CCMusic.com

In 1998 leading contemporary British composer Christopher Fox began work on a new commission, a piece that was to be 'evening-long, and not a concert'. The result was the quasi-dramatic 'installation piece' Everything You Need to Know - a body of musical material which can be deployed in many different ways. Fox realized that the work needed a guide - a parallel version of the same ideas in a different form, rather like the 'catalogue raison+-' at an art exhibition. Thus was born a series of pieces for solo voice, as recorded here for the first time under the supervision of the composer and with his appearance as narrator. The sections are based on a series of multilingual texts from various sources including Virgil, Dante, tourist guides and essays. The 'catalogue' is about ideas, remembrance and the possibility of improbable connections. In itself as a sound work it is absolutely and positively unique.