Performers

Nicky Spence | tenor

Chamber Domaine

Thomas Kemp | conductor (tracks 1-6 & 15) & violin (7-14)
Adrian Bradbury | cello (tracks 7-9 & 14-15)
Alex Neal | percussion (track 15)
Andrew West | piano (tracks 7-15)
Anna Wolstenholme | piccolo, flute & alto flute (tracks 1-6 & 15)
David Juritz | violin (tracks 1-6)
Gabriella Dall’Ollio | harp (tracks 1-6)
Neyire Ashworth | clarinet & bass clarinet (tracks 1-6 & 15)
Nick Barr | viola (tracks 1-9 & 14-15)
Richard Harwood | cello (tracks 1-6)
Ruth Bolister | oboe & cor anglais (tracks 1-6)
Roger Montgomery | horn (tracks 1-6)

Reviews Overview

"And it's a delight to find these Mark-Anthony Turnage recordings of recent works bouncing along in superb sound; superb artistry too, with pungent playing from Chamber Domaine, conducted by Thomas Kemp, and the agile voice of tenor Nicky Spence."
Geoff Brown, The Times

"The sheer sound of this CD is a thrill: it's warm, up close, and amazingly vivid. Nicky Spence is superb in the song cycle A Constant Obsession, a set of love songs on poets such as Keats and Tennyson. There's often a melancholy note which needs real heat in performance to strike home. These players certainly provide it."
Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph

"The title comes from a ravishing song cycle that could hardly be more English. It’s not only Turnage’s harmonies or choice of poets for these six songs – Graves, Hardy, Keats, Tennyson, Edward Thomas – that defines the Britten-esque aesthetic, but also the theme of anguished love, which finds him at his most lyrical and accessible. Nicky Spence flatters the tenor lines, while the musicians of Chamber Domaine capture the moody luminosity of the instrumental score."
Andrew Clark, Financial Times

"In contrast to Mark-Anthony Turnage's abrasive large-scale works, here is a feast of warmth and lyricism."
Editor's Choice, Classical Music Magazine

Tracklisting

A Constant Obsession (2007)
for tenor solo and eight players
1. Prologue
2. Love expected
3. Love begun
4. The pains of love
5. Love continued
6. Love in death

Three for Two (2010)
for piano quartet
7. Wish One
8. Wish Two
9. Wish Three

Four Chants (2008)
for violin and piano
10. Chant 1
11. Chant 2
12. Chant 3 (A Bride’s Fancy)
13. Chant 4

14. A Slow Pavane (2004)
for piano trio

15. Grazioso! (2009)
for six players