Casken’s music - harmonically and texturally dense - refusing to resolve - is . . . rather vibrantly earthy, relentlessly hymning the sheer physicality of the original poem’s concept: nature, tree, cross - experiencing what the human participants in the drama endure.
Arnold Whittall, on The Dream of the Rood, The Musical Times
forthcoming performances
16 December 2019
Child of Hope, Hymn and Variation on 'The race that long in darkness pined', St Mary’s Church
19 December 2019
Child of Hope, Hymn and Variation on 'The race that long in darkness pined', Holy Trinity Church
10 January 2020
Piano Trio, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
more performances
The control with which Casken allows tonally-founded harmonies to rise, Alban Berg-like, to the surface, is as remarkable as the fastidiousness of his orchestration, all of which serves to hold concept and craft in ideal balance
David Fanning, on Apollinaire’s Bird , The Telegraph