BBC Singers, Martyn Brabbins - John Pickard: Mass in Troubled Times (2023)
WEB FLAC (tracks, digital booklet) - 311 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 181 MB
1:14:05 | Classical, Choral | Label: BIS
WEB FLAC (tracks, digital booklet) - 311 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 181 MB
1:14:05 | Classical, Choral | Label: BIS
Previous BIS releases of works by John Pickard have mainly featured instrumental compositions. This recording presents another facet of the British composer’s work, with compositions for choir under the expert direction of Martyn Brabbins as well as two instrumental pieces. The five short Latin motets as well as Ozymandias, Pickard’s opus 1, can be described as ‘occasional pieces’ composed during the composer’s student years or for the choir he conducts at the University of Bristol. They display solid tonal grounding and mainly homophonic writing and provide a stepping-stone to some of the more dissonant style found in the latter works. Written for the BBC Singers, whose reputation is well established, the Mass in Troubled Times is an ambitious work bearing witness to a context of global uncertainty.