Owain has completed a new work, ‘Antiphon for the Angels’, in response to a commission from VOCES8 and Rachel Podger for their new concert programme, ‘A Guardian Angel’.
The work merges texts by Hildegard von Bingen (in Latin and English translation) and St Ambrose – the latter’s prayer, ‘Behold the radiant sun departs’.
The first London performance of this programme was reviewed for Seen and Heard International by Claire Seymour:
“Podger’s ethereal ascents and pure harmonics sweetly articulated Park’s response to the texts’ imagery – celestial light and soaring spirits – while features such as the piling up of resonating dissonances and textures, the vibrant oscillations of the lower voices, homophonic stillness and the violin’s fantasia-like incursions into the vocal ensemble conveyed the texts’ goal of rapture.”
With a subsequent performance at the Milton Abbey Music Festival reviewed for Bachtrack by Jane Shuttleworth:
“…the programme closed with a piece by Owain Park… a mystical reflection for singers and violin on the terrible glories of heavenly light, with a thought for the fallen angels for whom it was all too much: Lucifer fell and the violin drew the vocal parts back to the pulsing, ecstatic “Spirited light” section. Park’s own style feels simultaneously ancient and contemporary, with a cold, open harmonic language and a violin part that paid homage to the baroque… a perfect ending.”