London Mozart Players - Jonathan Dove: For An Unknown Soldier; An Airmail Letter from Mozart on CD

Description

Product Description 'For An Unknown Soldier' is a cantata of remembrance to mark the centenary of the First World War. Commissioned by the London Mozart Players and Portsmouth Grammar School, Jonathan Dove s poignant work combines the words of war poets such as Wilfred Owen, William Noel Hodgson & Isaac Rosenberg. It lay at the centre of a multi-faceted project that encompassed primary and secondary schools, nursing homes and the local communities of Portsmouth and Croydon. The world premiere of the work took place in November 2014 and there are plans to tour the project in 2018. It is paired with the ensemble s performance of Dove s 'An Airmail Letter from Mozart', for 2 horns, string quartet and piano, directed by Melvyn Tan. Dove uses the 'Theme and Variations', and one or two other ideas, from Mozart s Divertimento K287 to write an imaginary letter to his wife Constanze. Review **** 'Dove has a profound feel for literature as well as a protean compositional talent and he sets the words in such a way that the thoughts of soldiers serving on the front line are juxtaposed with the fears of women waiting back home or the shrill taunts of a recruiting officer are offset against the trepidation of men marching towards their doom ... If there are echoes of Tippett and Britten there is also much else that sounds fresh and striking. And Dove s matchless experience of writing community operas is evident in the way that choirs of young children, older children (Portsmouth Grammar School) and adults (Oxford Bach Choir) are each given a distinct strand of the narrative ... Nicky Spence is wonderfully tender in the tenor solos ... it s a marvellously atmospheric work and should be heard.' --Richard Morrison The Times, 11th November 2016 'As always with Dove, the vocal writing is finely gauged. Children s choirs merge seamlessly into and out of the Oxford Bach Choir, with Nicky Spence a highly eloquent focal-point and Nicholas Cleobury securing an animated response from the London Mozart Players. Anyone coming to these poems for the first time will be left in little doubt as to their emotional acuity ... Recordings and annotations are up to Signum s high standards, making this disc more than just a memento of a major occasion.' --Richard Whitehouse Gramophone, February 2017