ACO Originals – Thomas Adès: Shanty – Over the Sea
ACO Audio: Albums & EPs • 1m 31s
ACO Originals is a series of releases dedicated to new works commissioned by the ACO and recorded live in concert.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra performs the world premiere of a new work by Thomas Adès, one of the world’s foremost contemporary composers. The ACO was one of nine prestigious orchestras around the world who came together to commission the work, and it gave the world premiere performance of the piece in Wollongong in February 2021.
The music takes the concept of a shanty – a work song sung by sailors – and from its simple structure of a repeated melody, sung by multiple voices, creates the image of a widening seascape. The cyclical verses, says Adès, ‘build a story of the harsh, mechanical routine’ of the sailors’ labour, ‘an implied yearning for liberation from the arbitrary regime of petty masters, and a dream of a safe harbour beyond.’
> Stream full track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1YkctjHKOH29xuNBgseief?si=evQ_DIE5SoWqLwBdnr-PFw
> Stream and buy the album: https://snd.click/ACOShanty?pid=YLImW0SKlCZQ
Up Next in ACO Audio: Albums & EPs
-
Haydn | Mozart
Franz Joseph Haydn is an artist so great that somebody stole his brain. Literally.
Shortly after his death his grave was robbed by phrenologists, who studied Haydn's skull and found that 'the bump of music' on his skull was 'fully developed', clearly proving that Haydn was destined for genius f...
-
Bach | Beethoven: Fugue
'Some readers may already have their minds made up: there are no gains and only losses in amplifying late Beethoven. I urge them to listen to this...the unanimity of the ACO lends Tognetti’s direction the same agility and unstoppable momentum as a solo-quartet version. It’s a formidable achieveme...
-
Enchanted: Live in Concert
In March 2017, the musical world came together to mourn the death of Danny Spooner, a man whose passion for expressing culture through music had touched the lives of millions and seen him declared a living national treasure. ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, hearing earlier of his terminal ...
