Silver Nocturnes

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JOHN McCABE
Silver Nocturnes
John McCabe (piano) / Roderick Williams (baritone) / David Pyatt (horn) / Sacconi Quartet

[ NMC / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 17 November 2017

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

John McCabe (1939-2015) was a prolific composer and pianist, bequeathing in all an impressive seven symphonies and seven string quartets, as well as numerous concertos and several major ballets. McCabe was appointed CBE by the Queen in 1985 for his services to British music.

Three highly expressive chamber works make up this album. The piano quintet The Woman By the Sea draws inspiration from a the Kenji Mizoguchi film Sansho Dayu (1954). It was recorded in 2009 and features John McCabe on piano, with the Sacconi Quartet. Silver Nocturnes for baritone and string quartet, sets poetry by three of the so-called 'Silver Poets' of the sixteenth century: Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey), Sir Edward Dyer, and Sir Philip Sidney. There is a mournful, almost austere tone established through the Britten-esque vocals, here sung by Roderick Williams.

The Sixth String Quartet, Silver Nocturnes (2011), is an austerely radiant fusion of quartet and song-cycle, beautifully performed here with the baritone Roderick Williams…Like the Quartet, the Horn Quintet is a remarkably subtle composition and familiarity only deepens respect for the composer's craft…I cannot recommend this strongly enough." - Gramophone, December 2017