The Crossing’s first vinyl LP - a deluxe two-disk set that is an audiophile’s dream. A brilliant amalgam of Wendell Berry’s words and Gavin’s singular musical language, remastered for vinyl by Dave McNair to capture the sound of the individual singers of The Crossing, and with the art of Steven Bradshaw now blown up and even more striking.

This first LP was made possible through our audiophile board member Andrew Quint’s tireless, successful campaign to assemble a group of audio experts to support its production.

A Native Hill is made possible through gifts from:

Acora Acoustics Corporation
The Absolute Sound
MC Audiotech, Mark Conti, Managing Director
Anonymous
The Voice That Is, LLC.
Haniwa Audio
Andrew Quint
Luciano Virgili
James Baum

ABOUT A NATIVE HILL:

Navona Records presents A Native Hill from Philadelphia’s professional chamber choir, The Crossing. This monumental unaccompanied work is the result of a collaboration with composer Gavin Bryars, whose previous work for The Crossing won them their first of two recent Grammy awards. With intimate knowledge of the individual voices and art of each singer, Bryars composed A Native Hill to capitalize on the group’s unique sound, personality, and esprit de corps. A Native Hill is based on American author and environmentalist Wendell Berry’s 1968 essay of the same name, which examines bucolic elements of rural life, suffused with deeper metaphysical and political implications. The new album is full of rich, complex vocal textures, dense chromatic clusters, and moments of profound simplicity, offering an opportunity to reflect on life’s timeless questions.

Program Note here