Release Date: 17 January 2020
Label: NMC Recordings
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5023363025027
Genres: Classical Contemporary
Description
'When I founded Chineke! in 2015, one of the most important aims, as well as creating a top-class orchestra comprising a majority of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) musicians, was to champion the music of BME composers, both living and from the past. Over these last three years we have given many performances of new commissions and existing works by some of the UK's leading BME composers and I am delighted that six of these works are now captured in perpetuity on this NMC Recordings album. Chineke! has derived enormous pleasure in performing and recording these works, which represent such a variety of instrumentation and mood, and I hope that you, the listener, will gain as much enjoyment from hearing them.'
- Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, FRAM, HonFTL
Errollyn Wallen pays homage to Bach and Corelli in Concerto Grosso with its combination of dance elements and the buoyant rhythms of Baroque and popular music. James Wilson's evocative The Green Fuse is inspired by Dylan Thomas's poem The force that through the green fuse drives the flower and Julian Joseph's energetic Carry That Sound combines elements of jazz and blues harmonies.
Daniel Kidane's Dream Song was written for the reopening of Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2018 and sets words from Martin Luther King's powerful 'I have a dream' speech, sung by soloist Roderick Williams. Hannah Kendall's The Spark Catchers draws on the dynamic poem by Lemn Sissay, commissioned for London's 2012 Olympics.
Philip Herbert's poignant Elegy is a tribute to Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in a racist attack in London in 1999. Herbert says 'There is a need to place a higher value on the strength that comes from diverse peoples living together in Britain'.
Tracklisting
Lisa Illean, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, GBSR Duo, Juliet Fraser, Explore Ensemble
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins, Andrew Davis
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, London Sinfonietta, Ryan Wigglesworth, Huw Watkins
Richard Baker
Mark Padmore, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta
Zubin Kanga
Thomas Simaku, soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain
Onyx Brass
Mark Guiliana
Nigel Price Organ Trio
Conrad Herwig
Norma Winstone & Kit Downes
Oded Tzur
Su Rossy Girod, Nat Su, Jorge Rossy
Jonathan Salvi Arugula Sextet
Bob Baldwin
