Héloïse Werner included English text in Knight's Dream to make the piece understandable without printed translations, creating a linguistic disjunct that surprises audiences.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in August 2024 at Wyastone Concert Hall in Monmouth, United Kingdom.
Compositional Technique
In Héloïse Werner's Knight's Dream, the traditional singer-pianist roles are blurred, with the pianist Sholto Kynoch speaking, humming, and knocking on the piano to add different colors.
Performer Biography
Sholto Kynoch, the pianist, is the founder and Artistic Director of the Oxford International Song Festival, which won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2015.
Composition History
Héloïse Werner, a composer and vocalist, was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 to write Knight's Dream as a companion piece to Schumann's Dichterliebe for this album.
Performer Biography
Helen Charlston, the mezzo-soprano on this album, was a BBC New Generation Artist and won a Gramophone Award and BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award in 2023 for her debut solo album.
Composition History
Robert Schumann, the composer of Dichterliebe, composed the cycle in a series of intense bursts between May 24 and June 1, 1840, using texts from Heinrich Heine's 1827 collection Buch der Lieder.
