Gavin Bryars, Hilliard Ensemble & Fretwork
Release Date: 19 December 2008
Label: GB Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 6409999047210
Genres: Classical
Description
Gavin Bryars was deeply affected by the death of his friend and sound engineer Bill Cadman, killed in the Lockerbie tragedy, aged only 32. Gavin felt compelled to write a work - Cadman Requiem - in Bill's memory. This forms the final work in this live recording, from a free concert for the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, given in Westminster Cathedral, in memory of all 270 people who died. A very large audience, including relatives of the victims, attended the moving occasion.
The programme, devised by Bryars with the help of John Potter (Hilliard Ensemble) and Richard Campbell (Fretwork), consists of works he had written for both the Hilliard Ensemble and Fretwork along with pieces of early music (Busnois, Gombert, Purcell, Jenkins). This was the first time that the Hilliard Ensemble and Fretwork had performed together in a live concert.
Two of the works were written almost simultaneously in 1989. These were Cadman Requiem and Incipit Vita Nova to celebrate the birth of the first child (Vita) of two of Bryars' friends, here in special arrangements of these two works with viol consort. Also given their first performances were a group of madrigals, setting poems by Bryars' librettist Blake Morrison, which were written especially for this occasion, commissioned by the Cadman family.
Personnel:
Hilliard Ensemble: David James (alto), Steven Harrold, John Potter (tenor), Gordon Jones (baritone)
Fretwork: Richard Campbell, Wendy Gillespie (treble viols), Julia Hodgson, Susanna Pell (tenor viols), Richard Boothby (bass viol), William Hunt (bass viol, great bass)
Tracklisting
Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars, John Berger & John Christie
Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Latvian Radio Choir
Gavin Bryars & Juan Munoz
Gavin Bryars
Anastasia Yasko
Hans-Jurg Strub; Wurttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen; Christian Erny
Sinfonieorchester Gottingen
Mona Hartmann
Ignace Michiels
Anna Reichert
Tomasz Skweres, Ensemble Reconsil, Osterreichisches Ensemble fur Neue Musik, Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers
