Pickard: Mass in Troubled Times / Brabbins, BBC Singers
Previous BIS releases of works by John Pickard have mainly featured instrumental compositions. This recording presents another facet of the British composer’s work, with compositions for choir under the expert direction of Martyn Brabbins as well as two instrumental pieces.
The five short Latin motets as well as Ozymandias, Pickard’s opus 1, can be described as ‘occasional pieces’ composed during the composer’s student years or for the choir he conducts at the University of Bristol. They display solid tonal grounding and mainly homophonic writing and provide a stepping-stone to some of the more dissonant style found in the latter works. Written for the BBC Singers, whose reputation is well established, the Mass in Troubled Times is an ambitious work bearing witness to a context of global uncertainty. The Mass is a collaboration with the writer Gavin D’Costa, who conceived a complex text based on multiple sources in five languages, combining Western and Middle Eastern religious texts with poetry evoking the plight of refugees. Orion for trumpet and organ, which is partly programmatic, evoking the most splendid constellation and allowing trumpeter Chloë Abbott to shine, and Tesserae for solo organ, with its dazzling virtuosity, played here by the work’s first performer, David Goode, complete this disc.
Product Description:
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Release Date: October 13, 2023
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UPC: 7318599926513
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Catalog Number: BIS-2651
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Label: BIS
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Number of Discs: 1
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Period: Contemporary
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Composer: John Pickard
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Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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Orchestra/Ensemble: BBC Singers
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Performer: Chloe Abbott, David Goode
Works:
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Three Latin Motets
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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O magnum mysterium
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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Orion
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Performer: Chloë Abbott (Trumpet)
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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Ave Maris Stella
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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Ozymandias
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
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Tesserae
Composer: John Pickard
Performer: David Goode (Organ)
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Mass in Troubled Times
Composer: John Pickard
Ensemble: BBC Singers
Conductor: Martyn Brabbins