Legacy - Music Written For Our Voices CD

Legacy - Music Written for Our Voices celebrates the remarkable creative relationship between the Netherlands Chamber Choir and the composers who have written especially for it's voices. Conducted by Peter Dijkstra, the album brings together works spanning more than seventy years, from landmark pieces by Frank Martin, Francis Poulenc and Rudolf Escher to music by James MacMillan, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Maxim Shalygin, Evelin Seppar and the choir's own tenor and composer William Knight. The result reflects a tradition in which the musical past is continually renewed through the sounds and ideas of the present. At it's heart is the Netherlands Chamber Choir itself: an ensemble that for ninety years has helped shape the development of choral music by commissioning new works and inspiring composers to write specifically for it's distinctive sound. From Shakespeare and Chaucer to biblical texts, Dante, reflections on peace and contemporary concerns such as climate change, these works reveal the extraordinary expressive possibilities of the human voice. Legacy looks back at a rich history while making clear that a living musical tradition is one that continues to grow.