Songs of what?


Does CD artwork serve any purpose? Let's have a quick test. This is the sleeve for the Britten Sinfonia's first release on its own record label. No googling and no research allowed. Off the top of your head, what do you think the music on the CD is?

Imagine there's no artwork ...
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Comments

Pliable said…
A reader, who asks to remain anonymous, suggests the CD is improvisations by Joanna MacGregor and Andy Sheppard based on traditional Scottish airs.
Anonymous said…
Tavener?

The first thing that struck me was the title mirroring of Lied von der Erde. Wondering briefly who might think well enough of themselves to compose a celestial contrast to Mahler plus the use of the "sky as metaphor" in many cultures suggested Tavener.
Well done Scott! Tavener's Songs of the Sky does indeed feature on the CD!
Pliable said…
Yes, that was a pretty impressive (or lucky) piece of reasoning by Scott.

The first release on the Britten Sinfonia's new record label features music by contemporary composers Steve Martland, Huw Watkins, Tarik O'Regan, Jason Yarde and John Tavener -

http://www.signumrecords.com/catalogue/sigcd149/index.shtml
Anonymous said…
Impressive or lucky?? Bit of each, I'd say. :-)

I heard an interview with Tavener a couple of years back in which he talked about "unifying metaphors" (I think that was the term) among many cultures. He was responding to a question about his use of musical elements from various cultures.

The link to Lied von der Erde and subsequent speculation was luck. The impressive part was remembering the interview.

As a reward, I thought I'd buy it. Going to the Sinfonia site, I was startled to see that (as far as I could tell) there was no download option. Seems odd to me. If buying the physical CD is my only choice, I suspect that I can do better than having it shipped to me across the Atlantic. Pity ... I'd hoped to listen to it tonight.

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