Britten: Canticles & The heart of the matter
Live recording of Britten’s five canticles, with the extended version of Canticle III (The heart of the matter).
Related Artists: Daniel Norman, Christopher Gould, Benjamin Maclean, William Towers, Roderick Williams, Harriet Walter, Richard Watkins, Hugh Webb
Catalogue Number: 5060192780314
Reviews
Both sets of performances are very fine. Those from Oxford around Norman are easier on the ear … The Oxford performance has a wider-ranging essay by recent Britten biographer Paul Kildea … Both discs are well recorded. (International Record Review)
This release is a valuable addition to the Britten discography (Classical Iconoclast)
Those expecting five “canticles” will not be disappointed (Fanfare)
Track listing
- Canticle I: My beloved is mine
- Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac
- Prologue: Where are the seeds of the Universal Fire
- Reading: The earth of my heart was broken and gaped low
- Song: We are the darkness in the heat of the day
- Reading: In such a heat of the earth
- Canticle III: Still falls the rain
- Reading: I see Christ’s wounds weep in the Rose on the wall
- Epilogue: So, out of the dark
- Canticle IV: Journey of the Magi
- Canticle V: The death of Saint Narcissus