Ave Rex, a carol sequence for chorus & organ (or orchestra), Op 45
Elegy for a Prince, Op 59
This Worlde's Joie Op 67
Welsh composer William Mathias, active in the second half of the twentieth century, wrote in a variety of genres, but is perhaps best known for his choral music written for church performance. In those works, he brings a high level of musical sophistication to a field, which in its history is flooded with more than its fair share of mediocrity. Two of the works presented here are for concert presentation, and one of them has a religious theme and can be performed in churches with unusually proficient musicians. Mathias' ...
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Welsh composer William Mathias, active in the second half of the twentieth century, wrote in a variety of genres, but is perhaps best known for his choral music written for church performance. In those works, he brings a high level of musical sophistication to a field, which in its history is flooded with more than its fair share of mediocrity. Two of the works presented here are for concert presentation, and one of them has a religious theme and can be performed in churches with unusually proficient musicians. Mathias' music is notable for its brilliant and colorful orchestration and for its optimistic outlook. His harmonic and melodic language is most reminiscent of Tippett, but he is an eclectic and it's easy to hear influences of Messiaen and Stravinsky, as well as vestiges of the British cathedral anthem tradition. He writes with a lack of inhibition that shows he was not looking over his shoulder with much concern for either the approval of the academic music musical establishment or for public...
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