From Sea to Sky: Orchestral & vocal works

"Another side of David Matthews can be heard on another Dutton issue, seven of his smaller-scale works including light fare (From Sea to Sky, Total Tango, Goodnight Song), and three vocal works. A Congress of Passions is a brief cantata on poetry by Sappho, for mezzo-soprano, oboe and string orchestra; Movement of Autumn, for soprano and chamber orchestra, is a song cycle based on poems by Vernon Watkins, and The Sleeping Lord, for soprano, flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet, is based on poems of David Jones about the legend of King Arthur. Here is the other side of this intriguing British composer, in splendid performances very well recorded."
(ClassicalCDReview)

How refreshing to find so eloquent and thoughtful a collection of works written during the last fifteen years. The seven pieces recorded here range widely in mood, but are linked by several unifying themes: a response to landscape, a connection with dance and a concern with expressive melody. The short overture 'From Sea to Sky', evocative of the Kent coastline, is exhilarating and with hints of a hornpipe in the rhythm. In contrast the expressive 'Aubade' was written in Australia and features Australian birdsong. Matthews' vocal writing in 'A Congress of Passions' (setting Sappho) and the Welsh Poet David Jones's 'The Sleeping Lord' responds to the poet's imagery with haunting invention, which long repays the opportunity of repeated hearing on CD.