Wishing Tree (CD)

For their eleventh album on Hyperion, award-winning vocal outfit The Gesualdo Six return to some of the repertoire that they spent their first year performing and touring together some 11 years ago, in 2015, recording this music for the first time. The programme explores a more secular repertoire than the group's previous albums, moving from Renaissance works that celebrate nature and love to contemporary settings which re-contextualise verses by Christina Rossetti and Kathleen Jamie. A number of pieces cast light on childhood, conjuring moments of innocence, and interwoven throughout are re-imaginings of traditional British and Irish folk songs, arranged by musicians continuing a longstanding tradition of developing and reshaping existing material. As Director Owain Park writes, "Wishing Tree is a journey through time, poetry, and song, rooted in tradition yet alive with contemporary expression.”