Shades, by Manchester Collective

Shades

by Manchester Collective

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Jonathan Pryor Beautiful! Track 6 reminds me of Alar Vome by Human Feel.

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Shades CD Edition
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Recycled textured card envelope sleeve.

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1.	String Quartet No. 2: I 03:15	buy track
2.	String Quartet No. 2: II 02:19	buy track
3.	String Quartet No. 2: III 03:59	buy track
4.	String Quartet No. 2: IV 03:32	buy track
5.	String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": I 01:44	buy track
6.	String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": II 04:00	buy track
7.	String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": III 02:50	buy track
8.	String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": IV Hymn (after Byrd) 04:03	buy track
9.	String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": V 04:00	buy track

about

In ‘Shades’, we explore the next chapter of our ongoing collaboration with the British composer Edmund Finnis. The two string quartets presented here are focused and fragile investigations of sound. Ed’s writing frequently pushes our players to the very limit of what is possible – his music here is softer, more intimate, more bare. This material lives in the shadows, slowly shifting, finding form, and melting away.

The first quartet (presented second on this recording) is the more ghostlike of the two. The quiet haiku of the first movement melts into the gossamer of the second, delicate trills endlessly spiralling, catching the light. In the third movement short musical threads are deftly woven together, but this sense of momentum is quickly halted by the fourth – a hymn, composed after material by William Byrd. This music is some of Ed’s most beautiful, heart-breaking, and honest. Finally, the quartet gathers pace in the final, fifth movement, wheeling higher and higher, ecstatic and virtuosic.

The second quartet, this one commissioned by the Collective, is no less mysterious than the first. The outer movements were inspired by an unexpected act of discovery: in 2020, during a house move, Finnis uncovered a set of old minidiscs containing rough demo recordings that he had made nearly two decades earlier. Something of those forgotten songs lies at the heart of this quartet – the past, made real again.

There can be no doubt that there is biography in this music. In his own notes, Ed writes: “I think of these two quartets as some of the most personal and intimate pieces I have written. They are outcomes of my enduring need to communicate something that I’m incapable of fully expressing with words. I would if I could. I know that it has something to do with love.”

credits

released March 18, 2022

Artist: Manchester Collective
Record Label: Bedroom Community

Rakhi Singh – Music Director, Violin
Adam Szabo – Producer
Brendan Williams – Production, Recording/Mix Engineer
Declan Kennedy – Additional Production
Edmund Finnis – Additional Production
Valgeir Sigurðsson – Mastering
Helenskià Collett – Album Artwork
Edmund Finnis – Composer
Donald Grant, Caroline Pether, Rakhi Singh – Violin
Hélène Clement, Ruth Gibson – Viola
Nick Trygstad – Cello

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about

Manchester Collective Manchester, UK

Radical human experiences. Known for their experimental programming and daring collaborations, Manchester Collective bring a combination of cutting edge contemporary music and classical masterpieces to a hungry, new audience.

"THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED"
Bachtrack

"BRILLIANT"
The Observer ... more

shows

May 5

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

London, UK

discography

NEON

Jun 2023
Shades

Mar 2022
The Centre is Everywhere

Mar 2021
Recreation

Sep 2020

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