Julian Anderson - Book of Hours

ID: NMCD121 (EAN: 5023363012126)  | 1 CD | DDD
Released in: 2006

LABEL:

NMC

Subcollection:

Orchestra

Composers:

ANDERSON, Julian

Interprets:

COCCIOLI, Lamberto (electronics) | WILSON, Scott (electronics)

Ensembles:

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group | City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Conductors:

BRABBINS, Martyn | HALSEY, Simon | KNUSSEN, Oliver | ORAMO, Sakari

Other info:

Book of Hours combines ensemble and live electronics in a tribute to the glories of late medieval art; it uses electronic sound as (in the composer's words) "an extra colour … rather as gold-leaf might be applied in a Medieval manuscript".

This exploration of other times and sound-worlds is continued in Eden, Four American Choruses and Symphony (inspired by a painting of Lake Keitele in Finland); the disc is completed by Imagin'd Corners, an exuberant showpiece for five horns and orchestra.
Note on Recording (Track 9 "noise")
We would like to point out that the crackling noise present on track 2 of Book of Hours (track 9 of the album) is intentional. The composer's idea was to begin Part 2 of the work as a distorted version of Part 1 (track 8). Julian Anderson has explained to us that he is recreating - with electronics - the surface noise of LPs bought in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall (he has a strong interest in Eastern European music).

1- City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/ Martyn Brabbins, conductor
2, 7 - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/ Sakari Oramo, conductor
3, 4, 5, 6 - City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus/ Simon Halsey, conductor
8, 9 - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/ Oliver Knussen, conductor

"For his "fusion of direct simplicity and delirious complexity", which won him this year's RPS award for large-scale composition, Anderson has become one of the most admired British composers of his generation. Here's why."
The Observer 2006