Aaron Copland described Dickinson’s work as “fresh, precise, utterly unique”. Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson are the perfect vehicle for Emma Matthews’ technical brilliance. In this recording there is a wonderful sense of the humane, of vulnerability and exquisite tenderness, her expressive genius delivering these one-way conversations most convincingly. The orchestration for the Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson is in a chamber style calling for small orchestral forces so Copland’s Appalachian Spring for 13 instruments proves the ideal coupling. This is a work that defines the essence of America in music: the wide open skies, the pioneering spirit, and the values of simplicity and directness.