Benjamin: A Mind Of Winter, Etc / Benjamin, Elder, Et Al

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George Benjamin is a contemporary composer known best among small circles, but with a loyal international following. This recording contains five of his pieces, and they share a common style. Benjamin treats a composition as a landscape: a kind of blank, rolling panorama onto which he affixes musical ideas. His sound is very textured and evocative. 'Ringed by the Flat Horizon,' for example, portrays a storm that overtakes a vast open space. The music begins ominously and contains a variety of created sound effects along with rapid fire crescendos into huge orchestral crashes. 'A Mind In Winter' is contrarily a setting of "The Snowman" (a poem by Wallace Stevens), and yet is built upon the same sort of abstract picture-building and sweeping evocative gestures for the voice. Benjamin's vocabulary is developed from the modern schools of atonality, and his teacher Messiaen is a clear and strong influence on his work. For those attracted to the modern schools of classical composition, they will find a great many layers to be unveiled in this recording.



Product Description:


  • Catalog Number: NI5643


  • UPC: 710357564321


  • Label: Nimbus


  • Composer: George Benjamin


  • Conductor: George Benjamin, Mark Elder


  • Orchestra/Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta


  • Performer: Gareth Hulse, Ishiro Nodaira, Paul Archibald, Penelope Walmsley-Clark, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Richard Blake, Ross Pople, Sebastian Bell



Works:


  1. A Mind of Winter

    Composer: George Benjamin

    Ensemble: London Sinfonietta

    Performer: Paul Archibald (Piccolo Trumpet), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (Soprano)

    Conductor: Mark Elder


  2. Ringed by the Flat Horizon

    Composer: George Benjamin

    Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra

    Performer: Ross Pople (Cello)

    Conductor: Mark Elder


  3. At First Light

    Composer: George Benjamin

    Ensemble: London Sinfonietta

    Performer: Gareth Hulse (Oboe)

    Conductor: George Benjamin


  4. Panorama

    Composer: George Benjamin


  5. Antara

    Composer: George Benjamin

    Ensemble: London Sinfonietta

    Performer: Pierre-Laurent Aimard (Keyboard), Sebastian Bell (Flute), Richard Blake (Flute), Ishiro Nodaira (Keyboard)

    Conductor: George Benjamin