Search - Garrett Fisher, Anna Vinten-Johansen, Olle Persson :: The Passion of St. Thomas More (Music and Libretto by Garrett Fisher)

In describing this album, Classic Today's David Hurwitz writes: "The plot, familiar to many from A Man For All Seasons, concerns Thomas More's refusal to countenance Henry VIII's divorce of Catherine of Aragon and sign a statement of support for the king's subsequent schism with Rome, for which 'crime' he was beheaded. American composer Garrett Fisher (b. 1970) focuses on the moment of decision itself and its effect on three principal characters: More (who must follow his conscience knowing the penalty for refusal to renew his loyalty to the king); his daughter Margaret (who must come to accept her father's choice); and King Henry (forced to understand that his power to compel obedience is not absolute and that More has vanquished him spiritually). These singers also take on additional roles as 'dark angels', figures that elucidate the spiritual consequences and implications of the decisions that the human characters make... "Fisher's laudable objective clearly has been to universalize the story through a ritualistic stylization that treats the music in the most traditional way possible: not as 'representation' of some abstract concept or event, but as a means of elevating the expressive impact of the text. The libretto itself, by the composer, is as simple, eloquent, and direct as his setting of it...[The work] gently touches on spiritual matters without ever becoming preachy or pretentious, telling a human story with words and music that truly work well together."