Innocence

by Echo Vocal Ensemble

Overview

The world might not need another young a cappella vocal group, but the Echo Vocal Ensemble and director Sarah Latto compel attention with Innocence, the group's debut release. The album turned up on year-end best-of lists in 2024, and it's no wonder: the conception is entirely fresh, and the execution terrific. Innocence is an unusual idea for an album theme, but it proves to have the right kind of flexibility for what Latto has in mind, namely the coalescing of a great variety of compositions around the given idea. The program is anchored by four chants from the medieval composer and abbess Hildegard von Bingen, which might seem odd inasmuch as there are no other chants or medieval works, and only two Renaissance pieces, a Palestrina madrigal, and Jean Mouton's lovely Nesciens Mater (the music shifts confidently between secular and sacred, and this seems to be one of its points). But the Hildegard pieces are distributed throughout the program and serve effectively as invocations (and a post-lude). In between there is a good deal of folk material, including Indian, Polish, Scottish, and Greek songs, a few 20th century compositions including Ravel's rarely heard Trois Chansons, science fiction and environmentalist pieces from, respectively, Meredith Monk and the single-named Anohni, and, most unusually, pop songs by The Beatles ("I'm Only Sleeping") and The Smiths ("There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"); the latter are heavily but quite effectively arranged to fit the format. It never gets dull, and it never goes off the rails, although Anohni pushes at the boundaries of the idea (it's closer to loss of innocence). The choir has a well-honed warm sound that fits several of these pieces exceptionally well, and it's served nicely by the acoustic of St. Augustine's Church, Kilbourn, London, in the hands of Resonus Classics' engineering staff. An extremely impressive debut. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2024
Label:	CSO RESOUND
UPC:	5060262793817

Tracks

1. O Nobilissima Viriditas~[Excerpt 1]
2. Hymne à la Vierge, Op. 24
3. Nesciens Mater
4. O Nobilissima Viriditas~[Excerpt 2]
5. Indian Celebration Songs (3), for chorus~Patake!
6. The Singer
7. Trois Chansons M69~Nicolette
8. Trois Chansons M69~Trois Beaux Oiseaux
9. Trois Chansons M69~Ronde
10. O Nobilissima Viriditas~[Excerpt 3]
11. Bibi, Synkù, Bi
12. Hush, no more (adapted from The Fairy Queen Z 629)
13. Hush-a-ba birdie
14. Improvisation on "I'm only sleeping" from "Revolver"
15. O Nobilissima Viriditas~[Excerpt 4]
16. He wishes for the cloths of heaven
17. Yialo Yialo
18. There is a light that never goes out / Hide and Seek
19. I Vaghi Fiori
20. Improvisation on "Why did you separate me from the earth"
21. Panda Chant II
22. O Nobilissima Viriditas~[Excerpt 5]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Echo Vocal Ensemble   Primary Artist,Vocal Ensemble
Sarah Latto   Conductor

Technical Credits

Sarah Latto   Composer
Phil Hobbs   Producer
Thomas Mungall   Editing,Engineer
Bronnie Taylor   Text
Anna Roclawska-Musialczyk   Composer
Barbara Howard   Text Translation
Beverly Lomer   Text Translation
Elise Dufay   Language Coach
Jonathon Coughlin   Assistant Engineer
Margaret Lingas   Text Translation
Shivani Rattan   Composer
Victoria Beddoes   Photography
Owen Davis   Photography
Anohni Hegarty   Composer
Morrissey   Text,Original Material
Maurice Ravel   Text,Composer
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina   Composer
Jean Mouton   Composer
Michael Head   Composer
Greek Traditional   Composer
Thomas Betterton   Text
Laurie Stras   Language Coach
Howard Skempton   Composer
William Butler Yeats   Text
Pierre Villette   Composer
Scottish Traditional   Composer
Roland Bouheret   Text
Adam Binks   Executive Producer
Stuart Camp   Photography
Ross Birchard   Lyricist
Thom Andrewes   Liner Notes
Anohni   Composer,Lyricist
Paul McCartney   Composer,Lyricist
Hildegard von Bingen   Composer
Imogen Heap   Text,Original Material
Johnny Marr   Text,Original Material
John Lennon   Composer,Lyricist
Meredith Monk   Text,Composer
Henry Purcell   Composer