Héloise Werner:
Like Words
Unspecified Intentions
Confessional

Josephine Stephenson:
Comme l’espoir/you might all disappear

Héloise Werner & Zoë Martlew:
Syncopate

Cheryl Frances-Hoad:
Something More Than Mortal

Nico Muhly:
Benedicite Recitation

Georges Aperghis:
Récitation 3
Récitation 8
Récitation 9
Récitation 11

Oliver Leith:
yhyhyhyhyh

Elaine Mitchener:
whetdreem

Luminous and daring, this celebration of Héloise Werner’s multifaceted gifts is nourished by rich dualities. Phrases reveals Werner as both singer and composer, as an artist shaped by both her native France and her adopted UK, and as a soloist of captivating individuality who is also an intrepid collaborator.

The solos and duos that make up the album comprise five of Werner’s own compositions, four of Georges Aperghis’s avant-garde classic Récitations, and six newly commissioned works, by composers ranging from Elaine Mitchener and Nico Muhly to Oliver Leith. The calibre of Héloise’s instrumental partners in the duos reflects the degree to which this extraordinary young performer is already valued and cherished by her peers.

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Recorded on 5-7 October 2021 at the Church of St John the Evangelist/SJE Arts, Oxford.