Through the Night

But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigured so together,
More witnesseth than fancy’s images
And grows to something of great constancy,
But, howsoever, strange and admirable.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare

The night is a source of wonder and fascination, rich with metaphorical associations. With music spanning nearly 500 years, our project Through the Night features beguiling counterpoint and chromaticism. A key notion is that the night can be a space and time for change and transformation. The sense of guilt and foreboding in Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht gives way to a stronger bond of love. Strauss’ Metamorphosen, written in the final year of WWII, is an acknowledgment that things will never be the same again. Daniel Kidane’s Be Still marks an inflection point in the depths of the recent COVID-19 pandemic as we were searching for a way forward. Full of heartache and spiritual suffering, the Renaissance works of Casulana, Purcell and Gesualdo speak to the night as a state of being, and a portent of death, with each of these works transformed through arrangements for string orchestra.

This project will be released on BIS Records on 6 October 2023 with launch concerts at Nottingham’s University Hall (3 Oct) and London’s MyLuthier (4 Oct)

Richard Strauss (arr. Mouret)

Metamorphosen 28’

Maddalena Casulana (arr. Parkin)

Morir non può il mio cuore 6’

Daniel Kidane Be Still (world premiere recording)

(with percussion) 8’

Carlo Gesualdo (arr. Michi Wiancko)

Tristis est anima mea 5’

Arnold Schönberg

Verklärte Nacht 30’

Henry Purcell (arr. Stokowski)

Dido’s Lament 4’