Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time, Ritual Fragment & Gawain's Journey
4/1/2012, 22 Tracks, 1:05:49
Featuring
Elgar Howarth
Philharmonia Orchestra
London Sinfonietta
Harrison Birtwistle
Did you know?
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Composition History
The Triumph of Time, composed by Harrison Birtwistle, was one of several 'satellite pieces' that explored aspects of his opera The Mask of Orpheus, but were self-contained works.
Composition History
Gawain's Journey is an orchestral work drawn from Harrison Birtwistle's opera Gawain, which premiered at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in May 1991.
Performer Biography
Conductor Elgar Howarth, who studied composition, began his conducting career in the early 1970s after initial success as a virtuoso trumpeter.
Composer Biography
Harrison Birtwistle, born in Accrington, England in 1934, studied clarinet and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music alongside other talented contemporaries.
Compositional Technique
In Harrison Birtwistle's The Triumph of Time, two musical elements remain constant amidst the transforming material: a simple three-note figure played by a soprano saxophone and an elegantly adorned cor anglais melody.
Composer's Artistic Vision
A fundamental aspect of composer Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus is an approach to musical and dramatic time that treats past, present, and future as interchangeable or simultaneous.
Recording & Production
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