ANGEL - riding high in the charts!

For the second week running Angel is at No. 2 in the Classical Charts and was the highest new entry in the Classic FM chart.  

I wonder if we can get it to the No. 1 spot?

Don't forget to order your copy at Amazon or iTunes!

ANGEL at Number 2 in the Classical Charts!

Really pleased to report that ANGEL has gone straight in at Number 2 in the Classical Charts!  Many thanks to all those who have bought or downloaded the album.

http://www.officialcharts.com/specialist-classical-albums-chart/

ANGEL SHEET MUSIC NOW AVAILABLE!

The sheet music for pieces from the Angel album are now available to order from the Music Sales website!

Do you sing in a choir?  If so, why not be among some of the first people in the world to perform these new works?!

Among the pieces now available are Factum est Silentium, Archangel Suite and Quem Pastores.

ANGEL - RELEASED TODAY!

Today is a really special day for me.  It feels like the culmination of two years' work.

It's almost a year ago now since we recorded the Angel album in Oxford and I had the first ideas for the music at least a year before that.  It has been quite moving for me to hear some of the tracks played on Classic FM, Radio 2 and Radio 3 as well as other independent stations.

I really do hope this music reaches as many people as possible and we can get it to No. 1 in the classical charts!

Angel is released today 3rd March and you can order your copy at Amazon and iTunes.

If you would like to hear my Classic FM interview on Charlotte Green's Culture Club follow these instructions:  Go to the http://www.classicfm.com/ website, click on the 'Listen' button at the top of the screen and in the screen that opens go to the 'Listen again' tab. Select 'Charlotte Green's Culture Club (2nd March)' from the list and scroll through to 01:21:48 for my part of the interview.

ANGEL made ALBUM OF THE WEEK on Classic FM

My new album, Angel, has been made ALBUM OF THE WEEK on Classic FM this week ahead of its release next Monday.

http://www.classicfm.com/composers/hawes/album-reviews/angel-review/

John Suchet plays a different track from the album each day this week.  On Monday he started with Out of the Depths and today he played Angel Song.  Keep listening in this week to hear more tracks from the album!

Angel is released 3rd March and you can pre-order your copy at Amazon and iTunes.

Classic FM - first air play for ANGEL

Just announced on the Classic FM website - tracks from Angel are going to be played by Alex James on his Magical Musical Tour this Saturday (22nd Feb) at 7pm.  He's a great presenter and I'm really looking forward to hearing him introduce the music.  Do listen if you can!
http://www.classicfm.com/radio/shows/alex-jamess-magical-music-tour/22-february-2014/

ANGEL - recording the album

Recording the album: (top-bottom) Patrick with the Choir of New College Oxford and the RPO; 

Patrick and Edward Higginbottom, choirmaster of New College Oxford; Patrick recording the Piano Preludes; 

the recording team – Mike Hatch (recording engineer), Grace Davidson (soprano), Patrick, Anna Barry (producer)

The following are extracts from a recent interview about the recording of my new album, Angel.

"We recorded the album in St Michael and All Angels Church in Oxford and Angel Studios in London – both fitting venues given the subject matter!"

A prominent presence throughout the disc is Grace Davidson's soprano voice.  Her beautifully clear and radiant tone - in this context, it might be described as "angelic" - is first heard on the opening piece, Prayer To A Guardian Angel, as well as on Out Of The Depths, the gently lulling Uriel, To Thee All Angels, and the final track, The Last Lullaby, which eases the disc to a close in a delicate shimmer of harp and strings.

"We didn't want anything too mannered," explains Patrick, "and by that I mean we didn't want a solo voice with too much vibrato. We wanted purity and light, not a voice that was too heavy or thick."

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra create a beautifully light texture to the album under the brilliant lead of Clio Gould who also performs on a couple of the tracks as a soloist.  The fantastic harpist Hugh Webb also features throughout the album.

Also intrinsic to the sound-world of the album is the choir of New College, Oxford, ably directed both by chorus master Edward Higginbottom and Patrick himself.

"I wanted a collegiate choir or a cathedral choir, because I think the boy treble sound is unique," Patrick reflects.  "It's a very English sound, and to me it has an inbuilt innocence about it, and I wanted the album to have a feeling of innocence."

Patrick has given the New College choir their own showpiece on the disc, Angelus Domini, an exquisitely simple piece which shows off the finely-knit texture of their unaccompanied voices.

Aside from the choir, Patrick has introduced additional vocal colourings via tenor Mark Wilde, the baritone Robert Davies and countertenor Robin Blaze, who take the roles of the angels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.  Along with Uriel, sung by Grace Davidson, these pieces make up Patrick's Archangel Suite.

Angel is due out on 3rd March 2014.  You can pre-order Angel on Amazon and iTunes