The Faculty is delighted to learn that Prof. Richard Causton's recent album 'La terra impareggiabile' has been shortlisted for a Gramophone Award 2023. Released at the end of last year on the NMC label, the album contains Causton's orchestral work Ik zeg: NU (I say: NOW) played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sakari Oramo, paired with his song cycle for baritone and piano, La terra impareggiable (The Incomparable Earth) performed by Marcus Farnsworth and Huw Watkins - and has received exceptionally positive reviews (see below).
It can be ordered as a cd or in electronic formats at Richard Causton: La Terra Impareggiabile – NMC Recordings.
"[Ik zeg: NU] has enchanted my ear more with each hearing. Terrific." (Guy Rickards, Gramophone, January 2023)
"Superbly performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, the resulting masterpiece [Ik zeg: NU] invites contemplation and time spent on repeated listenings." (Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine, January 2023)
“[La terra impareggiabile] is a magnificently sweeping sequence of declamatory power and lyrical intimacy.” (Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 24 November 2022)
“Surely [La terra impareggiabile] is a masterpiece.” (Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone Awards Issue 2022)
Richard Causton is Professor of Composition and Fellow in Music at King's College. As a composer, has been described as 'one of the most courageous and uncompromising artists working today'. He has worked with artists including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Ensemble Recherche, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and the Nash Ensemble. His work is recorded on Metier, Delphian, Orchid, Regent and NMC, whose disc - Millennium Scenes NMC D192 - was No.1 in the Sunday Times' 100 Best Records of the Year (Contemporary Music section). He has been the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, a British Composer Award and First Prize at the International 'Nuove Sincronie' Competition.
Causton's works often engage with political themes (Millennium Scenes, The Flight), and his search for new sounds has led him to build new instruments and seek out new playing techniques. His works also include a Nocturne for 21 Pianos and a Concerto for Percussion and Gamelan, commissioned by Evelyn Glennie.
Recent pieces include Ik zeg: NU, premiered by Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and recorded on NMC 273. It was one of just two works selected by the BBC to represent the UK at the International Rostrum of Composers, and has been broadcast in dozens of countries worldwide. www.richardcauston.com