Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

I was keen to hear this recording of recent choral works by British-Swiss composer Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley as they are performed by the outstanding vocal ensemble Tenebrae under Nigel Short. The singing is, as expected, excellent and the recording by producer Jacob Ewens and engineer Mike Hatch is clean and bright so followers of Tenebrae, now in their 25th year, should be interested. However, for this listener, the material did not engage me at all. Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley is a British-Swiss composer, conductor, violist/barytonist (me neither) and researcher. In her compositions she explores the thresholds between cultures, languages and spiritual traditions which is to be applauded but personally I found the liner notes and lyric sheet to be more interesting than the music. The programme includes the work 'Engelsmusik', inspired by writings on angelic music which draw on texts by Rumi, Greek liturgy and spiritual philosophy. At its centre is the large-scale work 'The 99 Names', setting Arabic and Aramaic texts from Islamic and Christian traditions, and finishing with 'Cycle of Peace', responding to contemporary conflict. It all sounds interesting when I write this review but little of the actual music caught my ear. Of course, the fault, if fault it be, could lie with me, the listener. I approached the album with anticipation as, as I said, I like and admire the work of Tenebrae and usually find something to enjoy in contemporary choral music but this time nothing touched me. I cannot imagine singing any of this material with my local choir and while the texts were thought-provoking, the music wasn't. On first listen it did not move me so I put it to one side and came to it again several weeks later but still there was no response. It might be me; it certainly is no fault of the performers so I will put this down to experience and move on.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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