Gartner

Painters sometimes talk about the intensity of the light they encounter in Australia. Peter Dart, born in Sydney in 1953, brings something of that brightness to his compositions, which are further animated by buoyant rhythms and a lively sense of humour, even mischief. They are, at the same time, anchored in a secure command of counterpoint, and given a timeless quality by his fondness for modal harmony. Most important of all, the technical mastery that gives these works their surefooted appeal is suffused with straightforward human warmth.

When Johann Sebastian Bach assumed the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723, he did so having previously affirmed to the City authorities by contractual guarantee that the music he was to compose for divine service in the pious mercantile city would not sound operatic. Another of the unalterable customs in Leipzig was that the high voice parts in church music should not be sung by women, a widely applied consequence drawn from the counsel of the Apostle Paul. [“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak” (1 Corinthians 14:34, KJV). - Translator’s note] This album is the proof that Bach set his sacred works to music whose emotional and dramatic force stood comparison with the best operatic music of his day.

Painters sometimes talk about the intensity of the light they encounter in Australia.