Corp Ronald: The Ice Mountain

Naxos continues the 60th birthday celebrations of British composer/conductor Ronald Corp with a second recording of his music - a contrast to the recent release of Corp’s String Quartets. First performed in a production by Abigail Morris in March 2010 at St Michael’s Church in Hampstead, London, The Ice Mountain is a traditional Swiss folk story of the cycle of life, of loss and how to come to terms with death. The cyclical passage of time through the four seasons reflects the work’s emotional journey, while the story itself is based on an old Swiss legend The Old Woman and the Dead and the music incorporates elements of Swiss folk-music and liturgical chant. Composer and conductor Ronald Corp says ‘the tale is a haunting one and very poignant and I was drawn by the mystical element in the story; I think my music for the opera reflects this’.