To mark the 60th birthday of British composer Jonathan Dove, Orchid Classics presents an album devoted to his extraordinary orchestral music, performed by the BBC...

To mark the 60th birthday of British composer Jonathan Dove, Orchid Classics presents an album devoted to his extraordinary orchestral music, performed by the BBC Philharmonic. Under the direction of Timothy Redmond, the BBC Philharmonic performs works which span nearly two decades, from The Ringing Isle of 1997, to Gaia Theory, premiered at the BBC Proms in 2014. The Ringing Isle was inspired by Handel’s observation about the bells he heard upon arriving in England; Dove uses bell-ringing patterns and allusions to Gaunt’s famous ‘scepter'd isle’ speech from Shakespeare’s Richard II. Other highlights include Run to the Edge, a thrilling, vibrant work bursting with energy and colour; Airport Scenes, extracted from Dove’s comic opera, Flight; and Hojoki, a setting of a Japanese text which, appropriately, reflects on the significance of reaching the age of 60, and is sung here by countertenor Lawrence Zazzo, who gave the work’s premiere.