It’s a relief to encounter a composer who sets text with a natural speech rhythm instead of having the voice leaping up and down, distancing the words from the listener and it’s so good to hear music that reeks of isolation, conjuring up location and atmosphere. The Buzz of the Sea is very well written vocally and the dynamic range is appropriate and free of declamatory bombast. I wish that perhaps I was still in a position to program the work somewhere and allocate resources to it.