ECM Records TERJE RYPDAL, THE HILLIARD ENSEMBLE: MELODIC WARRIOR CD

Two large compositions constitute one of Terje Rypdal’s most adventurous albums. The title piece, a 45 minute epic, was commissioned by the Hilliard Ensemble and recorded at the Brucknerhaus Linz in 2003 with the British vocal group and the Bruckner Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies. The Hilliards sing texts drawn from Native American poetry, from Chippewa, Navajo, Pima, and Papago sources, and Rypdal’s sustained electric guitar lines soar melodically and dramatically above the strings’ broad planes of sound. “And The Sky Was Coloured With Waterfalls And Angels”, meanwhile, documents the premiere of Terje’s op. 97. Composed in 2009, inspired by Cannes’ International Fireworks Festival and recorded with the Wroclaw Philharmonic, it is a darkly-expressive piece of, concentrated, explosive power.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Terje Rypdal Electric Guitar

David James Countertenor

Rogers Covey-Crump Tenor

Steven Harrold Tenor

Gordon Jones Baritone

Bruckner Orchester Linz

Dennis Russell Davies Conductor

Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Sebastian Perlowski Conductor

RECORDED

December 2003 & November 2009

ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE

14.06.2013