Being Beauteous

Featuring

Juha Kangas
Anu Komsi
Sakari Oramo
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra
Uusinta Chamber Ensemble
Benjamin Britten

Hans Werner Henze
Arnold Schoenberg
Niccolò Castiglioni
Karol Szymanowski

Did you know?

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Composition History

Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations, though dated 1939, was completed in January 1940 while he was in America, having fled the Second World War.

Performer Biography

Anu Komsi, the soprano on this album, began her musical education in Kokkola, Finland, playing both flute and violin in the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra.

Performer Biography

The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1972 by honorary conductor Juha Kangas, has premiered over 100 works and released more than 50 discs.

Compositional Technique

Hans Werner Henze's Being Beauteous is scored for a rare lineup of soprano, four cellos, and a harp, allowing the voice to blend with the cellos' chorale while also soaring above it.

Album & Artwork

The album's concept is unified by Arthur Rimbaud, the poet whose texts are set in both Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations and Hans Werner Henze's Being Beauteous.

Composer Biography

Arthur Rimbaud, the poet whose texts are featured on this album, wrote his psychedelic prose poems in 1872 at the age of 17 while in London.

Compositional Technique

Arnold Schönberg's Herzgewächse is a challenging work for soprano, requiring a range from a very low G sharp to a very high F, held pianissimo for eight seconds.