Composer: Sally Beamish, Rebecca Clarke, Elizabeth Maconchy, Duncan Strachan
Performer: Gaia Duo
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Delphian
Catalogue: DCD34263
Release: 2023
Size: 0.98 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Clarke: Grotesque
02. Clarke: Lullaby
Beamish: Stone, Salt and Sky
03. I. Processional
04. II. Horizon
05. III. Harbour Blues
Maconchy: Duo (Theme and Variations)
06. I. Theme Andante moderato
07. II. Variation I Allegro
08. III. Variation II Andante espressivo, rubato
09. IV. Variation III Allegro commodo –
10. V. Variation IV Molto moderato, espressivo –
11. VI. Variation V Allegro molto
12. VII. Variation VI Allegro vigoroso
13. VIII. Variation VII Lento serioso
14. IX. Variation VIII Allegro molto
15. Gaia Duo: Antibes
Strachan: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
16. I. Among twenty snowy mountains
17. II. I was of three minds
18. III. The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds
19. IV. A man and a woman are one
20. V. The blackbird whistling, or just after
21. VI. The shadow of the blackbird
22. VII. O thin men of Haddam, why do you imagine golden birds?
23. VIII. I know noble accents
24. IX. When the blackbird flew out of sight
25. X. At the sight of the blackbirds flying in a green light
26. XI. He rode over Connecticut in a glass coach
27. XII. The river is moving
28. XIII. The blackbird sat in the cedar-limbs
Formed in 2019, award-winning violin and cello duo GAIA have rapidly won plaudits for their pioneering programming and bold and daring performances.Their debut album release features three works specially written for the duo, and also bears testimony to their championing of works by underrepresented and overlooked voices from classical music’s past.
Elements of folk and jazz string-playing styles rub shoulders with traditional chamber-music imperatives in a programme that is full of women’s voices: those of the performers; of composers Sally Beamish, Rebecca Clarke and Elizabeth Maconchy; and of the singers of two Scottish folksongs, taped recordings of which frame Duncan Strachan’s hauntingly evocative Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.