The Works

Welcome to The Works, showcasing the very best new releases from the world of classical music. This week’s selection open with a beautiful arrangement of a gentle, hymn-like choral work by Christopher Tin. “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” was originally composed as part of Tin’s oratorio The Lost Birds, an elegy for the bird species lost as a result of environmental damage. Tin draws inspiration from Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same name. “Dickinson uses a small bird as a metaphor for hope, singing constantly, even through storms and hardship,” Lara Downes tells Apple Music Classical. “Her poem is a comment about the persistence and resilience of hope as a force that endures when circumstances are at their darkest. And in our present world, that idea resonates with me in an intensely personal and urgent way.” And hope is a theme that runs through the album from which this track is taken. Hold These Truths, out now, traces a path through American history, bringing together music born from revolution, struggle, resistance, faith, and renewal, adds Downes. “The album argues that hope connects us and powers us forward: the determination to keep imagining a better future even amid conflict, injustice, and uncertainty.” We regularly update The Works, so if you find a piece of music or a performance you particularly love, don’t forget to add it to your library.