SACDs - Cage

“Berio's A-Ronne collages together fragments of text from various sources representing the standard distinctions of beginning/middle/end, while Cage's Story deconstructs a short text by Gertrude Stein into rhythmic, fragmentary vocables. Sheldon Frank's As I Was Saying is a collation of the meaningless pause-phrases that punctuate normal speech: literally, like reading between the lines.” The Independent, 22nd April 2011 ***

“Hillier's Theatre of Voices do the whole mélange proud – their version of Berberian's piece uses three voices whereas her original version was a solo – and the disc is worth acquiring for their wonderfully slick A-Ronne alone.” The Guardian, 28th April 2011 ***

“A-Ronne might be their (secular) bible: a half-hour A-Z of experimentation, devised in 1974 as a radio documentary, but also seen by Luciano Berio as a kind of madrigal...the textural kaleidoscope is fascinating. John Cage’s Story (1940) makes its Gertrude Stein textlet very catchy. Roger Marsh’s Not a Soul but Ourselves (1977) is a vivid, endearing treatment of passages from Finnegans Wake, and Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody (1966) is very 1960s.” Sunday Times, 1st May 2011 ***

“[these pieces] avoid the conventions of setting words to music, or writing music that presents and supports a text, and instead set out to make music directly out of words (and some other vocal sounds, too). Cage and Frank are the most direct. Berberian runs the gamut of cartoon bubble texts. Marsh turns to Finnegans Wake , and Mac Low to chance operations.” Irish Times, 6th May 2011 ***

“Burps, sighs and coughs. Hisses, purrs and groans. Giggles, barks, polyglot whispers and the chaste-sexy shreds of madrigals and motets cast a spell in Theatre of Voices's performance of "A-ronne".” The Independent on Sunday, 8th May 2011

“Experiments in vocal sound is inspired by texts, graphic designs and exerts from conversation - with arresting results...Paul Hillier’s fearless vocal ensemble abandon conventionally notated music for a clamorous, diverting programme of 20th-century adventures in sound...Biggest and best is Luciano Berio’s magisterial A-Ronne, an epic tapestry of texts, alphabet letters, cries and whispers” The Times, 14th May 2011 ****

“The pieces demand that the performers are not only vocalists but actors too, and it is in this respect which the Theatre of Voices excel. All of the performers fully engage with the dramatic personas of the texts...There is a real sense of dialogue, and each individual captures a sense of wonderment in the exploration of the percussive capacities of vowel sounds and how they combine to form words.” The Cherwell, 27th May 2011

“The standout work on this disc is Berio's A Ronne, an experimental yet consummate vocal ensemble piece, taking in a wide range of vocal techniques, while also exploring issues of language and meaning. The performances here are all first class. The Berio poses the greatest technical challenges, but all are executed with fluency and (apparent) ease. The balance and ensemble between the singers is always ideal, and the sound quality is great.” Classical Review, 19th June 2011

“This is excellent, goofy stuff, from the Roy Lichtenstein-inspired artwork to the immaculate production – listen through headphones and you can almost recreate the missing theatrical, visual element to several of these pieces...Full credit due to Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices, audibly having fun but never hamming things up too much.” Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 4th June 2011

“The work I was most pleased to encounter...was Roger Marsh's Not a Soul But Ourselves...It builds - or disintegrates - beautifully from the verbal theatre of Joyce's text to a beautifully simple, and simply beautiful, extended coda. Altogether a remarkable disc, with perfect recording quality.” International Record Review, July/August 2011