Holidays Celebrated with Miro Quartet in New Recording "Hearth"

 

Holidays Celebrated with Miro Quartet in New Recording "Hearth"

The Miro Quartet invites you to gather around the warmth of the holiday Hearth-a deeply personal and joy-filled album that celebrates the spirit of the season through the voices of today's most compelling composers. 

Whether your traditions include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or simply quiet reflection by the fire, this album captures the essence of holidays as a time of connection, memory, and hope. 

Featuring works by composers such as Anna Clyne, Clarice Assad, Gabriel Kahane, Reena Esmail, and Paola Prestini, each piece is a musical keepsake-an imaginative reworking of a holiday tune chosen by the composer and infused with personal meaning. 

From Renaissance hymns to familiar carols like Jingle Bells, and from West African rhythms to tender string lyricism, this vibrant collection reflects the rich diversity of how we celebrate, remember, and come together. 

Hearth follows the Miro Quartet's acclaimed PENTATONE release Ginastera String Quartets (2025), honoured as a Gramophone Editor's Choice, one of The New York Times' '5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now,' and recipient of Pizzicato's Supersonic distinction. Also available are the GRAMMY-nominated Home (2024) and Beethoven Complete String Quartets (2021). 

With this release, we are proud to share these musical stories - each one a gift, wrapped in sound, from our hearts to yours.

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos used above, we do not know who the owner of this photo is, and infringement is not intended, it is used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as reviews, criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA

In A Winter Breviary, St. Martin's Voices gives premiere recordings of big-name contemporary composers

 

In A Winter Breviary, St. Martin's Voices gives premiere recordings of big-name contemporary composers

A Winter Breviary, St. Martins's Voices, Andrew Earis

In this, their debut recording with Resonus Classics, St Martin's Voices presents a selection of contemporary choral works for the Christmas season. With settings of poetry from the fifteenth century to the present day, these new carols explore themes of winter snowscapes, the anticipation and contemplation of Advent, the Christmas story as seen by the women at its heart, and the joy of coming in from the cold to celebrate together.

In a programme made entirely of premiere recordings, this album features works by Cecilia McDowall, Roderick Williams and Lucy Walker, among others. The album also boasts a major new carol suite by Bob Chilcott, with libretto by Georgia Way entitled Mary, Mother, which was premiered by the ensemble in 2022.

Olivia Sparkhall (b.1976)
1. All and some

Cecilia McDowall (b.1951)
2. There is no rose

Reena Esmail (b.1983)
A Winter Breviary
3. We Look For You
(Evensong – Raag Hamsadhwani)
4. The Year’s Midnight
(Matins – Raag Malkauns)
5. The Unexpected Early Hour
(Lauds – Raag Ahir Bhairav)

Sarah MacDonald (b.1968)
The Manger is Empty
6. Like the snow in winter
7. As among broken glass
8. The manger is empty

Nils Greenhow (b.1989)
9. Advent Calendar

Thomas Hewitt Jones (b.1984)
10. Love is the Answer

Lucy Walker (b.1998)
The Christmas Life
11. The Christmas Life
12. We shall walk
13. The Angels’ Song

Yshani Perinpanayagam (b.1983)
14. When God made Eve

Roderick Williams (b.1965)
15. Queen Elizabeth’s Winchester
Carol (The Royal Carol)

Bob Chilcott (b.1955)
Mary, Mother
16. A child in Galilee
17. Carpentry Carol
18. After the angel
19. Walking Carol
20. Dear heart
21. Hymn

https://www.resonusclassics.com/products/a-winter-breviary-music-for-christmas

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos and descriptions used above, we do not know whom the owners of these are, and infringement is not intended. Photos and descriptions are used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos and descriptions are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA.