Ex Cathedra & Jeffrey Skidmore - Gentle Flame: Selected Choral Works by Liz Dilnot Johnson (2024) [Digital Download 24/96]

This album presents a selection of music Liz Dilnot Johnson has composed for Ex Cathedra, described as ‘one of Britain’s very best choirs’ (New York Times).

The range of choral works on this album spans the enormous output across the composer’s life, performed with great flair by Ex Cathedra directed by Jeffrey Skidmore. The second half of the album presents one of Johnson’s large-scale choral works, When A Child Is A Witness – Requiem for Refugees, winner of the Ivors Composer Award for community and participation (2022). Setting words from the traditional Requiem Mass, along with words from the English Prayer Book and words by the composer herself, these choral movements encompass a world of music from a simple call and response song to complex and emotionally driven music that takes the listener on an emotional journey, moving from darkness into light.

The first half of the album presents some of Johnson’s earliest works including O Vos with spirals of sopranos unfurling, defined by the Fibonacci Series, written as part of a collaboration with mathematician Prof. Ian Stewart. More recent pieces that have been commissioned and premiered by Ex Cathedra, with whom Liz is composer-in-residence, include Blake Reimagined, a lockdown work originally composed for remote choir (released on Youtube) with soloists including classical North Indian singer Debipriya Sircar with Jazz and Soul singers Margaret Lingas and Gabriella Liandu. Four of Johnson’s carols include the playful eco-carol A Wild Midwinter Carol, the acerbic Magi (her earliest work), the eight-part Advent motet Gentle Flame and the tender lullaby For This Babe. The Windhover, setting Gerard Manley Hopkins’ extraordinary poem is a tour de force, scored for baritone solo for the expressively powerful voice of Lawrence White with 10-part choir, summoning up the wild kestrel at dawn.

Liz Dilnot Johnson, initially a dedicated teacher in South London and Birmingham, redirected her career towards composition after pursuing an MA and PhD at Birmingham Conservatoire. Despite plans to return to teaching, mentor Philip Cashian encouraged her to continue composing. Johnson’s music has garnered widespread acclaim, performed by renowned artists and ensembles internationally. Her chamber works have earned numerous prizes, including the Birmingham Chamber Music Society Composition Prize and the International Alliance of Women Musicians’ Gideon Prize. Larger-scale compositions like “de l’herbe qui s’éveille” have been lauded for their evocative qualities. Notably, her piece “Moon Incantations” was a British Composer Awards finalist, and her debut album Intricate Web (Metier MSV 77206) was met with wide critical acclaim:
“This is an exciting album full of interesting music … approachable, sometimes challenging, musically vibrant, and ultimately satisfying” (MusicWeb International)

“I can do no less than give this issue my top recommendation.” – (Fanfare)

Tracklist:
01 - Gentle Flame
02 - For Hester
03 - O vos
04 - The Windhover
05 - Blake Reimagined
06 - Magi
07 - A Wild Midwinter Carol
08 - For This Babe
09 - When a Child Is a Witness_ I. Requiem aeternam
10 - When a Child Is a Witness_ II. Why Do the Nations Rage_
11 - When a Child Is a Witness_ III. Kyrie eleison
12 - When a Child Is a Witness_ IV. I WIll Lift Mine Eyes
13 - When a Child Is a Witness_ V. Lacrimosa
14 - When a Child Is a Witness_ VI. Sanctus
15 - When a Child Is a Witness_ VII. Agnus Dei
16 - When a Child Is a Witness_ VIII. When a Child Is a Witness
17 - When a Child Is a Witness_ IX. Libera me
18 - When a Child Is a Witness_ X. If I Take the Wings
19 - When a Child Is a Witness_ XI. Lighten Our Darkness
20 - When a Child Is a Witness_ XII. Lux aeterna


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