Toby Young: Beowulf / Young, Armonico Consort

$9.99
Label
Signum Classics
Release Date
September 18, 2020
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      YOUNG, TOBY
    • PERFORMER
      Thomas, West, Armonico Consort, Monks
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      September 18, 2020
    • UPC
      635212063224
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SIGCD632
    • LABEL
      Signum Classics
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Prologue

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    2. Celebration

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    3. Hwaet! Listen

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    4. Great Hall

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    5. Refrain - Light, Laughter and Love were Loathsome to Grendel

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    6. Interlude: The Fight

      Composer: Toby Young

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    7. Grendel's Bad Deeds

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    8. Sweet Song

      Composer: Toby Young

      Performer: Timothy West, Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    9. Unferth's Row

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    10. Refrain - Night Fell on Hrothgar's Hall and One by One All the Warriors Fell Asleep

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    11. Grendel-Beowulf Battle

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    12. When I Was King

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    13. Interlude: Triumph

      Composer: Toby Young

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    14. Rousing Song

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    15. Refrain - It was Quite a Party

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    16. Presentation of Hrunting

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    17. Grendel's Mother

      Composer: Toby Young

      Performer: Timothy West, Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    18. Rise Up

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    19. Hrothgar's Sermon

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    20. Interlude: Searching

      Composer: Toby Young

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    21. Chorus of Soldiers

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Timothy West, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    22. Refrain - So Before We Raid the Dragon's Hoard

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    23. My Lord has Gone

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: AC Academy Warwick

      Performer: Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks

    24. Final Chorus

      Composer: Toby Young

      Ensemble: Warwick Consort Choir, AC Academy Warwick, Armonico Consort

      Performer: Elin Manahan Thomas, Anne Denholm, Toby Young

      Conductor: Christopher Monks


The story of Beowulf, although thousands of years old, is still loved by many all over the world. This recording of a new musical telling of the story, composed by Toby Young, blurs traditional sense of the genre of classical music by merging it with folk and popular music. This fusion is what makes Beowulf a fantastic story. The greatest versions of the story are not those defined by a simplistic clash of good versus bad, but the ones which involve slight ambiguous points; ones which allow the reader/listener to make his/her mind up about what is exactly going on. The combination of Toby Young’s score and Jennifer Thorp’s libretto create this perfectly – with characterful narration by celebrated actor Timothy West, beautiful performances by soprano Elin Manahan Thomas.

REVIEW

This disc is really a lot of fun. The English composer Toby Young (b. 1990) studied at King’s College, Cambridge (with Robin Holloway) and New College, Oxford. This work is a retelling of the classic story of Beowulf, involving a script by William Towers, based on ideas by Danny Coleman-Cooke, and a sung libretto by Jennifer Thorp. Famed actor Timothy West is the superb narrator, and the young choral forces sing music to accompaniment of a small instrumental ensemble. Coleman-Cooke’s treatment of the story introduces ambiguity rather than hewing to a simple good vs. evil dynamic. Young’s music feels perfectly gauged. Each “cue” is never too long. The overall style is both completely of the present while also evoking the “ancient” era of the story. It is beautifully recorded and performed, and makes for a most enjoyable hour of storytelling in words and music.

--Fanfare