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Beowulf
Toby Young

Toby Young

Beowulf

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212063224
Catnr: SIGCD 632
Release date: 18 September 2020
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€ 19.95
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Label
Signum Classics
UPC
0635212063224
Catalogue number
SIGCD 632
Release date
18 September 2020
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

This recording of a new musical telling of the story, composed by Toby Young, blurs traditional sense of the genre of classical music by merging it with folk and popular music. This fusion is what makes Beowulf a fantastic story. The greatest versions of the story are not the simple good verses bad, but the ones which involve slight ambiguous points; ones which allow the reader/listener to mkae his/her mind up about what is exactly going on. The combination of Toby Young’s score and Jennifer Thorp’s libretto create this perfectly.

Artist(s)

Armonico Consort

Armonico Consort began life in 2001, set up by Christopher Monks and a group of university colleagues with a shared passion for music from the Renaissance to Baroque, coupled with the imagination to find new and unusual ways to present concerts. Audiences seemed to love their engaging and imaginative approach, and most concerts in the first years sold out. “That gave us the confidence, energy and self-belief to carry on and do more, also to take more risks with our programming, and keep on experimenting” says Christopher. The ideas kept flowing, as did the titles “many of them were created down the pub...” including the concert programmes Naked Byrd, Supersize Polyphony, Monteverdi’s Flying Circus, Too Hot to Handel, Love Handels and Baroque...
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Armonico Consort began life in 2001, set up by Christopher Monks and a group of university colleagues with a shared passion for music from the Renaissance to Baroque, coupled with the imagination to find new and unusual ways to present concerts. Audiences seemed to love their engaging and imaginative approach, and most concerts in the first years sold out.
“That gave us the confidence, energy and self-belief to carry on and do more, also to take more risks with our programming, and keep on experimenting” says Christopher.
The ideas kept flowing, as did the titles “many of them were created down the pub...” including the concert programmes Naked Byrd, Supersize Polyphony, Monteverdi’s Flying Circus, Too Hot to Handel, Love Handels and Baroque around the Block. Their horizons broadened to include more contemporary repertoire but at the heart remained music of the Baroque and Renaissance,including some rarely heard gems performed by some of the world’s finest singers and period instrument players: “We take great care to craft programmes which bring as much little-known music to life as possible, and find new and imaginative ways to bring this music to audiences. I’m particularly proud of Supersize Polyphony where we perform 40 and 60-part works by Tallis and Striggio in the round, surrounding the audience, interpolated by the timeless chants of Hildegard of Bingen.” It was this particular programme which earned the group their first 5-star reviews, from The Times and the BBC Music Magazine, and there were plenty more to follow.
An education programme was fundamental to Armonico Consort from the outset and now encompasses three AC Academy after-school choirs and an in-school choir creation programme which trains teachers as choir leaders, leaving a strong legacy across the UK, to date creating almost 300 choirs and choir leaders reaching over 250,000 young people. Christopher Monks says “Having reached 20 years, we are seeing so many of these young people who have been with the group since the age of 7 now singing as AC Academy Scholars alongside the professional singers. It is so rewarding to see how the opportunities we have created have changed them not just as musicians, but as humans, and this has driven much of what we are now going on to create”.
Future developments for AC Academy include the overseas expansion of the Choir Creation programme in Kenya working in partnership with several organisations to create choirs for street children, aiming to bring them back into health care and education, and away from abuse or addiction. In addition to this, Armonico Consort has begun a major new partnership with Foundaçion Azteca in Mexico which will see them train new choir leaders across Mexico working with the Orchestra of the Americas to create the first high level symphony orchestra and chorus in the country.
In 2016, in partnership with their sponsors Phillips66, Armonico Consort created a major new initiative ‘The Voice Squad’ introducing a Phillips66 workplace choir in an effort to improve the wellbeing of employees. This has had an incredibly positive impact on the mental health of the workforce, especially now that the beneficial effects of singing on the human mind are so well established. The ‘Voice Squad’ has since been extended to workplaces and communities around the country and as of 2020, following a new partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, now includes care homes and their first ever choir for those living with dementia. Most exciting of all is the new research which suggests that Baroque music in particular is extremely effective at unlocking memories for those affected by dementia which is something the Consort plans to fully explore as they continually strive to find new ways for their musicians to thrive in the modern world.

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Toby Young (keyboard)

Toby is a composer of operas, chamber music and symphonic works whose influences range from plainchant to electronic dance music. Born in London in 1990, he studied composition with Robin Holloway at Cambridge, whilst also being a choral scholar in the prestigious King’s College Chapel Choir. In 2006 he won the Guardian/BBC Proms Young Composer of the Year competition, the International ABRSM Composition Competition in 2009, and the ISM Composition Competition in 2013. Toby’s diverse output has included a setting of William Blake for the London Mozart Players, several songs for the urban music duo Chase & Status (2013), a solo Fantasy (2015) for cellist Guy Johnston, and dance piece for Rambert (2015) combining a live DJ with multi-tracked mezzo-soprano. He has had a particularly close...
more

Toby is a composer of operas, chamber music and symphonic works whose influences range from plainchant to electronic dance music. Born in London in 1990, he studied composition with Robin Holloway at Cambridge, whilst also being a choral scholar in the prestigious King’s College Chapel Choir. In 2006 he won the Guardian/BBC Proms Young Composer of the Year competition, the International ABRSM Composition Competition in 2009, and the ISM Composition Competition in 2013.

