Whitbourn: Luminosity / Gillett, Andrade, Berry, Commotio

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
February 23, 2010
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      WHITBOURN, JAMES
    • PERFORMER
      Tutu, Berry, Commotio, Andrade, Gillett, Parkes, Ker, Jones, Berry
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 23, 2010
    • UPC
      747313210374
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8572103
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Chamber Music & Recitals
    Works ⌄

    1. Magnificat

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Christopher Gillett, Henry Parkes, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    2. Nunc Dimittis

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Christopher Gillett, Henry Parkes, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    3. Alleluia jubilate

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Henry Parkes

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    4. A Prayer of Desmond Tutu

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Desmond Tutu, Andrew Ker, Steffan Jones

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    5. He carried me away in the spirit

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    6. Pure river of water of life

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    7. Eternal Rest

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Henry Parkes

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    8. Of one that is so fair and bright

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    9. Annelies: There is no speech or language

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    10. I. Lux in tenebris

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    11. II. The Changing Scenes

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    12. III. Silence

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    13. IV. The Living Thing

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    14. V. Castle of Diamonds

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker, Henry Parkes

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    15. VI. Ask the Beauty

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry

    16. VII. All Shall be Well

      Composer: James Whitbourn

      Ensemble: Commotio

      Performer: Levine Andrade, Henry Parkes, Steffan Jones, Andrew Ker

      Conductor: Matthew Berry


Light—life-enabling, life-enhancing. Something fundamental, universal in our life. Images evoking it abound in language, and virtually all the authors of the texts set here deal with or refer to it in one way or another, from ancient seers to the modern luminary Desmond Tutu.

There are of course many different kinds of light, but on its own the single word evokes something bright, pure, clear. These are words which can equally well be applied to James Whitbourn’s music. His writing is simple and straightforward (especially harmonically), and not outwardly virtuosic; his use of texture (often under-appreciated as a musical value) is also simple, but beguiling. The choir often sings homophonically (all voice parts moving in the same rhythm, as in a hymn), which implies a clarity of communication. But with a few sure strokes—the addition of a single element, such as the solo voice in the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, and A Prayer of Desmond Tutu, or the use of percussion in the same works, or the tanpura and the cunningly Eastern-sounding viola in Luminosity, he can simultaneously evoke different, non-Western traditions, and thereby multiply the allusions.

-- Bernard Robertson