EQUINOX. Equal night, equal day; a threshold between the seasons. For centuries, the English New Year was marked not in January, but after the spring EQUINOX, on Lady Day - the feast of the Annunciation, where Mary learns that she will give birth to the Christ child. Like many of the waypoints in the church year, the timing of this festival evolved from earlier pagan rites deeply rooted in the seasons and the slow, constant shifting of the natural world around us. Hope is born in the depths of winter; new life rises in spring. The musical selections on this album are inspired by the themes of Jonathan Dove s song cycle The Passing of the Year. The term cycle seems particularly appropriate for a work whose subject is the changing of the seasons - seven poems charting the course of one year and closing as a new one begins. This journey from new birth in spring to the death of the year in winter led us to think about the cycle of human life, and the ways in which we mark our time here on earth. Rezension The singing of VOCES8 is impeccable in its quality of tone and balance. They bring a new dimension to the word 'ensemble' with meticulous timing and tuning. --Gramophone
