Page 101 - FULL BOOK Isata Kanneh-Mason Childhood Tales

Apollo5: Invocations (Voces8 Records)

Invocations is the sixth album by Apollo5, the younger quintet sibling of Voces8, since their debut
in 2015. Apart from the first, these are mostly straightforwardly “classical” – 2019’s O Radiant
Dawn is perhaps the pick of the bunch. But Invocations moves towards what used to be called
“crossover”, as the members of the group chose pieces that were “musical milestones” for them,
and they have been re-imagined, sometimes quite radically, by long-time collaborator Fraser
Wilson.There are still nods to the classical repertoire – Purcell’s “The Plaint” and the “Agnus Dei”
from Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices are typically classy performances. There is also an entirely new
piece: Wilson’s Invocation, to a heartfelt Quaker text, finds music that matches the simplicity of
the words, hymnic but not prim.

But the bulk of the tracks are pop, or otherwise non-classical. Some songs can stand up to
reworking and Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” is one. Besides the piano-and-vocals original, there’s
the Bob Chilcott arrangement that has been a King’s Singers staple for many years – and now
this striking opener to Invocations. Resonant overlapping canonic entries create vaguely
medieval clusters that hang in the air. It’s lovely – and seems all too soon that the piano segues