Colin Matthews: Seascapes album review This album from the Nash Ensemble highlights the influential British composer Colin Matthews’s works for voice and chamber group, showcasing his precisely crafted, kaleidoscopic sound world across four song cycles. Soprano Claire Booth and baritone Marcus Farnsworth deliver vibrant performances, with the latter particularly praised for his clarity in settings of Ivan Blatný’s poetry. The largest piece, ‘A Land of Rain,’ sets Nicholas Moore’s translations of a Baudelaire poem, demonstrating Matthews’s ability to reinterpret text from multiple angles through chameleon-like musical styles.

• The release features four song cycles by influential British composer Colin Matthews.
• The Nash Ensemble, conducted by Jessica Cottis, performs the works.
• Claire Booth (soprano) and Marcus Farnsworth (baritone) are the vocal soloists.
• Matthews is known for his detailed and precise kaleidoscopic sound world in chamber music.
• The song cycles include ‘The Island,’ ‘Seascapes,’ ‘A Land of Rain,’ and ‘As Time Returns.’
• ‘A Land of Rain’ sets poems by Nicholas Moore, based on translations of a Baudelaire poem.