Thomas Ades:
Forgotten Dances:
I. Overture, Queen of the Spiders
II. Berceuse, The Paradise of Thebes
III. Courante – Here was a swift (for Max Ernst)
IV. Barcarolle – The Maiden Voyage
V. Carillon de Ville (for Hector Berlioz)
VI. Vesper (for Henry Purcell)
Habanera from ‘The Extrminating Angel’

Harrison Birtwistle:
Beyond the White Hand
Construction with Guitar Player:
Guitar and White Hand
Oockooing Bird (Arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
Sleep Song
Berceuse de Jeanne (Arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
Sad Song (Arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
Je sui aussi

James Dillon:
12 Caprices

Sean Shibe’s fifth PENTATONE album, Vesper, presents a striking collection of contemporary guitar works by the late Harrison Birtwistle, James Dillon, and Thomas Ades, all composed by musicians who do not play the instrument themselves. Recorded here for the first time, these recent miniatures explore the guitar’s expressive range in profoundly different ways: ritualistic and evocative in Birtwistle, elemental in Dillon, and allusive in Ades. Shibe’s interpretations reveal the instrument’s extraordinary colour, subtlety, and capacity for transformation, bringing each work to life with imagination and nuance. For some of Birtwistle’s pieces, Shibe performs on Sylvette (2021), a guitar made by luthier Simon Ambridge in collaboration with French-British artist Lydia Corbett. A muse to Pablo Picasso – who was himself an important influence for several of Birtwistle’s works on this album – Corbett also inspired Picasso’s celebrated Sylvette series. Modelled on the small, responsive instruments of the Andalusian luthier Antonio de Torres, the guitar features Corbett’s artwork on its body, adding a visual and symbolic layer to the performance. Shibe is a former BBC New Generation Artist, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2012 winner, a Royal Philharmonic Society 2018 Young Artist Award winner, a multi-GRAMMY nominee, and the recipient of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award. His recordings have won BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone Awards.