Giles Swayne
About the composer
Giles Swayne was born in Hertfordshire, in southern England, in 1946. He grew up in Liverpool and in Yorkshire. He composed from an early age.
In 1976-1977 he visited Paris to study with Olivier Messiaen. In 1980 his 80-minute piece Cry for 28 amplified voices, was premiered by the BBC singers. It has been performed twice at the BBC Proms (in 1983 and 1994).
A new version of the Stabat Mater with solo cello was commissioned by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Choir, and had its premiere in February 2011.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 2004 |
| Performers: | a capella voices soprano, alto, tenor, bass and mixed choir |
| Length: | 36.18 minutes |
| Particulars: | This Stabat Mater was commissioned for the 2004 Bath Festival by Gerry Mattock and Berylcalver- Jones. It was first performed in Prior Park Chapel by Bath Camerata under Nigel Perrin. Swayne dedicated this Stabat Mater to the grieving mothers of Israel and Palestine. |
| Textual variations: | The order of the stanzas is very special: 1-11-2-13-3-4-14-5-6-7-8-15-9-10-16-19-20. Only 12, 17 and 18 are not sung. There are several intermezzi of Jewish, Muslim and Christian prayers (between the stanzas of the Latin poem) to create a shared ritual of grief. |
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Information about the recording
| CD: | Stabat Mater The silent land Naxos 8572595 |
| More info: | The cd is a world première recording, recorded at All Hallows’Church, Gospel Oak, London UK, from 7th to 9th April, 2010. I bought the cd on the internet in 2011. The four pieces on this disc span three decades of Giles Swayne’s choral music, their striking echoes of Latin plainchant, Tudor polyphony and traditional African music providing contrasting and complementary strands charasteristic of this much-travelled composer. |
| Choir: | The Dmitri Ensemble |
| Conductor: | Graham Ross |
| Soloists: | Sophie Bevan, soprano |
| Other works: | Senegalese song: O Lulum |
| Code: | 2011 SWA-01 - (241) |
