Scarlatti / Korvits / Martin / Firsova / Casciolini: Spirit, Strength & Sorrow

   in Choir & Organ (Mar, 2015)
This look towards Easter is an enterprising idea, with six settings of that most emotive of all texts, the Stabat Mater, showing a mother’s anguish at the foot of the cross as she watches her son die. It’s the third collaboration between The Sixteen and the Genesis Foundation, whose aim is to promote and nurture young talent. The works of three young composers – Alissa Firsova, Tonu Korvits and Matthew Martin – are interspersed with settings from past centuries. It opens with the unadorned beauty of early plainchant, the tenors and sopranos performing the stanzas alternately.

Alissa Firsova’s flowing, caring setting, influenced by her Russian background, captures the scene with gentle …