PAUL CARR (b.1961): Seven Last Words from the Cross for Baritone and Orchestra, Air for Strings, Ave Maria, The Beatitudes of Jesus and The Cloths of Heaven for Choir.

Description: Carr's setting of the Seven Last Words also incorporates other liturgical verses and poetry, in a sumptuously Romantic work that highlights the emotional drama of the words. The piece is thoroughly tonal and approachable, counting among its apparent antecedents choral music by composers such as Elgar, Fauré and Brahms. The music is appropriately solemn, with highly effective passionate outbursts emphasizing the climactic moments of the events portrayed, powerfully orchestrated for the full forces. The restrained, ethereal nature of the Beatitudes of Jesus was suggested to the composer by hearing a work of Pärt, in a concert that also contained Mahler's Adagietto, a work to which Carr's string writing here and in his lovely, heartfelt Air for Strings seems related. A simple, gently affecting Ave Maria, with a passing nod to the Schubert setting, rounds out this beautiful, most appealing disc. Texts included. William Dazeley (baritone), Chorus Angelorum, Bath Philharmonia; Gavin Carr.