Julian Anderson BOOK OF HOURS Birmingham Contemporary Music Group City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Sakari Oramo, Oliver Knussen, Martyn Brabbins, Simon Halsey, conductors NMC D121 GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2007 • GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE 'Julian Anderson, one of our most original young composers, displays his gift for marrying medieval and modern timbres, tunings, and forms.   He recreates the flattened sound of the viol with the cello, and makes interestingly Scandinavian effects with his singers.   And he's superbly served by the massed musicians of Birmingham.' - The Independent 'Anderson is a leading British composer, but until now has hardly been available on disc.   Along with the five pieces from his Birmingham residence, this includes Four American Choruses, written for the CBSO Chorus.   Anderson's nontempered tuning is enjoyably to the fore in Imagin'd Corners, a kind of concerto for horn section.   Eden is a brief but fascinating orchestral fantasy.   The single-span Symphony and electro-acoustic Book of Hours are vivid, substantial achievements.' - The Sunday Times 'Anderson's talent — perhaps genius — has been to find ways of reconciling old and new.   His surfaces exude a pleasurable radiance, which however never tries to pretend that modernism didn't happen.   The pieces on this CD find him extending this preoccupation, finally incorporating the non-tempered pitches of medieval music and the electronic paraphernalia of our own time into his kind of post-tonal consonance.   Knussen, Britten, Tippett, Ives, Reich and Sibelius were among the big figures I sensed lurking behind the notes (which probably says more about me than the composer) yet Anderson's own expressive voice is always there too.   And its range is remarkable.' - Classical Source 'This is a very important recording, which shows why Anderson is so highly regarded.' - Music Web 'For his "fusion of direct simplicity and delirious complexity", which won him this year's RPS award for large-scale composition, Anderson has become one of the most admired British composers of his generation.   Here's why.’ - The Observer [ 1.] EDEN live recording       7'26        City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra        Martyn Brabbins conductor [ 2.] IMAGIN'D CORNERS       10'13        City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra        Sakari Oramo conductor        FOUR AMERICAN CHORUSES       18'12 [ 3.] I'M A PILGRIM       3'51 [ 4.] BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF EDEN       6'42 [ 5.] BRIGHT MORNING STAR!       3'45 [ 6.] AT THE FOUNTAIN       4'04        City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus        Simon Halsey conductor [ 7.] SYMPHONY live recording       18'02        City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra        Sakari Oramo conductor        BOOK OF HOURS live recording       24'11 [ 8.] PART ONE       11'55 [ 9.] PART TWO       12'16        Birmingham Contemporary Music Group        Lamberto Coccioli, Scott Wilson live electronics        Oliver Knussen conductor        TOTAL TIMING       79'52 NMC Recordings are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading, P.O.Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone (03) 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile (03) 9444 6879