Toby’s diverse output has included a setting of William Blake for the London Mozart Players, several songs for the urban music duo Chase & Status (2013), a solo Fantasy (2015) for cellist Guy Johnston, and dance piece for Rambert (2015) combining a live DJ with multi-tracked mezzo-soprano. He has had a particularly close relationship with London Symphony Orchestra, writing several orchestra works as a Panufnik scholar (2009-11) and the chamber opera Daisy Chain (2012) for the Soundhub scheme.

Toby has considerable experience writing for choirs, with works including carols, part-songs, Music, Make (2016) for the combined choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, arrangements of Prince songs for The King’s Singers, and choral arrangements for The Rolling Stones, which he performed live with the band at Wembley Arena and Glastonbury (2013).

Recent large-scale works include the 30-minute Shakespeare Cantata (2016), a set of Breath Madrigals (2016) inspired by medical research, a chamber opera remix of Handel entitled The Choice (2015), and The Art of Dancing (2016), a dance-music inspired double concerto for trumpet and piano.

Toby is also active as a researcher, exploring the relationship between creative practice and philosophy in his work as the inaugural Gianturco Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College, Oxford. He frequently gives public talks about this work, including a recent TEDx talk for the University of Arts London (2016) and a panel discussion at Milton Hall for the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

He also works as a curator and artistic consultant, advising on exhibitions at STORE Contemporary, Berlin (2016), Pizza Pavillion, Venice (2015), Museum of the History of Science, Oxford (2015), and Cornell University (2014).

Toby is a trustee of the Royal Society of Musicians, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of Arts.


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Christopher Monks (conductor)

Composer(s)

Toby Young (keyboard)

Toby is a composer of operas, chamber music and symphonic works whose influences range from plainchant to electronic dance music. Born in London in 1990, he studied composition with Robin Holloway at Cambridge, whilst also being a choral scholar in the prestigious King’s College Chapel Choir. In 2006 he won the Guardian/BBC Proms Young Composer of the Year competition, the International ABRSM Composition Competition in 2009, and the ISM Composition Competition in 2013. Toby’s diverse output has included a setting of William Blake for the London Mozart Players, several songs for the urban music duo Chase & Status (2013), a solo Fantasy (2015) for cellist Guy Johnston, and dance piece for Rambert (2015) combining a live DJ with multi-tracked mezzo-soprano. He has had a particularly close...
more

Toby is a composer of operas, chamber music and symphonic works whose influences range from plainchant to electronic dance music. Born in London in 1990, he studied composition with Robin Holloway at Cambridge, whilst also being a choral scholar in the prestigious King’s College Chapel Choir. In 2006 he won the Guardian/BBC Proms Young Composer of the Year competition, the International ABRSM Composition Competition in 2009, and the ISM Composition Competition in 2013.

Toby’s diverse output has included a setting of William Blake for the London Mozart Players, several songs for the urban music duo Chase & Status (2013), a solo Fantasy (2015) for cellist Guy Johnston, and dance piece for Rambert (2015) combining a live DJ with multi-tracked mezzo-soprano. He has had a particularly close relationship with London Symphony Orchestra, writing several orchestra works as a Panufnik scholar (2009-11) and the chamber opera Daisy Chain (2012) for the Soundhub scheme.

Toby has considerable experience writing for choirs, with works including carols, part-songs, Music, Make (2016) for the combined choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, arrangements of Prince songs for The King’s Singers, and choral arrangements for The Rolling Stones, which he performed live with the band at Wembley Arena and Glastonbury (2013).

Recent large-scale works include the 30-minute Shakespeare Cantata (2016), a set of Breath Madrigals (2016) inspired by medical research, a chamber opera remix of Handel entitled The Choice (2015), and The Art of Dancing (2016), a dance-music inspired double concerto for trumpet and piano.

Toby is also active as a researcher, exploring the relationship between creative practice and philosophy in his work as the inaugural Gianturco Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College, Oxford. He frequently gives public talks about this work, including a recent TEDx talk for the University of Arts London (2016) and a panel discussion at Milton Hall for the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

He also works as a curator and artistic consultant, advising on exhibitions at STORE Contemporary, Berlin (2016), Pizza Pavillion, Venice (2015), Museum of the History of Science, Oxford (2015), and Cornell University (2014).

Toby is a trustee of the Royal Society of Musicians, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of Arts.


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Press

Play album Play album
01.
Beowulf: Prologue
02:37
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
02.
Beowulf: Celebration
02:31
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
03.
Beowulf: ‘Hwaet! Listen’
00:47
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
04.
Beowulf: Great Hall
03:42
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
05.
Beowulf: Refrain
00:29
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
06.
Beowulf: Interlude: The Fight
04:04
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
07.
Beowulf: Grendel’s Bad Deeds
02:37
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
08.
Beowulf: Sweet Song
01:19
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
09.
Beowulf: Unferth’s Row
01:49
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
10.
Beowulf: Refrain
01:29
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
11.
Beowulf: Grendel-Beowulf Battle
03:33
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
12.
Beowulf: When I Was King
04:42
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
13.
Beowulf: Interlude: Triumph
02:35
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
14.
Beowulf: Rousing Song
01:49
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
15.
Beowulf: Refrain
01:09
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
16.
Beowulf: Presentation of Hrunting
01:55
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
17.
Beowulf: Grendel’s Mother
03:06
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
18.
Beowulf: Rise up
03:21
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
19.
Beowulf: Hrothgar’s sermon
01:57
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
20.
Beowulf: Interlude: Searching
05:26
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
21.
Beowulf: Chorus of soldiers
02:34
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
22.
Beowulf: Refrain
01:26
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
23.
Beowulf: My lord has gone
01:34
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
24.
Beowulf: Final Chorus
03:25
(Toby Young) Armonico Consort, Toby Young, Anne Denholm, AC Academy Warwick and AC Academy Scholars, Armonico Consort
show all tracks

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