Archive for Mason Bates
Four-Star Limelight Review for Richmond Symphony’s Bates & Vaughan Williams
Limelight Magazine offers a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for the Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s recording of Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem. “[Bates’s] choral writing is reminiscent of Vaughan Williams, whose well known Dona Nobis Pacem is the coupling. … Bates’ command of orchestral texture is colourful and assured. In the choral sections, he sets poets such as Whitman, Sandburg, and the long passage from Genesis about the creation of the world.…
Richmond Symphony’s Bates & Vaughan Williams is an Opera News Critic’s Choice
The Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording is a December Opera News Critic’s Choice! “Richmond Symphony’s new album pairs works by prominent contemporary composer Mason Bates and twentieth-century master Ralph Vaughan Williams. Brimming with vitality, the performances of the orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Chorus, led by conductor Steven Smith, deftly reflect the strength of both composers’ choral writing while establishing a connection between…
Four Stars for the Richmond Symphony’s Mason Bates and Vaughan Williams Recording
Audiophile Audition critic Steven Ritter gives a Four-Star Review to the Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording: “Bates shows a fine grasp of the orchestral idiom, and even more importantly, the choral, with an integrated and highly individual sound that transfers from text to text in a seamlessly smooth manner. Hearing this makes me want to hear more from this young composer, who…
Four-Star Review for the Richmond Symphony from Pizzicato
The Richmond Symphony and Richmond Symphony Chorus’s Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan-Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording gets a four-star rating from Remy Franck’s Pizzicato Magazine: “The work is eventful in its orchestration and varied in its moods… [and] musically rich… here spiritual and sensual, there reflective, sometimes also solemn. In contrast to the very colorful and complex orchestral part, the choral part is rooted in the chorale and hymn… [an] exciting live recording.” —Remy Franck,…
Now Available – Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem!
Groundbreaking New Music from Mason Bates and the Richmond Symphony! Reference Recordings is proud to present a World Première recording of MASON BATES: Children of Adam, songs of creation—commissioned by the Richmond Symphony—coupled with RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Dona nobis pacem. These pieces both draw inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poetry and this release celebrates his bicentennial (born 1819). Children of Adam is a collection of exuberant celebrations of creation, from American poets to sacred and Native American texts. The title…