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
9 February 2020
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, New College Oxford
7 March 2020
Maharal Dreaming, Martin Harris Centre
31 May 2020
Uncertain Sea, Alwinton Summer Concerts
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