GILES SWAYNE (b.1946): Stabat mater, The silent land, Magnificat I, Ave verum corpus, Senegalese Song: O Lulum.

Description: These works display the wide range of influences that Swayne has brought to bear on his choral writing since the remarkable landmark CRY of 1980. His travels and ethnomusicological research in Africa are one component; the spiritual and musical traditions of many cultures supply his texts and the treatment thereof. The silent land is a humanistic, not primarily religious, requiem, treating themes of human loss, grief and acceptance in a powerful 40-part texture (with echoes of CRY) with solo cello as the soul of the individual. The other works, including the extended Stabat mater - which sets ritual prayers for the dead from three major religions - are in a more tonally based language, directly accessible and emotionally potent. Sophie Bevan (soprano), Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo), Ben Alden (tenor), Jonathan Sells (bass), Raphael Wallfisch (cello), The Dmitri Ensemble; Graham Ross.