“Airy lyricism and fragile, touching beauty” The Guardian

‘Shades’ is Manchester Collective’s second album and the next chapter of our ongoing collaboration with the British composer Edmund Finnis.

The two string quartets presented here are focused and fragile investigations of sound. Ed’s writing frequently pushes our players to the very limit of what is possible – his music here is softer, more intimate and bare. This material lives in the shadows, slowly shifting, finding form, then melting away.

Ed writes: “I think of these two quartets as some of the most personal and intimate pieces I have written. They are outcomes of my enduring need to communicate something that I’m incapable of fully expressing with words. I would if I could. I know that it has something to do with love.”

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TRACKLIST

01. String Quartet No. 2: I
02. String Quartet No. 2: II
03. String Quartet No. 2: III
04. String Quartet No. 2: IV
05. String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": I
06. String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": II
07. String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": III
08. String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": IV Hymn (after Byrd)
09. String Quartet No. 1 "Aloysius": V

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ALBUM CREDITS

Rakhi Singh Music Director, Violin
Adam Szabo Producer
Brendan Williams Production, Recording/Mix Engineer
Declan Kennedy Additional Production
Edmund Finnis Additional Production
Valgeir Sigurðsson Mastering
Helenskià Collett Album Artwork
Edmund Finnis Composer
Donald Grant, Caroline Pether, Rakhi Singh Violin
Hélène Clement, Ruth Gibson Viola
Nick Trygstad Cello