The Enfolding

SKU: HL.49044170

ISBN 9790001194846. 9.0x12.0x0.123 inches.

The Sonata is one of Erkin's works which the casual listener may fail to attribute to a particular geography at a first hearing. He will however become absorbed by a unique sense of identity, surprising harmonies and rhythms which integrate with such sincerity and authenticity in the flowof the music. At a more attentive hearing, one can discover features of ancient Anatolian music which Erkin always transforms with extraordinary inspiration, enfolding audiences unfamiliar with this culture in a music which is often profoundly spiritual with an admirably woven polyphonic texture in which not one bar seems superfluous or out of place.The first movement Allegro is woven from two contrasting themes. The first is a vigorous progression in the middle register with contrapuntal elements quasi as counterpoint. A luminous second theme evoking folk tunes connects back to the first theme and the movement ends in a brisk tone.In the second movement Adagio molto sostenuto a profound, introspective first theme is developed in variations of exquisite lyricism. The imposing middle section which forms a rondo suggests latent unrest.Imbued with energy and determination, the final Allegro consists of abstracted elements of Anatolian folk music bearing the creative stamp of Erkin. The movement ends with an impressive crescendo.

SKU: ST.B891

ISBN 9780852498910.

Hymns from a Spiritual Journey
In Reclaiming Praise, Andrew Pratt has charted a spiritual journey of hope and renewal that will inspire all those who sing his hymns to re-examine the roots of their faith or doubt.

Following on from his two previous collections, Blinded by the Dazzle and Whatever Name or Creed, the 150 new texts gathered here bring a personal and 21st-century perspective to a range of themes including covenant, creativity, faith and science, justice, lament and persecution, enfolding time past and time future in a pertinent message for the present.

SKU: PR.111402890

ISBN 9781491134672. UPC: 680160685264.

What�??s in a name? While the title is French for �??Eight Flower Songs,�?� the texts are all in English. The poems�?? flowers metaphorically evoke fragrance, love and loss, life and death, rebirth and regrowth. Perhaps the texture and beauty of Gordon�??s music are themselves French. The 20-minute song cycle draws on poems from Wordsworth to Dorothy Parker, as well as from contemporary poets including the composer himself.
When So-Chung Shinn came to me with the idea of commissioning a song cycle with her spectacular husband Tony Lee, she had in mind something having to do with flowers. Tony had asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she said she wanted to be behind the creating of a new work. Lucky me, I was the recipient of the commission. So-Chung sent me a little description of all the flowers she loves, but I had to take the idea and create a narrative in my head.It is always a matter of pleasing the commissioner, yet coming up with something you can get behind and hear music for as well. I already knew I wanted to use my �??Tulips�?� poem which is really about the arc of a relationship as represented through the life span of the Tulips, and, in many ways, disappointment; and Dorothy Parker�??s �??One Perfect Rose,�?� which is wry, bitter, cynical, and funny, in a way only Dorothy Parker can so pithily express.I thought of Jane Kenyon�??s exquisite �??Peonies at Dusk,�?� because knowing she died so young (46) of leukemia, the poem has such a particular resonance, almost humanizing the Peonies, casting the moon as a sentient being, illustrating so beautifully how connected everything is, alive here, and revolving around these exquisite blossoms. Then, I remembered her husband Donald Hall�??s poem �??Her Garden,�?� which he wrote after Jane died, his grief intermingled with his inability to care for what she had created, to keep alive what so represented her aliveness, broken as he was, and I felt I already had a story.I found the Wordsworth, because it felt like pure joy to me, but also, if each of the songs has a color in my head, �??The Daffodils�?� is pure yellow and a good place to start. My partner Kevin and I live on a lake, and every year, the first Daffodils, the shock of yellows, the oranges, the blinding whites, after the long snowy winters, sing of the newness that is about to enfold us in its green miraculousness.At first, the cycle ended with the Langston Hughes poem �??Cycle,�?� or �??New Flowers,�?� because it was lovely, and about rebirth, which is obviously optimistic, and apt, but then, my friend Telmo Dos Santos, a wonderful Canadian poet whom I met at Banff, sent me his poem �??Afterlife With Lilacs,�?� having no idea what I was working on. I felt I had to add it because it is so dazzling, and it immediately felt like the missing link. Finally, there were unfortunately rights issues, namely, we could not, no how, get in touch with the Langston Hughes Estate, after so many happy collaborations.After almost a year�??s frustration, I wrote my own text, �??Play, Orpheus,�?� which ended up being fortuitous, because the first time I met So-Chung, she entered the room and the most exquisite scent of Lillies of the Valley, Muguet de Bois, filled the room. I went right over to her and rudely put my nose to her neck, for the intoxication of the scent. So �??Play, Orpheus�?� is for So-Chung, to remind us of the precious treasures of this world flowers remind us of. Everything and everyone lives and dies, lives and dies. Death and resurrection.And of course, this is music, this is song, so the inclusion of the God of music, Orpheus, seems apt. Huit Chansons de Fleurs is really about what flowers represent, their radiance, their flickering impermanence, the way they are used to celebrate, as well as to mourn...... and of course, their fragrance. Their fragrance.Ricky Ian GordonJuly 28, 2021.

SKU: HL.14065474

SKU: HL.14065473