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Visions of the Greek Soul (2 CDs)
Visions of the Greek Soul (2 CDs)
Disc A: The Anyte Collection
15 songs – Teresa; Lullaby; Beauty; Enough; The Nun; Epitaph; Away from you; Red Lips; The Soul selects her own Society; Wait; Your Eyes; My Greatest Regret; Nightingale; Scent of the Rose; Sunset
Performed by: Lesley-Jane Rogers, Alison Smart (sopranos); Katharine Durran (piano); Cilia Petridou (Roland piano on Sunset) Recorded at Haberdashers’ Askes’ School in October 2010 (engineer David Lefeber)
Disc B: Byzantine Doxology
Sections: Bless us O Lord; Thrice-holy Hymn; O Lord I have Cried; Deliver Me; Pure Light; Hosanna in the Highest; Peace to All; Rest the Souls
Performed by: Jenni Harper (soprano); Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano); Susan Legg (mezzo-soprano); Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks (tenor); Jeremy Birchall (bass); Patrick Ardagh-Walter (bass); Alison Smart (conductor) Recorded at St Jude on the Hill, London, in August 2018 (engineer Phil Hardman)
Total Playing Time: 110.56
About the Album
Cilia Petridou was an accomplished pianist until her career was ended by major surgery, since when she has concentrated on composition. Moving with her family to the UK, she was hugely affected by the Turkish invasion of north Cyprus which destroyed their home town of Famagusta; her music is often informed by that political and social tragedy and also by the landscapes of Cyprus, ancient literature and the Greek Orthodox liturgy.
This double album is in two parts: The Asmata is a collection of songs inspired by modern Greek poetry, divided between two sopranos. A small vocal ensemble then presents the Byzantine Doxology, a new setting of Orthodox liturgical texts. Most is sung in Greek and is suffused, even in the case of a setting of Emily Dickinson, with the musical traditions of that country. The composer has also been much inspired by the ancient writings of Anyte of Tegea.