Harrison Birtwistle: Angel Fighter

Described by The Guardian as 'hauntingly powerful', Birtwistle's cantata Angel Fighter vividly explores the Biblical story of the struggle between man and divine being from the Book of Genesis. Predictably, for a composer with a long-standing fascination in myth, drama and ritual, it's the physical fight between Jacob and the Angel more than religious significance, that interests Birtwistle: the tension, twists of pulse, sharp accents and jeering chants from the chorus make it feel more like a wrestling match than a life-or-death struggle. Quartertones and string harmonics enhance the otherworldly descent of the Angel from Heaven and librettist Stephen Plaice makes clever use of Enochian, an angelic language 'discovered' by the 16th century alchemist and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, John Dee.

In Broken Images, inspired by Gabrieli's multi-choir canzonas, splits the ensemble into four groups (woodwind, brass, strings and percussion) and takes its title from the Robert Graves poem. Birtwistle continues to draw influence from the past in Virelai (Sus une fontayne), a rhythmically intricate realisation of a piece by Johannes Ciconia, who flourished in the late Middle Ages, around the time that Chaucer was writing his Canterbury Tales.

Andrew Watts countertenor
Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts tenor
BBC Singers
London Sinfonietta
David Atherton conductor

Stephen Plaice librettist 

AUDIO

REVIEWS

SUNDAY TIMES 'BEST 100 ALBUMS OF 2015'

'Angel Fighter is a spare and strikingly original piece of dramatic storytelling. It presents the Old Testament tale of Jacob wrestling an angel as a ritualised game between the tenor Jacob (Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts) and the countertenor Angel (Andrew Watts) and climaxes in one of the great dramatic moments in Birtwistle’s concert music'  The Guardian ★★★★

'Birtwistle unleashes all his powers ... a thrilling dramatisation of the Bible story' BBC Music Magazine

'[Angel Fighter] would evoke Bach cantatas if Birtwistle’s gestic pungency did not sweep all before ... In Broken Images  — an intriguing meditation on the eponymous Graves poem — might evoke Gabrieli but for the same proviso. The brief Virelai (Sus une fontayne) brilliantly transforms a late-medieval original' Sunday Times

'Angel Fighter - dramatic and compelling as the title seems to suggest' BBC Radio 3 'CD Review'

'Virelai - a brilliant reimagining of a 3-part medieval piece by flemish composer Johannes Ciconia' BBC Radio 3 'CD Review'

'Although the story remains an enigma, this terse, taut work is superbly dramatic' Fanfare

'Birtwistle, a composer whose music is as vivid and compelling as that of any today. Excellent performances here from David Atherton and the London Sinfionetta'  Gramophone Magazine

'Birtwistle’s music today is just as lacking in complacency as it was in 1968. ... This CD is a pungent and persuasive statement about what properly serious music can achieve today' Gramophone Magazine

'Birtwistle unleashes all his powers … a thrilling dramatization of the Bible story. The London Sinfionetta, under David Atherton, lend it both soul and a zinging edge' BBC Music Magazine

 FUNDERS

This project was made possible by the generous support of Robert McFarland, a London Sinfonietta Entrepreneur.

RECORDING CREDITS