Ernstalbrecht Stiebler

This CD offers the first recording of Frank Denyer's extraordinary hour-long piece for large ensemble The Fish That Became the Sun (Songs of the Dispossessed), composed between 1991 and 1996. The ensemble includes a huge number of home-made percussion instruments made from discarded materials, as well as obscure instruments such as eunuch flutes, ocarinas and crumhorns. The album comes with a booklet with notes by Frank Denyer and an essay by Michael Turnbull.

Musicians include:
Octandre Ensemble (directors Christian Mason & Jon Hargreaves)
New London Chamber Choir (director Matthew Hamilton)
Consortium 5
Perc'm Percussion Ensemble (director George Barton)
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (violin)
Albert & Pearl Snow (child vocalists)

"The Fish That Became the Sun (Songs of the Dispossessed) is a uniquely strange work for a large ensemble of 40 musicians, playing a wide variety of unusual instruments, including many that are specially made for the piece from discarded materials. Originally composed by Frank Denyer in the 1990s, but very difficult to present because of its eccentric instrumentation, the piece finally received its world premiere at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival on 23 November 2019. The Fish... is much busier and louder than Denyer's recent music, and is expertly performed by Octandre Ensemble alongside several smaller specialist groups and soloists." - The Wire