Ensemble Arcadiana / Thomas Kemp
Alberga
Dancing with the Shadow (1990, rev. 2021)
On a Bat’s Back I do Fly (2000)
Langvad (2006).
Lyrita SRCD446 [53’36”]
Producer/Engineer Stephen Frost
Recorded 11-12 October 2021 at Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
What’s the story?
Lyrita issues a further release of music by Eleanor Alberga, featuring three sizable works for chamber ensemble played by Ensemble Arcadiana and which between them amply underline this composer’s flexible while imaginative response when writing for this particular medium.
What’s the music like?
Now in her mid-70s, Alberga came from her native Jamaica to study in London and enjoyed early success as a concert pianist before joining London Contemporary Dance Theatre where she latterly became music director. This past quarter-century has seen her focus increasingly on composition – creating a substantial output as includes a symphony, two violin concertos (both released on Lyrita SRCD405), three string quartets plus a range of other works across the major genres – in an idiom which is contemporary without being obscure or inaccessible.
The earliest and largest of these three works, Dancing with the Shadow started out as music for dance and was commissioned by the ensemble Lontano, which also recorded two of the movements on the second volume of its series British Women Composers (Lorelt LNT103). Taking as its starting-point the Jungian concept of exploring the individual’s darker side or ‘shadow self’, these five movements variously combine the six musicians as part of a steady accumulation taking in the simmering anticipation of a Duo and lilting elegance of a Trio; then the animated interplay of a Quartet, enfolding eloquence of a Quintet (the emotional heart in all senses) and the heady excitement of a Sextet that affords a close as decisive as it is infectious – whether, or not, those competing halves of the psyche have been reconciled.
Each playing continuously, the remaining pieces are no less individual or engaging. Written for the Bournemouth mew-music ensemble Kokoro, On a Bat’s Back I Do Fly takes its cue from Ariel’s song in the final act of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and appealingly tackled by Thomas Arne, whose 1740s song-setting is alluded to over the course of music that proves as dextrous though ultimately as elusive as the text implies. Its title the Danish for ‘length’, Langvad is also a rural hamlet in Denmark as well as the setting for a summer festival run by the composer and her husband. Here the ongoing narrative (if, indeed, there is one) feels as elusive as the sound-world conjured from quintets of wind and strings – one, moreover, likely to prove as personal for each listener as it must no doubt be for the composer herself.
Does it all work?
Very much so. This is ensemble music that, informed and frequently permeated with dance rhythms, makes considerable demands on the technique of its exponents, who duly respond with conviction and audible enjoyment throughout. A pity, perhaps, that another of Alberga’s ensemble works could not have been included, though the programme as it stands can hardly be faulted as a representative overview. Neither does the dance component make these pieces other than self-sufficient in abstract terms and make for an engaging listen in their own right.
Is it recommended?
Indeed it is. The recording is as spacious yet immediate as expected from the acoustics of Wyastone Concert Hall, and there are informative annotations by Donald Sturrock. Those who acquired that previous Lyrita album should not hesitate to investigate this new release.
Listen / Buy
You can hear excerpts from the album and explore purchase options at the Presto Music website, and click on the names for more information on composer Eleanor Alberga, Ensemble Arcadiana and conductor Thomas Kemp
Published post no.2,803 – Thursday 19 February 2026
Arcana.fm 