Goehr’s orchestral evocation of Goya’s terrifying painting, Colossos, is coupled with the premiere recording of his early cantata The Deluge, inspired by Eisenstein’s notes for a film based on writings by Leonardo da Vinci (the film was never completed). The neo-classical Little Symphony, which uses the chordal structure of Mussorgsky’s ‘Catacombs’ from Pictures at an Exhibition as a harmonic backbone, is performed by the Dutch chamber orchestra, ASKO Ensemble.

Claire Booth soprano

Hilary Summers contralto

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

BBC Symphony Orchestra

ASKO I Schönberg Ensemble

Oliver Knussen conductor

'… a force to be reckoned with in British music…an impressive musical span, which Knussen energises quite wonderfully' The Guardian

'… profound and original…' The Times

‘Colossos or Panic was inspired by the famous Goya paining of a giant bestriding a landscape peopled by terrified Lilliputian humans below. Goehr’s incisive and lucid post-Schoenbergian idiom here delivers a highly dramatic study in the interplay of musical stasis and movement.' BBC Music Magazine

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