Gerald Barry Meets Beethoven – Paul Hillier

   in Choir & Organ (Sep, 2016)
Gerald Barry’s first, typically bold encounter with his great predecessor was in Beethoven Wo080, a 1976 work for five singers and three pianos, since withdrawn. Here he sets a letter to the Immortal Beloved, for bass voice and ensem- ble. The choral pieces that follow are more approachable, perhaps, if less immediately striking. Oh Lord, how vain is a gorgeous setting of Sir Philip Sydney, Long Time of Proust, and The Coming of Winter, with its chattering, chilly intervals, of a medieval Irish text. Under Paul Hillier, Chamber Choir Ireland tackle each of the scores as if Barry’s out-there settings and mark- ings were the most natural thing in the …