For An Unknown Soldier is a cantata of remembrance to mark the centenary of the First World War. Commissioned by the London Mozart Players, Jonathan Dove’s poignant work combines the words of war poets such as Wilfred Owen, William Noel Hodgson & Isaac Rosenberg with choral performances from tenor Nicky Spence, the Oxford Bach Choir and Portsmouth Grammar School Chamber Choir.
It is paired with the ensemble’s performance of Dove’s An Airmail Letter from Mozart, directed from the piano by Melvyn Tan.
★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording “Conductor Nicholas Cleonbury does a sterling job of marshalling the focus, which include a combined children’s choir, and tenor Nicky Spence, whose contributions are memorably plangent” – BBC Music Magazine
“The performance is a good one. Nicky Spence sings expressively and his timble suits the music very well…The recordings of both works have been very effectively engineered by Matthew Dilley” – Musicweb International
“Nicky Spence is particularly well-focused and expressive and the Oxford Chorus perfectly drilled and nicely balanced with a lovely tone quality” – Musicweb International
