The title of this piece, 'Across the Vast, Eternal Sky,' was the last line of our previous collaboration, 'Tundra.' So, the last line of that was 'Across the Vast, Eternal Sky.' It uses the image of the phoenix and rebirth, but it also more specifically refers to how we renew ourselves.' He's kind of a rare thing in that he's almost like a choral poet. He wrote the lyrics for 'Across the Vast Eternal Sky.' Would you talk about that piece and how the idea came to be for the text? I noticed that you have a lyricist with whom you like to work, and it happens to be the same lyricist with whom Eric Whitacre often teams up with, Charles Anthony Silvesteri. That track is just really close to my heart.' It's more like the center of it to me is a track called 'Home.' It's the shortest piece on the album, less than two minutes, and it's an instrumental with piano and strings. 'I don't know if there's a specific peak. So what would you say is the emotional peak in this recording? 'I definitely put a lot of thought and care into how the program flows, and how each piece following the other has a kind of emotional arc to it.' We started out the album with a choral version and end it with the instrumental version. So, we decided to put both on the album as sort of bookends. It's also kind of melodic, so it felt natural to also have an instrumental version of it, as well, with the cello playing the melody.

'It's the new piece of mine, so I was really excited to put that on the album, and I love that poem by Christina Rossetti. It opens and it closes with 'The Rose' and then 'The Rose, Part 2.' What is the significance of these bookend pieces? So, that was also a new group that I haven't worked with before and that was really, really excellent.' I think they perform a lot with Max Richter, for example. And 12 Ensemble is an unconducted string group, also from England, that does a lot of performing. So that was a wonderful experience to work with them. They have such a beautiful, really fresh, gorgeous, very real, kind of natural sound that I really like. 'The Choir of Royal Holloway is a really wonderful college choir from just outside London. Tell me about your collaborators on this recording. On his new recording, Winter Songs, he combines his love of choral music with his passion for piano improvisation and strings. He's a Norwegian-born composer who now calls New York City home. If you're familiar with the world of choral music, then you know the name Ola Gjeilo (pronounced OH-luh YAY-loh). Ola Gjeilo: Winter Songs (Decca) Jump to CD giveaway form

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