{"id":49084,"date":"2024-10-25T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T11:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2bbd7d65-5ecb-447f-afa9-fe8c74fe8948"},"modified":"2024-10-31T14:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T13:08:27","slug":"welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Joy\u2013 A Celebration of Women\u2019s Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Friday, 25 October 2024 at 11:18 AM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html> <head\/> <body> <p><strong>Welcome Joy\u2013 A Celebration of Women\u2019s Voices<\/strong><br\/> I Holst: Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow; G Holst: Two Eastern Pictures; Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda etc; Poston: An English Day-book; plus works by Judith Weir, Hilary Campbell, Olivia Sparkhall, Gemma McGregor and Sruthi Rajasekar<br\/> Corvus Consort\/Freddie Crowley; Louise Thomson (harp)<br\/><em>Chandos CHSA 5350\u00a0\u00a0\u00a082:21 mins<\/em><\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"> <audio controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/10\/ROTM-Ushas-Goddess-of-Dawn.mp3\"\/> <\/figure> <h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Clip: <em>Ushas &#8211; Goddess of Dawn<\/em> by Sruthi Rajasekar (Corvus Consort)<\/h6> <p>Corvus Consort under its founder-director Freddie Crowley is always full of fresh thinking. Here we have a collection of works spanning a century up to the present day, composed for female voices and solo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/what-is-a-harp\">harp<\/a>.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/gustav-holst\">Gustav Holst<\/a> was a champion of this combination of forces, and three of his works provide a framework for ten compositions by women, introduced by his daughter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/imogen-holst\">Imogen Holst<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<em>Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow<\/em>, a setting of six Keats poems inspired by the poet\u2019s love of Devon.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-symphonies-by-female-composers\">Best symphonies by women composers<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/best-poets\">The 10 best poets of all time&#8230;<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <p>Like her father, Imogen Holst was a tireless advocate for women\u2019s education, and these three-part works provide a textbook of musical styles, from jaunty folk ditties to elegiac ruminations on pastoral England.<\/p> <p>Elizabeth Poston emerges as a composer of originality and substance, more avant garde than her well-known Christmas music might suggest. Commissioned for the Farnham Festival in 1966, her\u00a0<em>An English Day-book<\/em>\u00a0was intended to complement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/benjamin-britten-composer\">Britten<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<em>A Ceremony of Carols<\/em>\u00a0and showcases her powers as a brilliant miniaturist. The work unfolds in 11 vivid scenes from a day in the life of an English village, busy with clocks, bells, birds and bees, all brought to life around a meditative Interlude for solo harp.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/benjamin-britten-best-works\">The best works by Britten<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/did-britten-suffer-syphilis\">Did Britten suffer from syphillis?<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <p>Also featured in the collection are influential women composers of more recent times, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/judith-weir\">Judith Weir<\/a>, Gemma McGregor, Olivia Sparkhall and Hilary Campbell, all contributing short commissions inspired by the 14th-century female mystic, Julian of Norwich. Sparkhall\u2019s\u00a0<em>Lux Aeterna<\/em>\u00a0for double choir, makes simple but effective use of the spatial separation of the singers, setting the serene beauty of women\u2019s voices in a spiritual dimension.<\/p> <p>Gustav Holst\u2019s intense study of Indian culture gave rise to several works for female voices on mythological themes. His\u00a0<em>Two Eastern Pictures<\/em>\u00a0are orientalist rhapsodies on spring and summer, while settings of hymns from the ancient Hindu\u00a0<em>Rig Veda<\/em>\u00a0refract Indian musical modalities through Holst\u2019s distinctly European prism.<\/p> <p>These exotic forays provide a springboard for two new works by Indian-American composer Shruthi Rajasekar, specially commissioned for the album. Corvus\u2019s grasp of a more authentic classical Indian musical style in\u00a0<em>Ush\u0101s \u2013 Goddess of Dawn<\/em>\u00a0is impressive, with convincing pronunciation of the Sanskrit texts.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/music-inspired-orient\">Cultural appropriation or evocative escapism? 15 works inspired by the &#8216;exotic&#8217; East&#8230;<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <p>The 12 superb sopranos and altos of the Corvus Consort sing the complex, close-knit textures of these works with delicacy and pinpoint accuracy. Louise Thomson\u2019s immaculate, virtuosic harp playing conjures scenes that take us from scented gardens to sun-baked landscapes and haunted moonlit forests. The vocal\/instrumental balance is well-nigh perfect in Chandos\u2019s clear, nuanced recording.<\/p> <p>This dazzling collection has been put together with help of leading arts and education charity Multitude of Voyces, who have supported many of the commissions featured here. The musical palette may be restricted, but Crowley and his young singers have opened up a jewel-box of glinting, shimmering choral gems, shining anew.\u00a0<em>Ashutosh Khandekar<\/em><\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow: I. Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9SJUV4zSM7Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> Clip: <em>Welcome Joy and Sorrow<\/em> by Imogen Holst (Corvus Consort) <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Friday, 25 October 2024 at 11:18 AM Welcome Joy\u2013 A Celebration of Women\u2019s Voices I Holst: Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow; G Holst: Two Eastern Pictures; Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda etc; Poston: An English Day-book; plus works by Judith Weir, Hilary Campbell, Olivia Sparkhall, Gemma McGregor and Sruthi Rajasekar Corvus Consort\/Freddie [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":49085,"template":"","categories":[1,82,19],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices.jpg",900,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices.jpg",800,800,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices.jpg",900,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/10\/welcome-joy-a-celebration-of-womens-voices.jpg",900,900,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Friday, 25 October 2024 at 11:18 AM Welcome Joy\u2013 A Celebration of Women\u2019s Voices I Holst: Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow; G Holst: Two Eastern Pictures; Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda etc; Poston: An English Day-book; plus works by Judith Weir, Hilary Campbell, Olivia Sparkhall, Gemma McGregor and Sruthi Rajasekar Corvus Consort\/Freddie&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/49084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}