All but one of the works on this new album date from the past 10 years, not that you would know that from Sono Luminus’s documentation. Not even the dates of composition are provided, so let me fill in these and other gaps. Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) is the oldest, written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014 and rescored for larger forces two years later. Bára Gísladóttir’s ÓS (the title can mean ‘mouth’ or ‘estuary’) was composed in 2018 to mark the centenary of Iceland’s independence, with Daníel Bjarnason’s From Space I Saw Earth composed a year later. Maria Sigfúsdóttir’s Clockworking for Orchestra (so titled, I presume, to distinguish it from her earlier, similarly titled work for Baroque string trio and harpsichord) and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s CATAMORPHOSIS (named after the process of evolutionary change; the upper case is intentional) were both composed in 2020.

Prospective buyers may also be intrigued to know that Daníel Bjarnason’s From Space I Saw Earth does not ‘improbably stretch … perspective from earth to the moon and back’ but is one of several works inspired by the Apollo 11 mission. Bjarnason composed it for three separate orchestral groups, each with its own conductor (at the premiere Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Zubin Mehta, no less!), and closes with musicians walking through the auditorium playing crotales. It is a magical touch, and should have been worth a mention, even in the marketing blurb that passes inadequately for a booklet note.

Fortunately, the performances by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (their extras, buried in small print on page 15 of the booklet, are listed above in their rightful place) are on a much higher level of attainment. The range of sonorities they bring out in Gísladóttir’s ÓS is viscerally gripping – rushing strings, apocalyptically deep wind notes and percussion fusillades (reminding me a touch of Marie Samuelsson’s Air Drum III) – and Mazzoli’s engaging Sinfonia and Sigfúsdóttir’s Clockworking provide textural, stylistic and expressive contrast. Sono Luminus’s sound is top-notch. Enjoy!