Vesper Sean Shibe

• Thomas Adès (b. 1971): Forgotten Dances:
• 1 Ades: Forgotten Dances: I. Overture, Queen of the Spiders 03:21
• 2 Ades: Forgotten Dances: II. Berceuse, The Paradise of Thebes 03:55
• 3 Ades: Forgotten Dances: III. Courante - Here was a swift (for Max Ernst) 01:49
• 4 Ades: Forgotten Dances: IV. Barcarolle - The Maiden Voyage 02:26
• 5 Ades: Forgotten Dances: V. Carillon de Ville (for Hector Berlioz) 02:16
• 6 Ades: Forgotten Dances: VI. Vesper (for Henry Purcell) 06:11
• Harrison Birtwistle (1934 - 2022): Beyond the White Hand:
• 7 Birtwistle: Beyond the White Hand: Construction with Guitar Player 18:26
• Guitar and White Hand:
• 8 Birtwistle: Guitar and White Hand 01:54
• Thomas Ades: Habanera from 'The Exterminating Angel':
• 9 Ades: Habanera from 'The Exterminating Angel' 02:55
• Harrison Birtwistle: Oockooing Bird (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson):
• 10 Birtwistle: Oockooing Bird (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson) 02:42
• Sleep Song:
• 11 Birtwistle: Sleep Song 01:28
• Berceuse de Jeanne (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson):
• 12 Birtwistle: Berceuse de Jeanne (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson) 02:56
• Sad Song (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson):
• 13 Birtwistle: Sad Song (Arr. for Guitar by Forbes Henderson) 02:27
• Je sui aussi:
• 14 Birtwistle: Je sui aussi 01:01
• James Dillon (b. 1950): 12 Caprices:
• 15 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 1 00:28
• 16 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 2 00:38
• 17 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 3 01:39
• 18 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 4 00:35
• 19 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 5 00:34
• 20 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 6 00:52
• 21 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 7 00:44
• 22 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 8 00:54
• 23 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 9 00:52
• 24 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 10 01:10
• 25 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 11 01:08
• 26 Dillon: 12 Caprices: No. 12 01:01
• Total Runtime 01:04:22

Info for Vesper

Sean Shibe’s fifth PENTATONE album, Vesper, presents a striking collection of contemporary guitar works by the late Harrison Birtwistle, James Dillon, and Thomas Adès, all composed by musicians who do not play the instrument themselves. Recorded here for the first time, these recent miniatures explore the guitar’s expressive range in profoundly different ways: ritualistic and evocative in Birtwistle, elemental in Dillon, and allusive in Adès. Shibe’s interpretations reveal the instrument’s extraordinary colour, subtlety, and capacity for transformation, bringing each work to life with imagination and nuance.

For some of Birtwistle’s pieces, Shibe performs on Sylvette (2021), a guitar made by luthier Simon Ambridge in collaboration with French-British artist Lydia Corbett. A muse to Pablo Picasso – who was himself an important influence for several of Birtwistle’s works on this album – Corbett also inspired Picasso’s celebrated Sylvette series. Modelled on the small, responsive instruments of the Andalusian luthier Antonio de Torres, the guitar features Corbett’s artwork on its body, adding a visual and symbolic layer to the performance.

Shibe is a former BBC New Generation Artist, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2012 winner, a Royal Philharmonic Society 2018 Young Artist Award winner, a multi-GRAMMY nominee, and the recipient of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award. His recordings have won BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone Awards.

Sean Shibe, classical guitar

Sean Shibe
Born in Edinburgh in 1992 of English and Japanese heritage, Sean studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and currently with the inspirational Paolo Pegoraro in Italy.

In 2012 he became the first guitarist to be selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, and the only solo guitarist to be awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. He was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust in 2015.

Over the last year Sean has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, the Heidelberger-Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bath International, Cambridge Summer and Aldeburgh Festivals. He returned to the Marlboro Summer Music Festival & Academy in the USA (on the invitation of Mitsuko Uchida), recorded solo works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for Linn Records as part of a Scottish Chamber Orchestra disc, and was the featured cover disc for BBC Music Magazine.

Engagements during 2016/17 include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Saffron Hall, the Three Palaces Festival in Malta, the Cumnock Tryst, Northern Chords and Newbury Spring Festivals, and a tour of China. He also brings together acoustic and electric guitars; ancient and modern traditions in his new project softLOUD, which premieres at the East Neuk Festival, followed by a week’s residency at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Earlier this year he recorded a CD of English music for Delphian due for release shortly. Future plans include debut concerts in Tokyo and Nagoya.

As a concerto soloist Sean has appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and BBC Symphony Orchestras performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasía para un Gentilhombre, the Malcolm Arnold and Villa-Lobos Concertos, and recording Takemitsu’s To the Edge of Dream.

Drawn to chamber music and song, Sean has collaborated with the BBC Singers, Danish String Quartet, cellist Isang Enders, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and singers Ben Johnson, Robert Murray and Robert Tritschler.

His awards include the Royal Over-Seas League First Prize and Gold Medal (2011), Ivor Mairants Guitar Award (2009), a Dewar Arts and D’Addarrio endorsement. He is grateful for support from the Hattori Trust.

Booklet for Vesper