Recording Project
Our Recording Project is an essential component of the charity’s work, equal in importance to the publication and distribution of the music scores.
One of the biggest hurdles faced by underrepresented living composers is the time which is needed for musicians to learn new or unfamiliar repertoire. Very many works which make up the long-established repertoire heard in churches, cathedrals and concert halls across the UK have been recorded multiple times, embedding them in the public consciousness. (Sometimes Elizabeth Poston’s work Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is the only work by a female composer which reaches the ‘top ten favourites’ in public polls!). This can tip the balance of knowledge in favour of those who have always been privileged in society and can make it seem that music by others – in particular music by female composers and people of colour or who belong to other culturally-marginalised groups – doesn’t exist, or is not equal in quality.
Some ‘emerging’ composers may have the chance to hear their music performed at university, or at one of the UK’s music conservatoires which still provide precious and life-changing opportunities for musical children and adults. However many young composers might not have the opportunity or means to hear their music performed at a high level, to its best potential, or they may be older adults taking up composing in later life who have few such opportunities open to them or who cannot afford to hire professional musicians to record their music.
Our Recording Project enabled many of our featured composers to have their work recorded professionally for the very first time.
Where a deceased composer has no established Trust or Society to represent them their music may remain known only to a small number of academics for decades or even centuries after the music was composed! This can lead to a perception that those composers’ music may not have been known or performed in their own times, which is often untrue.
Recording a historical work by a composer who is no longer around to speak for themselves is a particular privilege and we hugely appreciate working with musicologists who can help us shed light on such music. Performers love to explore and record works which no-one else has ever recorded: listen to Gesualdo Six and Friends perform Isabella Leonarda’s setting of the Latin prayer to Mary the mother of Jesus, Alma Redemptoris Mater.
Where the general public cannot hear the music of a representative cross-section of society in all its diverse communities it may come to the conclusion that musical works (and associated texts) were or are only created by one small section of society, or that only section of society was or is capable of such work. This might lead to the public carrying this assumption through their lives which might have a very negative effect on the opportunities which the younger generations need to learn and hone their craft through the performance of their works. It might also mean that the general public misses out on the enjoyment of music they didn’t grow up hearing before charities like MoV got stuck in and tried to change things!
To help the general public learn the repertoire we raise up we consider it essential that wherever possible they have access to non-commercial recordings. It is particularly important that income should not be a barrier to learning about and enjoying new and unfamiliar music. Some commercial record labels work directly with us to make sure that where they sell their recordings of our featured publications commercially they also make them available freely on channels like Youtube to help us meet our charitable objects.
Our Recording Project is an expensive part of the charity’s work, but one we want to continue. To date funding has been provided through very generous donations from Mr Stephen Brosnan, alongside donations through Crowdfunding campaigns, and through the discounted or freely-given work of the musicians. We are blessed with multiple musicians who want to help the charity make recordings; they are making such a difference to our work as a whole and we are very grateful to them! Visit our Composers’ section and the Projects section to find particular works or browse our Youtube channel .