Musica Viva 29 - Responses, Sweet Disorder, Gawain's Journey (SACD)

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Sir Harrison Birtwistle is doubtless one of the most important and influential British composers of the last decades. This CD brings together two works with a strong link to the tradition: "Responses" is a piano concerto that, in accordance with historical convention, focuses on the dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. Birtwistle's second large-scale opera, "Gawain", deals with the legend of King Arthur. In the orchestral version, "Gawain's Journey", which was published the same year the opera premiered, the voice parts are allocated to various instruments. Instead of merely cobbling together selected passages into an orchestral suite, Birtwistle composed them into a standalone orchestral work of immense musical power.