Michael Nyman - Touch the Earth (1987)

An unreleased piece written for the Rosemary Butcher Dance Company. Scored for two soprano voices, violin, and viola, 'Touch the Earth' was inspired by a passage in Goethe's memoirs in which he describes the antiphonal call-and-response singing of the Venetian gondoliers as moving him to tears. Continuing the theme of Venice, Nyman appropriates a chord progression from a Monteverdi madrigral to form the piece around, adding modern dissonant vocal melodies over the archaic harmonic structure. 'Touch the Earth' is one of several Nyman pieces which exploits Sarah Leonard's remarkable upper register - other examples include 'Images Were Introduced', 'Memorial', 'L'Escargot', and 'L'Orgie Parisienne'.
This recording (which was used during the actual performances of the dance piece) features:
Sarah Leonard - soprano
Nicole Tibbels - soprano
Alexander Balanescu - violin
Kate Musker - viola