Sally Beamish : The Seafarer
Genre: Classical
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD-1241
Label: Naxos
Released: February 2008
The three works on this disc were all written during British composer, Sally Beamish's four-year residency with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and each one springs from a literary source.
Beamish - herself a viola player - has given her second concerto for the instrument the title The Seafarer. It is inspired by a modern translation of a ninth-century Anglo-Saxon poem with the same title; a poem which reflects a Nordic view of life’s journey, using the metaphor of a sea voyage. The work is dedicated to Tabea Zimmerman, who performs it on this recording. In the case of Whitescape it was the life and work of novelist Mary Shelley and in particular, her novel Frankenstein, which provided the inspiration. Sangsters also grew out of a poem, this time written in Scots by Betty McKellar. The sangsters (‘singers’) of the title are sky-larks and seals.
Tracklist
- Concerto No.2 for Viola and Orchestra 'The Seafarer'
- Whitescape
- Sangsters
View profile of Sally Beamish
