Sacred Physic: Music by Julia Usher
“Sacred Physic” is a dramatic madrigal after Shakespeare, telling the story of King Pericles and Marina. Together with the other works on this album it demonstrates Julia Usher’s individual and highly skilled writing. A top rank list of performers helps to make this one of the most popular of the contemporary music albums from Metier.
Track Listing
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Julia Usher:
- Sacred Physic - I. Lament I (1:48)
- Sacred Physic - II. History 2 (2:13)
- Sacred Physic - III. Lament 2 (2:44)
- Sacred Physic - IV. Arioso (2:56)
- Sacred Physic - V. Recitative (1:08)
- Sacred Physic - VI. Salutation (1:28)
- Sacred Physic - VII. Aria con Obbligato (1:58)
- Sacred Physic - VIII. Intermezzo (1:19)
- Sacred Physic - IX. Dramatic Quartet (2:31)
- Sacred Physic - X. Trio and Close (3:02)
- A Reed in the Wind - I. Mistral (2:07)
- A Reed in the Wind - II. Sirocco (2:12)
- A Reed in the Wind - III. Zephirus (1:55)
- A Reed in the Wind - IV. Bora (2:29)
- A Reed in the Wind - V. Khamsin (3:30)
- A Reed in the Wind - VI. Harmattan (2:15)
- Before Light Ends (6:00)
- Le Isole della Laguna - I. Torcello (6:51)
- Le Isole della Laguna - II. Merletti di Burano (3:17)
- Le Isole della Laguna - III. San Francesco del Deserto (6:30)
- What is the Price of Experience (6:35)
- Invocation: Poor Naked Wretches (3:55)
Reviews
“Here is a CD which exemplifies Metier’s unique flair for presenting contemporary British music to best advantage. The vocal texts are of the highest quality. This is an excellent, highly desirable portrait CD of an interesting composer, who has preserved an ever open, enquiring attitude to music and its performance.
” —Peter Grahame Woolf
“Metier is to be congratulated on producing the first commercial CD of Usher’s music. On the strength of the disc she certainly deserves to be better known and I hope it does well. {The vocal works] show the sensitivity Julia Usher has for the English language and what talent she has for the dramatic situation… showing genuine flexibility with a voice more her own.
” —John Leeman
“The performances throughout are excellent, as is Metier’s sound, clear and crystal like the Mediterranean.
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