Eleanor Alberga: Wild Blue Yonder

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Thomas Bowes - violin; Eleanor Alberga - piano; Richard Watkins - horn; Ensemble Arcadiana; Eleanor Alberga (1949-); © 2021 Navona Records

Navona Records: “Eleanor Alberga explores the whole gamut of the human experience in WILD BLUE YONDER, an equally diverse and coherent set of four contemporary chamber music pieces. While written over the course of twenty-two years, these pieces burst the limits of both space and time. No-Man’s-Land Lullaby reaches back over a century to World War I; Shining Gate of Morpheus enters the realm of the mystical; Succubus Moon explores the dark sides of the human psyche; and The Wild Blue Yonder offers a glimpse into a world that is at once alien and wonderful. Undauntedly, positively unsettling album; perfect listening for these unsettling times and a worthy addition to the much hailed album of Alberga’s three string quartets from 2019.”

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“All four performances are immaculate, as might be imagined with either the composer or her husband, or both, being involved. Thomas Bowes notes in the booklet that the sequence of works is a happy accident, with the two duos (taken from the composer’s archive) having to substitute for larger works that could not be recorded due to the pandemic. The result, however, is a convincing and satisfactory whole, the sound nicely mastered. Strongly recommended” - Gramophone 2021 - read full review here

“Bookending the programme are its two earliest works, both for violin and piano and performed by Thomas Bowes with Alberga herself at the piano. No-Man’s-Land Lullaby is a powerful response to the tragedies of World War I; and The Wild Blue Yonder explores the idea of arriving in an alien environment. Both receive impassioned, richly colourful accounts.” - BBC Music Magazine 2021

“This is a striking and highly satisfying disc, and there is a great deal to enjoy both in Alberga's writing for her chamber forces and in the dramatic narratives that she weaves.” - Planet Hugill 2021