Birtwistle: Secret Theatre / Silbury Air / Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum

MARBECKS STAFF PICKS 2008 - REISSUE OF THE YEAR

"Written between The Mask of Orpheus and the no less epic enterprise of Earth Dances, Secret Theatre really does mark a great leap forward, and this performance… is… highly charged, eloquent account of one of the composer's most powerful and most personal scores." Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

"Secret Theatre" is a haunting, atmospheric, sometimes violent and frenzied, sometimes frankly chirpy piece that is one of Birtwistle's most arresting and memorable works - a half-hour long exploration of conflict and cooperation built upon long sinuous melodic lines set against ticking clockworks and remains for me one of the greatest masterpieces of the late 20th century. A great recording to see re-issued, this CD was the very first CD I bought 20 years ago and it still sounds great. (KWC)

Secret Theatre explores Birtwistle's fascination with ritual and takes its title from a Robert Graves poem.

Silbury Air is stark, menacing, and tense and named after the prehistoric mound Silbury Hill in England.

'No more exciting recording of contemporary music than this has appeared for many a day. It celebrates the virtues, and the virtuosity, of the London Sinfonietta and also celebrates the Sinfonietta's long association with Harrison Birtwistle, including three of the four most substantial works he has written for them. It is Secret Theatre (1984) that makes this new recording special … it is an enthralling exploration of the interaction between what Birtwistle terms 'cantus' and 'continuum'-chant-like melody and block-like, chordally-constructed harmony. These two elements are of equal importance, and serve to promote the real drama of the music: the confrontation, and achievement of equilibrium, between individual and collective. These compositions leave no doubts as to why Birtwistle is such a formidable, acclaimed presence on the contemporary scene. All that needs to be said about the performances, and the recording, is that they do the music justice.' Gramophone