Speakings, by Jonathan Harvey, was recorded live at Glasgow's City Hall in March 2009 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov.
See below a review of the recording by Aeon.
Click here to buy the CD.
In his article in the Glasgow Herald this week, Michael Tumelty recalls his experience of the event:
'A modern masterpiece is finally set down on disc.
Click here to buy the CD.
In his article in the Glasgow Herald this week, Michael Tumelty recalls his experience of the event:
'A modern masterpiece is finally set down on disc.
No experience in contemporary music has so bewitched and bewildered me as sitting in Glasgow’s City Hall a few years ago listening, utterly enthralled, as Jonathan Harvey’s Speakings received its Scottish premiere performance. Ilan Volkov conducted the BBC SSO, while the geniuses of Ircam, the renowned French acoustic institute, worked their computerised magic on Harvey’s mesmerising score, giving the orchestra the appearance of near-vocalising. The hall itself seemed to be a living organism, breathing and speaking with the orchestra. Though the eagerly awaited recording does not and cannot replicate the sheer sense of space of that experience, the trajectory of this great piece, ultimately a work of profound contemplation, is totally lucid, with its wonderful central climax, its mantra-like chant, and a coda that drifts away weightlessly to another world. One of the great monuments of contemporary music from one of the most gentle, wise, thoughtful and serene characters with whom it has been my great pleasure to speak and learn.'
The Glasgow Herald (Michael Tumelty), September 2010