéré. The influence Tavener drew from Indian music in The Protecting Veil is also explored further in Barley's performance with tabla player Sukhvinder 'Pinky' Singh in The Song of Separation and Waiting by Pandit Sultan Khan. Matthew Barley is known internationally as a cellist, improviser, arranger, music animateur, and as Artistic Director of Between The Notes. His musical world is focused on projects that connect people in different ways, blurring the boundaries that never really existed between genres and people. Album Tracks 1. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven 2. The Protecting Veil 3. The Mother of God 4. Mother and Child 5. World Wheel XXVII I Heard the Gypsy's Violin Play 6. The Song of Separation and Waiting

In The Protecting Veil Tavener strives to capture some of what he considers to be the almost cosmic power of the Mother of God. The cello represents the Mother of God and never stops singing throughout and one can think of the strings as a gigantic extension of her unending song. The music falls into eight continuous sections and use is made of the eight Byzantine tones. Various Feasts inspired Tavener as he composed; the second, for instance, is related to her birth, the third to the Annunciation, the fourth to the Incarnation, the fifth (unaccompanied) to her lament at the foot of the cross, the sixth to the Resurrection, the seventh to her Dormition, and the first and last sections to her cosmic beauty and power over a shattered world. The Protecting Veil ends with a musical evocation of the tears of the Mother of God. The final section completes the palindromic effect of the work as a whole by returning to the mood of the opening, but with the recorded soprano here replacing the string orchestra and the grand organ taking over from the Hammond organ, alternating it's more and more spasmodic entries with those of the piano. The music unfolds as a canon in sixteen parts, each set of entries being introduced by bells and by glides on solo violins. Superimposed throughout are the voices of four small children saying their prayers (in Latin, French, German and English) and gradually and successively falling asleep. The canon dissolves into a thirty-two line slide (the soprano in sixteen parts with herself, together with sixteen solo violins) and the work ends as the last child falls asleep and the last of the thirty-two 'voices' resolves. Album Tracks 1. The Protecting Veil for Cello and Orchestra Section 1 2. The Protecting Veil for Cello and Orchestra Annunciation 3. The Protecting Veil for Cello and Orchestra The Incarnation 4. The Protecting Veil for

Greg d'Alessio's Veil offers a cross-section through all the facets encompassing modern classical composition as well as an impressive portrait of the composer's unique voice and development over two decades. Veil's chronological track order allows the listener to follow the progression of both the music and the man behind it. Veil and Thread are D'Alessio's early chamber works, very much reflective of the conviction and clarity characteristic of the young composer, built on a thoughtful yet passionate blend of traditional structure and instrumentation with experimental effects. Enter Sono Solo and the turmoil begins. Befitting the meaning of their Italian title, Sono Solo paints an accurate, solemn portrait of solitude, a soulful, introspective lament that is not without instances of enlightenment and self-assurance. Now's the Time picks up with a higher energy level, intertwining jazz rhythms and harmonies with D'Alessio's ever-present pursuit of a carefully constructed, airy musical architecture. Elements of it are still experimental - but now with the greater determination of a matured composer. After Ending forms the transcendent climax of the album. The two-part work contrasts a profoundly lyrical first movement with a strongly rhythmic finale reminiscent of Shostakovich's late symphonies. They, too, harken back to the stark contrast of the D'Alessio's early work, but now with the aplomb of someone who's confident that he has achieved mastery in his field. What stands out about Veil is the astonishing ease with which two opposing concepts are reconciled The diversity of modern composition in it's widespread applications, and the profoundly personal, individual journey of a singular composer. Album Tracks 1. Veil 2. Thread 3. Sono Solo 4. Now's the Time 5. After Ending 6.