Composers in the 21st century continue to be fascinated by the Solomon verses, as can be seen in the works by Howard Skempton (b1947) and the American Nico Muhly (b1981) included here. Howard Skempton has published over 300 works, and his musical style seems to have been totally unaffected by trends or fads. Rise up my love was a commission by the Estonian Philharmonic in 2002 and offers four short settings of texts from the Song of Solomon. The first, which gives the work its title, is for mixed voices characterised by a simple, flowing structure. How fair is thy love offers a change of vocal colour, using the basses in unison at the bottom of their register, over a sustained note from the tenors; it is particularly effective. My beloved is gone down is in four-part close harmony for sopranos and altos and the final movement How fair and how pleasant returns to SATB mixed voices, marked by slow chordal writing.
The Canadian Tenors - The Canadian Tenors (2009) Lossless
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