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The Quarterly Review

Two traditional tunes from the British Isles feature on a new CD from the Divine Art label, devoted to the works of American contemporary composer (and composer-in-residence at Harvard University), Carson Cooman (born 1982).

Mr. Cooman is a composer keen to realise the potential of the internet in spreading his message, with thousands of his compositions available via the worldwide web – a recognition, perhaps, that in a not-so-far-away-future, where our way of living and working is so different, such technology might possibly become an alternative to the concert hall. The ‘2 from the British Isles’ (as they appear in the track listing) are the Welsh tune, Hyfrydol – nostalgic and full of “hiraeth”, or longing; and Kingsfold – perhaps better known as the hymn-tune, I heard the voice of Jesus say – or the great theme in Vaughan Williams’s Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.

Devotees of the organ will relish the rich tones of Cooman’s St. Michael Antiphonies, the St. Patrick Silhouette, and his Autumn Sketches. Here is a modern voice, rooted in the past but with hope in the future.