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Spells: Works of Juli Nunlist
Navona

Spells: Works of Juli Nunlist

$16.99

Details

Composer
NUNLIST, JULI
Artist
Stankovsky, Vox Futura
Format
CD
Label
Navona
Released
May 12, 2017
Catalog #
NV6096
UPC
896931003964

About

Spells, a new retrospective collection highlighting the music of poet and composer Juli Nunlist, marks a touching journey through the earnest, romantic, and dramatic sounds of the late artist's compositional language. The album's works demonstrate Nunlist's appreciation for tradition and grandeur, and are driven by her remarkable gift for melody and clear fascination with instrumental texture. Nunlist's literary background seems to inform the potency of the album's vocal works, including the intimate a cappella choral arrangement on the title track, a choral setting of six poems by the English poet Kathleen Raine; and the epic Six Chansons from Prières dans l'arches, for vocal soloists and orchestra. Though these pieces feature contrasting instrumentations, they both display the composer's effortless text setting and brilliantly sensitive orchestration. In each, her compelling writing brings the given text to life, and activates the nuance of its narrative and symbolism with intricate vocal an dinstrumental arrangements. To this end, Spells uses subtle melodic, harmonic, and textural recurrences to convey an enveloping and somewhat cyclical form. The Six Chansons, on the other hand, build vast sonic wonderlands, imaged through Nunlist's incredible command of orchestral space and density. Each of the Chansons pairs vocalists and a large instrumental ensemble, with some of the work's most compelling moments arising from these unique and highly exposed pairings, such as solo mezzo-soprano and celeste. The album's romantic centerpiece arrives with Nunlist's String Quartet, a piece which hearkens back to the genre's seminal nineteenth century masterpiece with its captivating melodies and gripping subversions of functional harmony. Moreover, in a structural sense. Nunlist's String Quartet is one of the most impressive works on Spells, especially in its dramatic closing movement. In the final moments of this piece, the music refuses to repose, and, on the strength of a new theme, the quartet gains energy and determination. This surprising turn in the work's formal trajectory is unquestionably meaningful, and seems to demonstrate a fearless quality in Nunlist's compositional perspective.

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 I. — 05:15
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    05:15
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Pedroia String Quartet
  2. 2 II. — 07:22
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. —
    Duration
    07:22
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Pedroia String Quartet
  3. 3 III. — 02:28
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. —
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Pedroia String Quartet
  4. 4 IV. — 06:52
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. —
    Duration
    06:52
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Pedroia String Quartet
  5. 5 No. 1. Prière du papillon 04:19
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 1. Prière du papillon
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  6. 6 No. 2. Prière de l'alouette 03:34
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 2. Prière de l'alouette
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  7. 7 No. 3. Prière de la Colombe 03:56
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 3. Prière de la Colombe
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  8. 8 No. 4. Prière des petits canards 01:52
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 4. Prière des petits canards
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  9. 9 No. 5. Prière du petit poisson rouge 03:09
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 5. Prière du petit poisson rouge
    Duration
    03:09
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  10. 10 No. 6. Prière de la tortue 02:57
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 6. Prière de la tortue
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  11. 11 I. The Sea and the Skylark 05:14
    Track
    11
    Title
    I. The Sea and the Skylark
    Duration
    05:14
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  12. 12 II. Spring 04:45
    Track
    12
    Title
    II. Spring
    Duration
    04:45
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Stankovsky
  13. 13 No. 1. Love Spell 05:10
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 1. Love Spell
    Duration
    05:10
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton
  14. 14 No. 2. Spell of Sleep 03:58
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 2. Spell of Sleep
    Duration
    03:58
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton
  15. 15 No. 3. Spell Against Sorrow 04:25
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 3. Spell Against Sorrow
    Duration
    04:25
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton
  16. 16 No. 4. Spell of Safe-keeping 02:39
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 4. Spell of Safe-keeping
    Duration
    02:39
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton
  17. 17 No. 5. Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home 04:05
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 5. Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home
    Duration
    04:05
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton
  18. 18 No. 6. Spell of Creation 04:01
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 6. Spell of Creation
    Duration
    04:01
    Composer
    Juli Nunlist
    Ensemble
    Vox Futura
    Conductor
    Andrew Shenton