This new recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano bears the title “Transmigration”, and is a collection of hymns and requiems for those we wish to honour and remember.

The featured pieces are Samuel Barber’s universal expressions of loss, “Adagio for Strings” and the vocal transcription “Agnus Dei”, John Corigliano’s “Elegy” to lost youth, Jennifer Higdon’s setting of poetry about Abraham Lincoln, “Dooryard Bloom”, and John Adams’s reflection of personal grief for the victims of the World Trade Centre tragedy on September 11, 2001, “On the Transmigration of Souls”. The ASO is joined on this piece by the Gwinnett Young singers and the soloist in “Dooryard Bloom” is the baritone Nmon Ford.

Robert Spano is recognised internationally as one of the brightest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. His achievements include a 2005 Grammy Award (“Best Choral Album”) for Berlioz’s Requiem and two 2003 Grammy Awards (“Best Classical Album” and “Best Choral Album”) for Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony.