Credits:

Anderson, Julian (1967-)

Description:

Composer and conductor Oliver Nassen sadly passed away on July 8, 2018. This album features oratorios and chamber works by composer Julian Anderson, with whom Nassen had a long and productive working relationship. Julian Anderson has presented contemporary music by many composers at the Philharmonia Orchestra's "Music of Today" program, and was Composer-in-Residence at the Wigmore Hall. This is a large-scale oratorio combining a poem by Emily Dickinson and a Latin liturgical text, but it has almost no religious overtones and, as the title says, "Heaven is Shy of Earth," it is an easy listening work that praises nature. It is an easy-to-hear work that praises nature as the title says, "Heaven is ashamed of the beauty on earth.Andrew Davis was the conductor for the premiere, but Nassen gave the first performance of the revised version. The other piece, "The Comedy of Change," is a relatively large chamber piece. It celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species," and was composed to be used as ballet music as well as a concert piece. Naxos Japan