Cloths of Heaven Sansara

• Manuel Cardoso (1566 - 1650):
• 1 Missa pro defunctis: I. Introitus 07:51
• William Byrd (1543 - 1623):
• 2 Emendemus in melius 03:35
• Nicolas Gombert (1495 - 1560):
• 3 Lugebat David Absalon 08:40
• William Byrd:
• 4 Memento homo 02:24
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 5 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225: No. 2, Wie sich ein Vater erbarmet (Arr. for A Capella Choir) 02:58
• Rudolf Mauersberger (1889 - 1971): Chorzyklus Dresden, RMWV 4:
• 6 Chorzyklus Dresden, RMWV 4: No. 1, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst 07:04
• Josef Rheinberger (1839 - 1901): 3 Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69:
• 7 3 Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69: No. 3, Abendlied 03:18
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101:
• 8 Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101: No. 7, Leit uns mit deiner rechten Hand 01:05
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934):
• 9 Nunc dimittis 03:26
• Cheryl Frances-Hoad (b. 1980):
• 10 Introit and Blessing (O Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord) 02:40
• Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962):
• 11 Our Flags Are Wafting in Hope and Grief 07:05
• Marco Galvani (b. 1994):
• 12 Tantum ergo 03:34
• Malcolm Archer (b. 1952):
• 13 Cloths of Heaven 02:55
• Oliver Tarney (b. 1984):
• 14 Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester 05:01
• James MacMillan (b. 1959):
• 15 Lux æterna 03:47
• Total Runtime 01:05:23

Info for Cloths of Heaven

With this release, the award-winning chamber choir SANSARA slips easily into the elite ranks of exceptional performers. Formed in 2013, its strength lies in its breathtaking interpretations of the music and the quality of the singers’ voices.

SANSARA’s debut disc, Cloths of Heaven, presents an imaginatively designed programme themed as darkness to light that moves across the centuries, starting with the Introitus from Manuel Cardosa’s Requiem Mass and ending with MacMillan’s radiant Lux Aeterna.

This journey features the glorious polyphony of Byrd and Gombert, passing on to Bach, Rheinberger and Rudolf Mauersberger, whose heart-rending setting of Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst is given an outstanding interpretation. Nor are the younger generation of composers forgotten: Cheryl Frances-Hoad, and Sansara’s two associate composers, Marco Galvani and Oliver Tarney, sit comfortably alongside the masters of the past with their creative invention.

Sansara

Sansara
is an award-winning vocal ensemble focused on the performance of a cappella choral music.

As a collective body of voices, a choir is a living, breathing instrument with unparalleled expressive potential. SANSARA realises this through direct and honest music-making, always striving to conjure compelling atmospheres, communicating with clarity and integrity.

SANSARA works as a chamber ensemble without a single director or conductor. The result is a highly engaged and versatile group of professional musicians, working together with a unified voice to express a shared artistic vision.

The choir has rapidly gained a reputation for captivating performances of a broad range of repertoire, juxtaposing choral music old and new in vivid narrative programmes, tying thematic and textual links into rich musical-poetic live experiences.

Winners of the 2015 London International A Cappella Choir Competition, the choir’s performance highlights include Barbican, Kings Place, Holy Week Festival, Temple Winter Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Budleigh Festival, Winchester Festival and a performance of Arvo Pärt's music at St John's Smith Square, with the composer present.

The choir’s debut recording, Cloths of Heaven (2017) received high praise for the group’s “perfect intonation and clean, pure sound” (The Observer) and “breathtaking interpretations” (Choir & Organ). The disc has since been featured on BBC Radio 3’s The Choir, Breakfast and Essential Classics.

The group’s latest release The Waiting Sky was highlighted amongst 2019’s Christmas recordings by Gramophone, The Observer, and BBC Music Magazine, with the title track being played on BBC Radio 3’s Essential Classics.

This album contains no booklet.