New York Polyphony - Sky Of My Heart [CD]

One of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles activetoday, New York Polyphony is renowned for it'sinnovative programming ranging from Gregorian chantto contemporary commissions. On Sky of my Heart, theselection spans over four hundred years of musicalhistory and bears witness to this vocal ensemble'scommitment to discovering and developing new worksthat augment it's core early music repertoire.Some of the works performed here deal with theessential themes of life, death and the afterlife and havebeen inspired by personal bereavement (Smith) or bythe impact of Covid confinement (Moravec). Others aresteeped in a spiritual atmosphere, whether religious(Byrd, Moody, Tavener and McGlade) or meditative(Naito). The contemporary works, some of which werewritten at the behest of New York Polyphony, are firmlyrooted in the rich history of plainsong, while at the sametime featuring some very contemporary harmonies.The vocal ensemble is joined by LeStrange Viols in threepieces: My Days by Nico Muhly, a ritualized tribute tothe early 17th-century English composer OrlandoGibbons, The Silver Swan by Gibbons himself, whichbrings the programme to an appropriately quiet andpoignant close, and Byrd's Agnus Dei. The viol ensembleadds a colour that is both appropriate for Gibbons andoriginal in it's treatment of sound.