Sky of My Heart
New York Polyphony
BIS
Sky of My Heart is a recording of remarkable coherence and grace. On its surface, the program spans five centuries, from the Renaissance polyphony of William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons to new works by Becky McGlade, Ivan Moody, Paul Moravec, Nico Muhly, Akemi Naito, and Andrew Smith. What makes the album extraordinary is the ease with which the old and the new coexist. New York Polyphony does not set eras in opposition but allows them to converse, revealing a shared spiritual and musical language that transcends time.
The album opens in the luminous world of Byrd’s Ecce quam bonum, sung with the clarity and warmth that have become New York Polyphony’s hallmark. The singers phrase with unhurried patience, letting Byrd’s counterpoint breathe as if written yesterday. The same elegance shapes Byrd’s Agnus Dei from the Mass for Four Voices, performed with LeStrange Viols.
The result is breathtaking. Voices and viols intertwine so seamlessly that it becomes difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. The viols do not merely accompany; they resonate in sympathy, their tone adding depth and gravity to every line. The unified pacing, immaculate tuning, and restrained intensity give this performance a sense of suspended time, a prayer sustained in perfect balance.
This dialogue between past and present continues throughout the disc. McGlade’s Of the Father’s Love Begotten, a reimagining of a fourth-century hymn, captures the essence of Sky of My Heart: ancient words given new life without losing their contemplative weight. John Tavener’s Little Lamb also bridges historical sensibility and modern simplicity. New York Polyphony sings it with tenderness and purity where each melodic interval glows with quiet conviction.
Paul Moravec’s Darest Thou Now, O Soul is a highlight of exceptional beauty. His setting of Walt Whitman’s text captures both vulnerability and transcendence, and the ensemble performs it with breathtaking intimacy. Their phrasing is fluid, breathing as one. Dissonant harmonies unfold into consonant suspensions of luminous calm, the music hovering between sound and silence. Emotion is expressed not through intensity but through quiet restraint.
Nico Muhly’s My Days stands out for its tension between precision and passion. The writing brims with crosscurrents—ancient modality and modern harmony—and the ensemble handles them with agile intelligence. The playing of LeStrange Viols is particularly striking. Their sound is elegantly vocal yet charged with the physical energy of bow against string, a tactile friction that gives the music a visceral immediacy, connecting the centuries through sound and gesture.
Works by Moody, Smith, and Naito complete the program with moments of contemplation and subtle daring. Each speaks in a distinct musical language, yet under New York Polyphony’s unified sound they form a single landscape in which sacred music remains a living art rather than a historical relic.
What ultimately distinguishes Sky of My Heart is its completeness. Every detail of intonation, pacing, and phrasing is exquisitely judged, yet the overall effect feels effortless. The ensemble sings not to impress but to draw the listener into stillness and contemplation. Whether in the timeless polyphony of Byrd or the shimmering modernity of Moravec and Muhly, the same truth resounds: in the hands of New York Polyphony, sacred music remains a living art. It becomes what it has always been: a contemporary expression of the human heart reaching toward the divine.
Christopher Jacobson is director of music and organist at Church of the Incarnation in Dallas.
