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Colin Matthews

Composer

It is fascinating how Matthews can use, almost entirely, dark and subtly shifting colours …

— David Denton, Tempo

Crossing the Alps (2009). Voices & Organ

Crossing the Alps is written for chorus in eight parts, and although the harmonic language is not complex in itself, it moves in unexpected directions which I felt needed the underpinning of an organ pedal (as well as optional part for the manual).  It was composed between July and October of 2009, and lasts approximately 7 minutes.

The text is from the ‘crossing the Alps’ sequence from Book VI of Wordsworth’s The Prelude, and I’ve taken the liberty of conflating the 1805 and 1850 texts.  It deals with the liberation of the imagination, the decisive moment (although no the climax of the piece) being the words ‘Our destiny, our nature, and our home, Is with infinitude, and only there’.  The text was suggested to me by Paul Driver, to whom the work is dedicated.

Categories: Voice

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19 July, 2023 - Nicht zu Schnell (Matthews/Mahler)
Orquesta Joven de Andalucia, Victor Pablo Pérez (conductor)
Palacio de Carlos V, Granada, Spain

20 July, 2023 - Nicht zu Schnell (Matthews/Mahler)
Orquesta Joven de Andalucia, Victor Pablo Pérez (conductor)
Palacio de Carlos V, Granada, Spain

6 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends (World Premiere)

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

7 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

8 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

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Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

© 2023 Colin Matthews · Website by Bookswarm

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