Stephen GossNorthern Lights

FMRCD301-1210

Stephen Goss Northern Lights

Northern Lightsmusic by Stephen Goss

“Composer Stephen Goss draws on a variety ofsources for his eminently listenable music. Despitethe eclectic nature of his influences, which rangefrom Beethoven’s late piano music to the films offormer Python Terry Gilliam, Goss’s musical lan-guage comes across as brilliantly integrated….” - International Record Review, April 2008.

earthworks, it illustrates many concepts central to mod-ern science. The music moves through the physical spaceof Jencks’ garden exploring its sensuous surface.Originally for violin, cello, bass clarinet and piano, themusic has been completely reworked by the musiciansfor this recording – sometimes (as is the case with QuarkWalk) only taking the tiniest fragment of the original pieceas the basis for improvisation.

Stephen Goss’s music receives hundreds of performanc-es worldwide each year and has been recorded on over40 CDs by more than a dozen record labels, includingEMI, Decca, and Telarc. Recent commissions have comefrom: Grammy® winner David Russell, cellist NatalieClein, flautist William Bennett, and The BarcelonaSymphony Orchestra.

Steve’s collaborative project with Charles Jencks, TheGarden of Cosmic Speculation (2005), was profiled onThe South Bank Show. His Albéniz Concerto (2009) forguitar and orchestra was released to great critical acclaimon EMI Classics in November 2010. Steve is Head ofComposition at the University of Surrey, UK and is anArsenal season ticket holder.

www.stephengoss.net www.cadenza-music.com

Northern LightsThis album is a collection of musical landscapes.Northern Lights and The Sea of the Edge were commis-sioned specially and the other pieces have been arrangedand freely adapted by the musicians. In Norse mythologythe ‘northern lights’ or ‘aurora borealis’ were thought tobe reflections from the shields of the Valkrior (maidenswho take dead warriors to Valhalla). In Finland, they werenamed Revontulet (literally ‘fox fires’), after an ancientFinnish fable, in which the lights were caused by a magi-cal fox sweeping his tail across the snow, spraying it upinto the sky. The music begins with Echoes of Silence – atimeless meditation that places the listener in a vast openspace.

The Sea of the Edge is one of the oceans of the moon.While much music depicts the moon romantically fromthe safe distance of the Earth, here, the cold, desolatelunar landscape is placed in the foreground. The Welshfolksong settings are followed by The Autumn Song,which is based on various ancient Chinese poems aboutthe parting of lovers. Specifically, this is due to the malepartner having to go and serve in the building or guard-ing of the Great Wall of China. The music evokes themelancholic character of loss – in particular, that qualityof ambiguity caused by the fact that neither partnerknows if the loss is temporary or permanent. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, created by CharlesJencks, is one of the most original and important gardensof the 21st century. Through large-scale sculptures and

Northern Lights (2010) 16:40

1. Echoes of Silence 7:022. Revontulet 2:353. Nocturne in Blue and Silver 3:474. Valkrior 3:15

5. The Sea of the Edge (2010) for solo flute 5:56

Welsh Folksongs (2008) 9:07

6. Daffydd y Garreg Wen (David of the White Rock) 1:377. Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Haf (The White Rose of Summer) 1:268. Lisa Lân (Fair Lisa) 2:009. Suo-gân (Lullaby) 3:1110. Hela’r ‘Sgyfarnog (Hunting the Hare) 0:52

11. The Autumn Song (2009) for flute and guitar 9:58

Reflections on ‘The Garden of Cosmic Speculation’ (2005) 20:14

12. Quark Walk 3:2913. The Snail Mound 4:1414. Soliton Gates 1:0315. The Nonsense 0:3416. The Symmetry Break Terrace 2:2117. Octagonia 1:2018. The Snake Mound 2:5619. Two Ways to Paradise 4:14

Total playing time 61:56

Susie Hodder-Williams flute, alto flute and piccolo

Chris Caldwellbass clarinet, C clarinet and soprano saxophone

Graham Robertsguitar

Recorded at Coombehurst Studio, Kingston University, London, 2010Producers: John Taylor and Stephen Goss Editor: John TaylorRecording Engineer: Ebby Acquah

℗ 2010 music on the edge

FMRCD301-1210

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