CDS and DVDS

Media

A Land So Luminous

music by Kenneth Hesketh and Richard Causton

Mary Bevan soprano,  Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin, Douglas Finch piano, Lisa Nelsen, flute
Joseph Spooner cello, Marie Lloyd, clarinet Marcus Barcham-Stevens, violin
The Continuum Ensemble, Philip Headlam, conductor

Kenneth Hesketh A Land So Luminous, Cautionary Tales, IMMH, Netsuke

Richard Causton Threnody, Rituals Of Hunting And Blooding, Non Mi Comporto Male, Sleep, Night Piece (Prima FacieD051)

‘..most rewarding and enjoyable release. The performances are first class and the recordings... are excellent.‘

The Classical Reviewer

‘Kenneth Hesketh composes music of delicate luminosity’

The Observer

‘Causton is among our most imaginative composers‘

The Sunday Times

Poles Apart

music by Roger Smalley

Douglas Finch piano, The Continuum Ensemble, Philip Headlam conductor

Poles Apart; Piano Trio; Clarinet Trio; Chopin Variations; Crepuscule  (NMC D083)

‘...The Continuum Ensemble prove equally adept here...in command of the writing..’

Gramophone

‘There are excellent performances from The Continuum [Ensemble] players, in fine recorded sound. Well worth exploring‘

International Record Review

The Girl in My Alphabet

music by Errollyn Wallen

Patricia Rozario, soprano Matthew Sharp, cello Margaret Leng Tan, toy pianos Mike Henry, baritone Douglas Finch, piano The Continuum Ensemble, Philip Headlam, conductor

Dervish, Are you Worried about the Rising Cost of Funerals? (Five Simple Songs), Louis’ Loops, Horseplay, In Our Lifetime, The Girl in My Alphabet (Avie 0006)

‘Horseplay is one of Wallen’s satisfyingly dense dance scores performed by The Continuum Ensemble, a four movement array of melodic and textural delights.‘

Guardian

‘The performances are superb‘

International Record Review

Photography

music by Errollyn Wallen 

Matthew Sharp, cello Tim Harries, bass guitar Errollyn Wallen, voice The Continuum Ensemble,  Philip Headlam conductor

Hunger, Cello Concerto, In Earth, Photography (NMC D221)

Armida by Judith Weir

an opera for television; commissioned by Channel 4, U.K., with MJW Productions

Armida set in an occupied middle-eastern country, it is the story of Armida, a native of her country, who falls in love with Rinaldo, an officer with the peace-keeping forces. Together they set in motion a solution to the warfare that engulfs the nation and help bring an end to the violent resistance movement led by Idraote.

A collaboration between Judith Weir, one of the UK’s leading composers, and award-winning film director Margaret Williams, Armida is a thrilling contemporary love story set in a desert war zone, charting the passionate relationship between Armida, a television journalist and Rinaldo, an army officer.

The performers sing live on location in Morocco, giving an immediacy and intensity to their roles. Armida was first broadcast across the United Kingdom on December 25, 2005 with the documentary,  Judith Weir: Armida and Other Stories.

Margaret Williams, director
Michel Baudour, director of photography
Philip Headlam, conductor

Talise Trevigne soprano, Kenneth Tarver tenor
Grant Doyle baritone, Olivier Dumait tenor
Dean Robinson bass-baritone, Nicholas Folwell bass-baritone
Donna Bateman soprano

The Continuum Ensemble
Nicholas Parker, Colin Matthews, music producers
Mike Hatch, Huw Walker, music engineers, Daniel Goddard, film editor
Caroline Freeman, line producer, Anne Beresford, producer

https://margaretwilliamsdirector.com/portfolio_page/armida

feature article on Armida, Guardian, by Stuart Jeffries

www.theguardian.com/film/2005/dec/01/classicalmusicandopera