Elgar: From the Bavarian Highlands; Parry: Songs of Farewell; Jonathan Dove: The Passing of the Year; Philip Glass: Three Songs

Hertfordshire Chorus, David Temple - conductor, Rufus Frowde - piano

Joy, loss, and hope – music that reflects our lives through the passage of time.

Elgar's From the Bavarian Highlands sets words written by his wife Alice, inspired by walking holidays in the Alps. It reveals the composer's lighter side, glowing with infectious warmth and the pleasures of the everyday. This work features on our newly released album of music by Parry and Elgar on Signum Records.

Both Parry's and Jonathan Dove's works are shaped by loss. Parry's Songs of Farewell is a tribute to his students at the Royal College of Music who died on the battlefields of the First World War. Jonathan Dove dedicated The Passing of the Year to the memory of his mother, setting seven texts that trace the shape of a human life through the turning of the seasons.

Philip Glass's Three Songs is among the rarest works in his repertoire, a choral piece of captivating beauty. Commissioned to celebrate Quebec's 450th anniversary in 1984, it draws on poetry by North American and Francophone writers to reflect on loneliness, brotherly love and the resilience of hope.

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