Composer's original version
Water/Va Pensiero was written for the Ten Tenors album Larger than Life (2004) and released by Warners Europe.
The song mixes gospel and country vocal styles with the famous operatic chorus 'Va Pensiero' from Guiseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco.
The orchestration consists of specific samples composed by the composer for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
The recording here is the composer's original version. The commercially released version by Warners Europe was reproduced and re-edited by Warners. It can be heard here.
However, the composer prefers the original version. As well as the use of a more present original drum track, the interaction between the song 'Water' with Verdi's 'Va pensiero' is more complex and evocative.
Water?Va Pensiero belongs to a collection of songs which repurpose existing operatic arias or melodies into new contexts. Examples of these can be heard at the following pages: Rediscoveries for Multiple Voices and Five Handel Arias
Water/Va Pensiero
