The inspiration for this album came about from Ruby Hughes' first collaboration with the Manchester Collective in the spring of 2020. During the first Covid lockdown, they built the programme of this recital for the purpose of touring the UK and uplifting their audiences at a time when we were all being confronted by challenging notions of mortality and isolation. As artists, they asked themselves what music might attend to the prevailing concerns of this time. Their answers came in the form of this offering. The title of this album, End of My Days, comes from Errollyn Wallen's song; a resounding celebration of life that embraces death without regret or sadness but with great verve and acceptance. The other songs, each in it's own way, evoke silence and separation, but also love and hope and even the reassurance that we will return whence we came and light shall lift us into eternity. The concluding song, Deborah Pritchard's Peace, is a message of hope, willingly received as the world emerged out of lockdown in 2021. Luminous tranquillity moves us into the light, towards eternity.
1 5 Songs to Poems By John Clare: No. 1. Meet Me in the Greenglen [04:08]
2 Valencia [05:25] 3. Along the Field: No. 2. Along the Field [04:13] 4. No. 1. Dante [02:44] 5. No
3 Boris Pasternak [02:14] 6. No. 4. Couplet [02:06]
4 No. 1. Dante [02:44]
5 No. 3. Boris Pasternak [02:14
6 No. 4. Couplet [02:06
7 Book of Songs, Book 1: Go, Crystal Tears (Arr. D. Bruce for Voice and String Quartet) [03:49]
8 Book of Songs, Book 2: Flow My Tears (Arr. D. Bruce for Voice and String Quartet) [06:57]
9 Da Day Dawn (Arr. D. Grant for String Quartet) [03:54]
10 2 Mélodies Hébraïques: No. 1. Kaddisch (Arr. S. Parkin for Voice and String Quartet) [05:39]
11 Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Funerals?: No. 5. End of My Days [05:18]
12 No. 1. La Flûte de Pan [02:49]
13 No. 2. La Chevelure [03:52]
14 No. 3. Le Tombeau Des Naïades [02:59]
15 Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection": IV. Urlicht (Arr. Manchester Collective for Voice and... [05:08]
16 Peace [03:00]
The inspiration for this album came about from Ruby Hughes' first collaboration with the Manchester Collective in the spring of 2020. During the first Covid lockdown, they built the programme of this recital for the purpose of touring the UK and uplifting their audiences at a time when we were all being confronted by challenging notions of mortality and isolation. As artists, they asked themselves what music might attend to the prevailing concerns of this time. Their answers came in the form of this offering. The title of this album, End of My Days, comes from Errollyn Wallen's song; a resounding celebration of life that embraces death without regret or sadness but with great verve and acceptance. The other songs, each in it's own way, evoke silence and separation, but also love and hope and even the reassurance that we will return whence we came and light shall lift us into eternity. The concluding song, Deborah Pritchard's Peace, is a message of hope, willingly received as the world emerged out of lockdown in 2021. Luminous tranquillity moves us into the light, towards eternity.
