1 O salutaris hostia[3'30] with Rachel Ambrose Evans (soprano), Hannah Partridge (soprano) 2 The new moon Day, you have bruised and beaten me down[4'14] 3 Psalm 67 God be merciful unto us, and bless us[5'28] with Michael Craddock (bass) 4 Trinity Te Deum We praise thee, O God[6'41] with Trinity Brass, Sally Pryce (harp) 5 Northern Lights Cik naksnīnas pret ziemeli[5'56] with Jamie Roberts (tenor) 6 The heavens' flock Stars, you are the heavens’ flock[3'28] 7 The earthly rose Did the king in his cardboard house?[3'25] with Sally Pryce (harp) Merton College Service[6'24] with Hannah King (soprano) 8 Magnificat[3'39] 9 Nunc dimittis[2'45] 10 Rivers of light Kuovsakasah reukarih tåkko teki[5'35] with Hannah King (soprano), Jonathan Pacey (bass), Zane Šmite (jaw harp) 11 Ubi caritas[2'46] 12 Amazing grace[4'47] with Anna Cavaliero (soprano) 13 O Emmanuel[2'44] with Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano) 14 Who can sail without the wind?[3'05] with Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano), Hiroshi Amako (tenor), Sally Pryce (harp) 15 Stars Alone in the night[4'27] 16 Only in sleep[5'17] with Rachel Ambrose Evans (soprano) The intensely practical choral music of the young Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds is steadily gaining appreciation across the world. The works on this new album owe their genesis to commissions from the United States, England and northern Europe and encompass ethereal expressions of uniquely arctic phenomena (listen for wine glasses turned—and tuned—to wondrously simple but devastating effect within the choral texture), American ballads and several works in the ‘Anglican tradition’, the fruits of the composer’s recent residency at Trinity College Cambridge.
Trinity College Choir Cambridge here returns the compliment, as it were, with superlative performances of these varied and engaging works, all recorded under the watchful eye of the composer and conductor Stephen Layton.
