Product Description

American inspiration and the modern madrigal

Also available for sale in digital only format on various online music service, including iTunes, Rhapsody, Sony Connect and more.

The Esoterics’ fifth CD, IMMAGINOSA features premieres by William Hawley and Stephen Paulus and other pieces that represent springtime song cycles on love and life.

Recorded after the IMMAGINOSA concert series in May 2004, this CD features several of The Esoterics’ favorite cycles. Ross Lee Finney’s Spherical madrigals resonates with the exploration and creativity of the Age of Reason, and Irving Fine’s artful cycle of six Ben Jonson poems – The hour glass – traverses the evolution of love during the human lifetime.

The second half of IMMAGINOSA will either put spring in your step or send you off into blissful dreams. First, revel in recordings of two premiere performances: Four reveries by New York composer William Hawley, followed by a spring madrigal, Now is the gentle season, by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus.

Next, enjoy two contrasting settings of Emily Dickinson by Elliott Carter – Heart not so heavy as mine andMusicians wrestle everywhere. Finally, immerse yourself in two cycles of spectacular strophes by Sara Teasdale:The winds of May by San Francisco composer Kirke Mechem, and Donald Skirvin’s Alchemy, which was commissioned by The Esoterics.

Reviews

• Sixty years of American song from The Esoterics: Beautifully crafted pieces from various eras – and beautifully sung, too. (CD Review)
  February 2006 – The Gramophone
• IMMAGINOSA: American inspiration and the modern madrigal (CD Review)
  January/February 2006 – The American Record Guide