MUSIC TO MY EARS
What the classical world has been listening to this month
THE PRIESTS vocal trio
We were introduced to the music of composer Ola Gjeilo about a year ago through his Ubi Caritas,
which we sang in a choral group that we are part of. It really resonated with us, and as we got more interested in his music, we came across his piece
The Ground. It weaves the words ‘Pleni sunt coeli’ into a lovely melody, and while it sounds simple, the simple-sounding pieces are often the hardest to perform! Tenebrae sing it beautifully on their 2016 recording of Gjeilo’s music.
We’re all fascinated by the music of Philip Glass.
What’s amazing about Glass is that you can recognise him immediately through his style, and yet everything he composes is different. There’s a charming relentlessness about his music plus those repetitive chords that reassure you that you know where you’re going… and yet he still takes you by surprise. Glass is such an eclectic composer in his output, but the piece we’d choose is ‘Island’ from his Glassworks.
When we were putting together our new album, we thought about singing Van Morrison’s ‘Whenever God shines his light’. There’s a recording of a version of it by an a cappella Australian group called The Idea of North which is just fantastic – you find that you can’t help but tap your feet to it when you hear it. Van Morrison is, of course, a local boy for us here in Northern Ireland, and a wonderful songwriter too.
Over the years, all three of us have taken part in opera productions, from Donizetti and Verdi to Britten, and are big fans of opera in general. ‘Depuis le jour’ from the beginning of Act III of Charpentier’s Louise is one of those beautiful arias that can happily stand on its own on the concert platform. In her recording of it Joan Sutherland sounds so effortless, and the timbre of her voice is utterly unique.
BBC Music Magazine was talking to The Priests’
Father Eugene O’hagan; The Priests’ new album ‘Alleluia’ is out now
MATTHEW KANER composer
Swiss composer Jürg Frey writes this incredibly still, spacious music. I’ve been getting into his work over the last six months. I find it beautiful and calming. I’ve been listening to a recording of chamber music and the centrepiece is
Extended Circular Music, which has tracks for different instrumentations and all with the same similar spacious feeling to them. The recording’s first piece is called Mémoire, horizon and is for saxophone quartet. It’s incredibly beautiful.
I love the saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. He’s brought out something that’s a bit more like a solo album recently, Shabaka and the Ancestors, which is more in the free jazz vein. His playing is phenomenal, just indescribably good. I’ve seen him live a few times, and recently at a gig in which he played clarinet and a bit of bass clarinet with a poet. His clarinet playing is so beautiful, kind of the opposite of his saxophone playing, which is powerful and raucous.
Hans Abrahamsen was the inspiration for my piece Snowbells. I was responding to his piece
Schnee, and all the pieces he’s composed since that one have been so beautiful and pared back. There are these fine, glistening, undulating textures, and it’s often very surprising music. When Schnee came out it made people think differently about what contemporary music was and what direction it might be going in. I’m always excited to see what he’s doing.
Robert Glasper, the jazz crossover pianist, does a lot of stuff with hip-hop and R&B artists as well as his more serious jazz stuff. I really like the album that he brought out quite recently, Everything’s Beautiful, which is sort of a collaboration with Miles Davis. He’s taken clips of Davis speaking in the studio, or snippets of him playing a solo, and then made new tracks with them. And Glasper’s playing itself is just amazing.
As Radio 3’s embedded composer, Matthew Kaner is writing a new work every week until 7 Dec. Each piece is premiered on Monday’s Breakfast programme
CAROLINA EYCK theremin player
Last year, I played with the jazz musician Jacob Collier – he harmonised on the piano while I played ‘Ave Maria’ – and it was incredibly inspiring to hear him perform. He has since released an album called In My Room, and it’s great. His style is pretty mixed, from world music to funk, and he plays a range of instruments, switching from one to another.
Maria João is a singer from Portugal who I’ve been listening to for quite a long time, and I like her a lot. Her way of improvising is really free – I think she sort of switches off her brain when she does it, and just goes for it and is really in the moment. She sings in a lot of styles, including traditional Portuguese music and jazz, and jumps from singing melodies to making sounds, which is really interesting. Her album called Sol is particularly good.
I like Jaga Jazzist, a group from Norway whose music I was introduced to by a friend about five years ago and who I listen to a lot on CD. I love the harmonies they use in their compositions and, in fact, their composing style in general. There are quite a few of them in the group and they use a lot of different instruments in a really interesting way. I have listened to all of their albums, but especially like The Stix.
Recently, I played in a concert and there was a brilliant Syrian singer called Dima Orsho. She sang in a traditional Arabic way, which I was both touched by and found inspiring. I felt like there was a deep connection to her tradition, which all came out in her voice. When she sang, it was as if she was showing us the whole history of her country. As a musician,
I find the human voice a very inspiring instrument. Carolina Eyck’s new recording ‘Fantasias’, on Butterscotch Records, will be reviewed next month