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O'Regan is a phenomenal choral composer with a language that, whilst thoroughly contemporary and unique, draws from past choral tradition. Perhaps this should be no great surprise given his years at Oxford and Cambridge universities where choral evensong is part of the fabric of life, but there are plenty of Oxbridge-based composers who have left these rich musical pickings untapped. O'Regan's complex yet elemental-sounding music reaches for the divine with a maturity far beyond what one expects of a composer barely thirty years of age, and his settings work on several levels, translating more than just general mood. Take the two Emily Dickinson stanzas that act as the CD's bookends. A mere 1'52'' and 2'13'' in length, every note is weighted with meaning; the dense texture represents the many possible interpretations of Dickinson's words, whilst the use of a solo tenor and soprano represent the polarities in each poem (''sun'' and ''shade'', ''love'' and ''hate''). Really, it is musical literary criticism, and I mean that as a compliment because the cleverness of it all doesn't come at the expense of emotional affect.
Another gem is The Ecstasies Above, a sprightly, texturally exciting setting of Edgar Allan Poe's lyric poem, Israfel. Then, there is a move to homophony for the arresting Tal vez tenemos tiempo, Pablo Neruda's verse about hope in a bleak world.
The success of these works is due in no small part to the technical and interpretational skills of Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson and the Company of Voices. Their performance is ravishing throughout, and one can only hope that their partnership with O'Regan continues. --Charlotte Gardner
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Robert Levett, International Record Review, September 2008
The gradual opening-out of Had I Not Seen the Sun is beautifully managed, as are the solo parts by soprano Melissa Givens and tenor Jonathon Subia. This is Dickinson's 'wilderness' indeed, through preparing a space for the inrush of music to follow. The great expanses of calm over which a solo violin or soprano soars; the ecstatic dances; the surging rhythms: these are likewise animated by a fine sense of balance between precision and abandon in The Ecstasies Above and point to he combination of restless urgency and refulgent string passages in Triptych while providing a perfect counterpoint to the glowing transparency of Threshold of Night.
O'Regan's exquisite setting of Care Charminge Sleepe recalls the same simplicity and directness while admitting of greater textural complexity.
The use of pedals or drones over which vocal arabesques play with sinuous clarity; the shimmering polyphonic textures in which the homophonic passages are reflected like Moorish architecture in a fountain; the supple and often surprising use of rhythm to underscore a poetic idea: all these are constant sources of delight and to be found in abundance on this exceptionally well-recorded and presented release.
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This is a stunning collection in every respect: performance, composition, production, packaging, artwork. This music for strings and voices is varied, exciting and texturally varied. Perpetually moving and constantly keeping your interest, this is - by a long way - the most exciting disc of 2008!
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