Edmund Finnis - Out of the Dawn's Mind (Ruby Hughes; Manchester Collective)

Information

Composer: Edmund Finnis

1. A Rushed Account of the Dew
2. Sunday Ballad
3. A Short Story of Falling
4. Shadow
5. Slowed-Down Blackbird

Ruby Hughes, soprano

Manchester Collective

Rakhi Singh, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Pentatone

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Out of the Dawn’s Mind is an atmospheric song cycle for soprano and string orchestra by Edmund Finnis, setting five poems from Alice Oswald’s acclaimed collection Falling Awake. Commissioned and performed by soprano Ruby Hughes and Manchester Collective, marking their PENTATONE label debut, the work explores the delicate space between sound, light, and silence. Finnis’ finely detailed, evocative score responds to Oswald’s imagery with exceptional sensitivity, creating an intimate yet expansive meditation on the flux of the natural world. Following the Edison Award-winning 2023 release Youth, this release offers a captivating portrait of one of Britain’s most distinctive contemporary composers.

British composer Edmund Finnis (b. 1984) is a acclaimed voice in contemporary classical and electronic music, serving as Professor of Composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Educated at the Guildhall School and Tanglewood, his diverse output spans solo, chamber, film, and major orchestral works, including his 2025 Cello Concerto for Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Finnis has built prominent collaborations with world-class performers and leading ensembles, notably the London Contemporary Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, and Manchester Collective. Recorded on labels such as Pentatone, Decca, and Platoon, his critically lauded discography includes the BBC Music Magazine Award-winning album The Air, Turning.

British soprano Ruby Hughes (b. 1980) is an internationally acclaimed opera, concert, and recital artist renowned for her expressive versatility across early, classical, and contemporary vocal music. A former BBC New Generation Artist and Royal Philharmonic Society Susan Chilcott Award recipient, she trained at the Munich Hochschule and London’s Royal College of Music. Hughes made notable early operatic appearances at Theater an der Wien, Aix-en-Provence, and English National Opera. She collaborates regularly with leading conductors, early music ensembles, and major orchestras worldwide, maintaining an extensive discography and broadcast legacy that spans Baroque masterworks to 20th-century art song and contemporary premieres.

High Resolution 24-bit / 48 kHz