Piedra de sol

September 2026

from Choir and Organ:  “…The professional chamber choir of Conspirare under artistic director Craig Hella Johnson clearly relish the challenges set by Talbot: they give a fine account of an intricate score, not least because of their ability to get behind and convey the meaning of Paz’s words.”

August 2026

from Classical CDs: Pigeons, pennies and Piaf  “The 25-voice Conspirare sing beautifully and with complete artistic sympathy, which comes directly from their director, Craig Hella Johnson, the guiding force behind the piece’s commissioning. Piedra de sol is a serious piece – like Path of Miracles it is contemplative and challenging – but its harmonic weight never gets clogged, and the moments of textural clarity when they arrive are revelatory. The choir is complemented with a marimba – which is nominally optional but feels integral – playing tremolos that colour the timbre, but very much sitting within the choir. The solo voices that emerge from the choir are a strength of Conspirare. This is a major new addition to the choral repertoire and I am sure it will be taken up by lots of choirs. It is a fine work and very well sung. I have listened to it a number of times, and its merits become more apparent with each hearing.” —Bernard Hughes

from Sonograma:  “The album presents the recorded premiere of Sunstone (‘Piedra de sol’), an extensive choral work of approximately seventy minutes composed by Joby Talbot based on a selection from the celebrated poem of the same name by Octavio Paz. The performance is carried out by the American choir Conspirare, conducted by Craig Hella Johnson, with Thomas Burritt’s marimba as the sole accompanying instrument. The work is divided into nineteen sections grouped into three major dramatic blocks: Creation, Despair, and Salvation. Octavio Paz’s poem has a circular structure, an approach Talbot has sought to translate into his musical composition. The liner notes devote considerable space to contextualizing Piedra de sol, considered one of the masterpieces of 20th-century Spanish American poetry. They explain that the poem takes the Aztec sun stone as its symbolic reference point and develops a reflection on cyclical time, memory, love, and the possibility of transcending history through poetic and amorous experience. Influenced by surrealism, the poem combines visionary imagery with historical and mythical references, proposing a journey in which past, present, and future are continuously interwoven.

from Music Web International  “Anyone who cares about contemporary choral music should hear this wonderful score.” 

Joby Talbot and Craig Hella Johnson on setting Octavio Paz’s poem ‘Piedra de sol’

In the latest edition of the Gramophone Podcast, composer Joby Talbot and Craig Hella Johnson join Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about their fascinating collaboration: a setting of Mexican poet Octavio Paz’s epic work, Piedra de sol.

Joby Talbot on Sunstone  PrestoMusic’s Ben Hogwood talks tea with Joby Talbot in his London studio and is featured in their New Release Round-Up – 21st August 2026.

from Pizzicato:
“With its stylistic and vocal sophistication, Conspirare brings a sense of tension, intensity, and emotional depth to Talbot’s effort to capture in sound the fundamental idea of flow and dissolution, of timelessness and finitude.”

Piedra de sol is featured on these streaming platforms: