Composer: Nigel Clarke
Performer: Peter Sheppard Skærved, Alexandru Cozma
Orchestra: ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Neil Thomson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8579127
Release: 2023
Size: 267 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
The Prophecies of Merlin
01. Tapestry I. Calidon Wood
02. Tapestry II. Calaterium Forest
03. Tapestry III. Severn Sea
04. Tapestry IV. Canute’s Wood
05. Tapestry V. Daneian Forest
The Brussels-based British composer Nigel Clarke is renowned for his virtuosic style, and an uncompromising contemporary musical language that speaks with an authentic voice to today’s audiences. This world premiere recording of his symphony for violin and orchestra The Prophecies of Merlin is inspired by the 12th-century text De gestis Britonum by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and it casts the soloist as the maddened Merlin, either raging alone or caught up in the wild tumult of the orchestra. This score brims with rhythmic drive and bravura orchestration, juxtaposing savage musical outbursts with moments of sheer transcendental beauty.