Hush! Papagena

• Emily Pauline Johnson (1861 - 1913):
• 1 Fire-Flowers: No. 1, Moonset (Version for Treble Chorus) 04:16
• Traditional:
• 2 Shen Khar Venakhi (Arr. S. Tenant-Flowers) 03:28
• Flory Jagoda (b. 1926):
• 3 Hamisha Asar (Arr. S. Vango) 02:48
• Pyotr Ill'ych Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893):
• 4 Legend, Op. 54 No. 5, TH 85 (Arr. G. Weaver) 02:45
• Traditional:
• 5 Sub o salcie (Arr. A. Woods) 04:51
• Nikolai Kedrov (1871 - 1940):
• 6 Our Father 02:31
• Traditional:
• 7 Ek rizis 02:13
• 8 O Viridissima Virga (Arr. J. Duggan) 03:47
• 9 The Snow It Melts the Soonest (Arr. W. Brückner) 03:36
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934):
• 10 The Swallow Leaves Her Nest, H. 119 02:30
• Steven Adler, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose:
• 11 Sweet Child O'Mine (Arr. S. Vango) 02:47
• Alessandro Scarlatti (1660 - 1725):
• 12 Cor mio (Ed. J. Jürgens) 04:53
• Libby Larsen (b. 1950):
• 13 Jack's Valentine 01:21
• Traditional:
• 14 Mouth Music (Arr. D. Keane) 01:47
• Jetse Bremer (b. 1959):
• 15 William Shakespeare Love Songs: No. 3, Sigh No More Ladies 04:42
• Joseph Rolnick (1879 - 1955):
• 16 I Lie 05:03
• Traditional:
• 17 Kakwa Moma (Arr. U. Knorrn) 01:47
• Jim Clements (b. 1983) & Caitlin Moran (b. 1975):
• 18 The Woman's 'If' 04:18
• Jess Arrowsmith (b. 1977) & Gavin Davenport (b. 1975):
• 19 Changeling's Lullaby (Arr. Papagena) 06:09
• Total Runtime 01:05:32

Info for Hush!

Hush! unearths a treasure trove of songs largely neglected on disc to deliver a stunning follow-up to The Darkest Midnight. Where it hymned the cold, harsh glamour of sun-starved winter, Hush! – playful, poignant, poetic and primed with the expectation of joy – celebrates the warmth and light of love.

Typically for Papagena, Hush! is a centuries-spanning, genre-defying, culturally diverse recital marrying sacred and secular, ancient and modern, classical, traditional and even stadium rock. The result is an often gorgeous, always intelligent exploration of “hush” as a harbinger of consolation, of tranquil release and of mild admonition to pause, listen, feel and relish the quietly exultant glories of being alert and alive to the fleeting moment.

Papagena’s beautifully blended, pristine vocal signature illuminates ecstatic heights, anguished depths and love in all its multi-hued splendour with a becoming thread of wit and humour.

First recordings include The Woman’s ‘If’, Jim Clements’ knowing setting of Caitlin Moran’s wickedly arch re-imagining of Rudyard Kipling’s If from a modern female perspective, Papagena’s Suzzie Vango’s arrangement of American rock icons Guns N’Roses’ anthemic Sweet Child O’Mine and Geoffrey Weaver’s exquisite re-working of Tchaikovsky’s touching depiction of the Christ-child, Legend (The Crown of Roses). Traditional songs from English and Celtic sources are heard alongside pieces drawn from the profoundly moving religious heritage of Eastern Europe and Sephardic music.

Hailed by arts site The Prickle as “a young female Hilliard Ensemble”, Papagena’s The Darkest Midnight was judged “stimulating, varied and full of interest” by MusicWeb International, adding: “What sets the disc apart is the superb singing [of] an outstanding ensemble”.

Papagena

Papagena
...is an a cappella vocal group set up to explore the wealth of music from medieval times to the present day written specifically for female voices. No props, microphones or gimmicks, just five stunning voices form Papagena. The singers are all classically trained and include amongst their number a conductor, saxophonist, composer, opera and oratorio soloists.

But the group’s programming defies pigeonholing; drawing richly on traditional folk music and women’s working songs from around the world, Papagena juxtaposes these pieces with more classical repertoire from Hildegard of Bingen and Purcell to Winnie Brückner and Imogen Heap. As well as writing their own material, Papagena commissions new arrangements and pieces from an eclectic range of composers, including recent offerings from Jim Clements and Errollyn Wallen.

The group has toured Scotland, southern England, as well as giving performances in numerous UK festivals in London, Oxford, the South West and the Midlands.

Booklet for Hush!