Presto Recording of the Week
20th November 2020

The Kanneh--Masons, with Michael Morpurgo and Olivia Colman

1. Preamble
2. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion
3. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion
4. Hens and Roosters
5. Hens and Roosters
6. Wild Donkeys, Swift Animals (Or Make What You Like of That)
7. Wild Donkeys, Swift Animals
8. Tortoises
9. Tortoises
10. The Elephant
11. The Elephant
12. Kangaroos
13. Kangaroos
14. Aquarium (Or I Have a Friend)
15. Aquarium
16. Characters With Long Ears
17. Characters With Long Ears
18. The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods
19. The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods
20. Aviary
21. Aviary
22. Pianists (Or Who Sings Best in the Bath)
23. Pianists
24. Fossils (Or Doing the Brontosaurus)
25. Fossils
26. The Swan
27. The Swan
28. Finale
29. Finale
30. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
31. Every Year at Christmas...
32. Maypole Dance
33. To My Little Granddaughter Mia...
34. Mosquito Dance
35. I Sat There Watching You...
36. Little Bird
37. Just to See You Digging There...
38. Flight of the Bumblebee
39. If I Have Learnt One Thing...
40. Sea Murmurs
41. I Wish for You a World Where the Elephant and the Lion...
42. Maypole Dance (Reprise)
43. When the Reading Is Over
44. The Seal Lullaby
45. Redemption Song

Decca Classics announces the release of Carnival, a very special collaboration between Academy Award-winning actor Olivia Colman, children’s author Michael Morpurgo and the seven “extraordinarily talented” (Classic FM) Kanneh-Mason siblings – Isata, Braimah, Sheku, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu. The brand-new Kanneh-Mason album, their first as a family, will be released on 6th November 2020.

Recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, the release includes new poems written by War Horse author Morpurgo to accompany French composer Saint-Saëns’ beloved musical suite ‘Carnival of the Animals’. The poems are read by the author himself, joined by The Favourite actor Colman, and guest musicians complete the ensemble for the suite.

On working with the Kanneh-Masons, Morpurgo says, “These young people are remarkable, not because they are young, not because they are the seven siblings from one family, but simply because they make magnificent music together, and it is evident they love doing it. Hear them and you know it. See them and you know it.”

Along with Colman’s readings interposing the humorous suite ‘Carnival of the Animals’, which represents different animals through descriptive musical motifs, the recording features Morpurgo’s heart-warming Grandpa Christmas story, set to music for the first time with classic tracks including ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’, ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ and ‘Sea Murmurs’.

Morpurgo reads the role of Grandpa, with the youngest Kanneh-Mason, Mariatu, reading his granddaughter. The album includes a new arrangement of Eric Whitacre’s ‘The Seal Lullaby’ featuring all seven siblings, aged between 11-24. It is also the debut recording for youngest sisters Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu.

Also featuring on the album is the Kanneh-Masons’ own arrangement of Bob Marley’s iconic hit ‘Redemption Song’, marking 40 years since its release in 1980 – fewer than five years before the singer’s death.

The stunning artwork for Carnival has been specially commissioned from children’s illustrator Emma Chichester Clark, who has created a colourful storybook world featuring vibrant birds, friendly kangaroos, curious elephants and all seven of the Kanneh-Mason siblings – depicted, of course, with their instruments.

"The reduced forces here really do give us nature red in tooth and claw, though there’s luminous beauty aplenty too - particularly from pianist Isata and cellist Sheku, whose serene Swan has all the easy poise and grace we’ve come to expect from the pair’s solo recordings...Morpurgo’s beautifully-paced delivery of the lion’s share (literally and figuratively) of his own verses has a gentle, David Attenborough-ish charm." - Presto Classical, 20th November 2020.