Sensations of Travel: Chamber Music by Nigel Osborne Hebrides Ensemble

• Nigel Osborne (b. 1948): The Piano Tuner:
• 1 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Prelude I ‘Tuning’ 02:43
• 2 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Fugue I ‘Tetrachord, Hexachord’ 01:28
• 3 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Prelude II ‘Sensations of Travel’ 01:31
• 4 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Fugue II ‘Sea Bird’ 00:55
• 5 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Fugue III ‘Dragonfly’ 01:05
• 6 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Fugue IV ‘Tiger’ 02:02
• 7 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Prelude III ‘Song of Loss’ 03:06
• 8 Osborne: The Piano Tuner: Fugue V ‘Fractal Counterpoint’ 03:17
• Espionage:
• 9 Osborne: Espionage: I. Et in arcadia ego 04:05
• 10 Osborne: Espionage: II. The triumph of the poet 01:30
• 11 Osborne: Espionage: III. A dance to the music of time 04:35
• Balkan Dances and Laments:
• 12 Osborne: Balkan Dances and Laments 15:08
• Ecological Studies:
• 13 Osborne: Ecological Studies: I. White Bird 01:07
• 14 Osborne: Ecological Studies: II. Kuda Kepang – Mudskipper Macaque 01:13
• 15 Osborne: Ecological Studies: III. Osbornia – Makyung 00:53
• 16 Osborne: Ecological Studies: IV. Egret Kingfisher Sandpiper 03:54
• Zone:
• 17 Osborne: Zone 09:21
• My beloved, where are you going / Adagio for Vedran Smailovic:
• 18 Osborne: My beloved, where are you going / Adagio for Vedran Smailovic 04:52
• Preludio y canción:
• 19 Osborne: Preludio y canción: Preludio 02:50
• 20 Osborne: Preludio y canción: Canción 04:42
• Total Runtime 01:10:17

Info for Sensations of Travel: Chamber Music by Nigel Osborne

This third release from Hebrides Ensemble’s acclaimed recording partnership with Delphian pays tribute to the remarkable musical and human achievements of Edinburgh-based composer Nigel Osborne with a collection of solo and ensemble works.

Adagio for Vedran Smailović – performed here by the Ensemble’s director, cellist William Conway – was written in Sarajevo in the winter of 1992–3; Osborne visited the city several times during the Bosnian war, a period recalled in the 2001 Hebrides Ensemble commission Balkan Dances and Laments.

In Sarajevo and Mostar, Osborne developed a practice of music therapy for children that he has subsequently taken toward zones in Africa and the Middle East. Music’s ability to cross boundaries – to bridge nations and continents, to bear witness and to heal – lies at the heart of this album, on which Hebrides Ensemble’s eloquent advocacy is supplemented by soundscapes and sung interludes featuring the voice of the composer himself.

This outstanding album brims with atmosphere and imagination…While Osborne’s modernist scores are uncompromising in their technical rigour, his music is nonetheless intensely human, radiating warmth, colour and emotion.’ (BBC Music Magazine)

“This new Delphian release is a welcome tribute to the far-reaching musicianship of Nigel Osborne…Osborne’s travels have become a kind of pilgrimage in search of relevance and responsibility that deserves serious attention, and these well-crafted recordings offer many different facets of an arrestingly contemporary music voice.” (Gramophone Magazine)

“For me the most impressive and the work I shall most often return to, is the Balkan Dances and Laments, composed in quiet reflection six years after the end of the Bosnian war…There is an excellent and helpful essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson. The recording, made in quite a large church in the middle of busy Edinburgh, is beautifully balanced, quiet and focused.” (MusicWeb International)

“Osborne has spent time in war zones in the Balkans and in Syria, pioneering his own form of music therapy. Some of that experience is reflected here, each work a tiny drama capturing these far-off landscapes…The six-strong Hebrides Ensemble has immersed itself deeply and winningly in Osborne’s eclectic sound world.” (The Observer)

“With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established an enviable reputation as one of the foremost exponents of contemporary chamber music, and the beguiling and vivid performances on this issue certainly leave no doubt as to their exceptional ability on how to make difficult music acceptable even to the most squeamish.” (Classical Music Daily)

Sarvar Sabri, tabla
Nigel Osborne, vocals
Zoë Beyers, violin
Philip Moore, piano
Ruaraidh Osborne, guitar
Hebrides Ensemble

Hebrides Ensemble
With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established itself as one of the foremost chamber music collectives in the UK. Cofounded and led by its artistic director, the cellist and conductor William Conway, the Ensemble is renowned for its fresh and intelligent approach to programming, which places contemporary music at the heart of a diverse range of repertoire.

The Ensemble’s flexibility is its strength. It draws its performers from a pool of the most outstanding musicians in the UK and beyond, ensuring the exceptional performance standards for which it has become renowned. This is an international ensemble with its roots in Scottish culture, a collective committed to supporting the next generation of performers and composers, particularly those with links to Scotland. In recent years it has commissioned and premiered new works from composers including Sally Beamish, Hafliði Hallgrímsson, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan, Alasdair Nicolson, Alasdair Spratt, William Sweeney and Martin Suckling.

In 2015 the Ensemble broke new ground by becoming the first professional ensemble to simultaneously connect musicians in Edinburgh to London and Italy in real time. As Hebrides Ensemble celebrates its twenty-fifth birthday in 2016, it launches the next phase of its pioneering digital strategy, which will allow audiences around the world to be part of every performance the Ensemble gives, using live streaming, Twitter feeds and cutting-edge digital technology.

Among other accolades, Hebrides Ensemble’s outstanding achievements were acknowledged by the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards in 2009, with a nomination in the Chamber Music category.

This album contains no booklet.