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Songs of the Sky is the first in a new series of discs in collaboration with the Britten Sinfonia.

How does music react when cultures collide? And what does it mean to speak of musical modernity in today’s ever-changing artistic climate? This collection of five world premiere recordings, written especially for the Britten Sinfonia, explores the different guises of 21st century composition.

Tarik O’Regan takes Arab dance music out of its traditional environment and explores its influence upon and absorption of non-Arab culture. Jason Yarde’s Who knows the Beauty, uses freely experimental approaches to combine different soundworlds, scored for piano quintet and saxophone. Written in direct response to the deadly tsunami in 2004, John Tavener’s Songs of the Sky is a powerful memorial to those who died in the tragedy.