07/09/2026
Really interesting release out on FHR 6 November featuring two works by composer Deidre GRIBBIN. 'Kindersang' is a song-cycle with text by Lotte Kramer who is 103 years old! There will also be a Spatial Audio, surround sound with Dolby Atmos mix of the audio available! You can hear some excerpts from the two works in this video.
Kindersang
Jolene Pollyanna Lixenberg (Loré Lixenberg), mezzo-soprano
David Alberman, violin
Soul Outsider
Crash Ensemble / Ryan McAdams
'Among the most distinctive voices in contemporary Irish music, Deirdre Gribbin has established an international reputation for chamber works of striking individuality and expressive depth. The works featured on this recording exemplify a sound world shaped by colour, texture, and an extraordinary sense of time, inviting listeners into spaces of reflection and emotional resonance.
Central to this programme is Kindersang, a song-cycle based on the historically significant Kindertransport, a work that gives voice to the experiences of displaced children during the Second World War, while also resonating powerfully with the realities faced by children in the present day. Its dialogue between voice and violin creates an intimate and often haunting exchange, underscoring themes of memory, separation, and survival.
Alongside this stands Soul Outsider, a chamber work inspired by the portraits of Lucian Freud, in which cello, clarinet, percussion, and electric guitar engage in a striking and dynamic interplay. Here, contrasting timbres and textures mirror the psychological intensity and layered humanity of Freud’s imagery.
Rooted in an awareness of history, memory, and landscape, Gribbin’s music draws subtle connections between heritage and contemporary experience. Lyricism, connected to folk sources and tradition, emerges through a profound sense of place, atmosphere, and human experience, carefully crafted yet immediately engaging.'
