Peter Maxwell Davies, "Dark Angels"

Side One (1 7: 04)
PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
(b. 1934)
DARK ANGELS (1974)
for soprano & guitar
1. The Drowning Brothers (6:lO) -
2. Dark Aqgels (guitar solo) (252) -3. Dead Fires (7:49)
publ. Boosey & Hawkes. Inc. (ASCAP)

JAN DeGAETANI, mezzo-soprano
OSCAR GHIGLIA, guitar

engineering & musical supervision: Marc J. Aubort, Joanna Nickrenz
(Elite Recordings, Inc.)
mastering:Robert C. Ludwig (Masterdisk Corp.)
a Dolby-system recording

The valley where I live, in a remote island off the north coast of Scotland, since Viking times a.thriving crofting and fishing community, is now all but deserted. The islanders gradually left through the first half of this century, the contrasts between their own hard life and the comparatively easy life of the Scottish cities being too cruel. A few crofts were worked till quite recently, but there were ever fewer young people, and the final blow for the community was the drowning of the last two children - brothers -in the mid-'50s. They made a raft and sailed it on the burn where it widens before joining the sea, far away from all possibility of rescue. Their death was as a sign to the inhabitants remaining, who, with the exception of one farmer who is still there, left what they could only see as a doomed place, and the school, shop, crofts, byres, fell into disrepair, open to the birds and sheep.

The two poems I have set by George Mackay Brown concern these events; the first, "The Drowning Brothers." relates the circumstance which led to the final exodus, and the second. "Dead Fires," is a litany of the deserted crofts. The title of the guitar solo separating the two settings. "Dark Angels," which I gave to the whole work, refers to the silent hills brooding around the deserted valley. The work is imbued with the sound of the island, where, however, at one of the deserted crofts listed in "Dead Fires," the fire burns again in the hearth, and the ground is once more fertile. -- PETER MAXWELL DAVIES

Peter Maxwell Davies, born in Manchester, England, attended the Royal Manchester College of Music and Manchester University. Upon winning an Italian Government Scholarship in 1957. he studied with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome; from 1962 to 1964 he pursued further studies at Princeton University. He has received commissions from the BBC, the London Philharmonic, New Philharmonia, Scottish National, and English Chamber orchestras, as well as the City of Dortmund and Covent Garden. In 1967, Mr. Davies formed The Fires of London, a chamber ensemble devoted to 20th-century music, for which he has written some of his best-known pieces; the group has also commissioned and premiered works from other composers. In addition to his worldwide tours with The Fires of London. Mr. Davies lectures widely, and he has taught at the University of Adelaide. Australia (where he was Composer-in-Residence), and at the Dartington, Montepulciano, and Aspen music festivals. Since 1970, Mr. Davies has resided in the remote Orkney Islands.

Jan DeGaetani, born in Ohio, has been internationally acclaimed for her presentation of contemporary works, many of them written especially for her; she is equally noted for her work in early music. Miss DeGaetani has appeared with major symphony orchestras and in chamber recitals throughout the United States. Europe, and the Far East. Since 1971, she has taught at the Aspen Music School, and in 1973she joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, as Professor of Voice. Miss DeGaetani has recorded for Acoustic Research, CRI. Columbia, Decca, Desto, Music Guild, Vanguard, Vox, and Nonesuch.

Oscar Ghiglia, born in Livorno. Italy, studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome and with Andres Segovia at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. Since winning First Prize at the International Guitar Competition in Santiago di Compostela, Spain, in 1963, Mr. Ghiglia has appeared in recital with major orchestras throughout the Western hemisphere, Australia, and the Far East. He has directed master classes and seminars in cities throughout the United States and has been Artist-in-Residence at the Aspen Music Festival since 1969. Mr. Ghiglia has recorded for EMI; this album marks his first appearance on Nonesuch.