Gavin Bryars is certainly one of the most prolific, if insufficiently acknowledged, writers of choral music of the decades surrounding the turn of the 21st century. At the time of this release in 2010, he had completed four books of madrigals, of a projected seven books. He intentionally wrote the madrigals for each book on a designated day of the week; Book Two, which fills most of this CD, was written on Tuesdays. Bryars models his madrigals on late Renaissance and early Baroque Italian works, and it's not hard to hear ...
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Gavin Bryars is certainly one of the most prolific, if insufficiently acknowledged, writers of choral music of the decades surrounding the turn of the 21st century. At the time of this release in 2010, he had completed four books of madrigals, of a projected seven books. He intentionally wrote the madrigals for each book on a designated day of the week; Book Two, which fills most of this CD, was written on Tuesdays. Bryars models his madrigals on late Renaissance and early Baroque Italian works, and it's not hard to hear their influence in the music's moods and in his inventive counterpoint and expert handling of the voices. Book Two is scored for the unconventional ensemble of three sopranos and three tenors, giving it a distinctly elevated center of gravity. Bryars' voice leading is fairly conventional -- the vocal lines move in lyrical, conjunct motion and often soar melodically -- but the harmonies they produce can be complex and densely saturated. The interplay of these two qualities is...
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Add this copy of Madrigals, Volume 1 to cart. $25.00, Sold by Basileia Liturgy and Music, ships from Andover, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by GB Records: BCGBCD16.
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