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   Ralph Vaughan Williams - Sacred Choral Music, The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Naxos, 8.572465)
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 kgkk Member is Offline
 Posted: 07-05-2011, 21:17 (post 1, #1017803)

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The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge - Ralph Vaughan Williams - Sacred Choral Music
Артист: The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Альбом: Ralph Vaughan Williams - Sacred Choral Music, 2010
Издатель: Naxos / 8.572465
Жанр: Classical
Формат файла: EAC / FLAC / CUE / LOG
Ссылка: CD
Нахождение: Torrent

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Sacred Choral Music


Label: Naxos, 8.572465
Year: 2010



Performers:

James McVinnie - organ
Ashok Gupta - organ

The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge

Timothy Brown - conductor


Tracklist:

01. The Voice out of the Whirlwind 5:23
02. Valiant-for-truth 5:32
03 - 07. Mass in G minor 22:35
08 - 10. Three Choral Hymns 12:55
11. Nothing is here for tears 2:14
12. A Vision of Aeroplanes 9:31
13. The souls of the righteous 3:19
14. A Choral Flourish (Exultate justi) 1:42


Recordings of Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor don’t come along that often but with this new one, Naxos has two first-rate performances in its catalog, the other with the Elora Festival Singers (type Q4177 in Search Reviews). That’s where the similarity between the two recordings ends, however and that’s a good thing. In fact, this disc is different from most Vaughan Williams choral programs due to its abundance of rarely-heard works.

The two more-familiar items Valiant-for-truth and the Mass are performed as well as you’ll hear anywhere on disc; the challenging a cappella scoring in both but especially in the very exposed textures of the Mass allows us to fully appreciate this choir’s ensemble unity and solid intonation. The Mass is among the faster-paced versions on disc, similar to our reference recording (Cedille), but Timothy Brown knows that slower can mean trouble in this work, and he moderates tempo where it counts, most importantly in the Agnus Dei.

Among the lesser-known works, The Voice out of the Whirlwind is one of those grand cathedral anthems with a busy organ accompaniment, fun for all to sing and play, while Nothing is here for tears (written on the death of King George V) is in the best tradition of this composer’s unison-voice anthems whose lovely, easily singable hymn-like tunes and well-crafted organ parts are always appreciated by choral directors and choirs. In a completely different universe is the motet A Vision of Aeroplanes, a tour de force for choir and organ (especially for organ!) that sets words from the prophet Ezekiel (the one about the vision of the "wheel within a wheel..."). In the hands of organist James McVinnie and these exceptional singers, the whole fantastic picture comes vividly to life.

Perhaps best of all and also among the rarely-heard pieces are the Three Choral Hymns. Although the three-movement work was originally scored for orchestra, Brown and his choir offer what apparently is its first recording with organ accompaniment. It works well, and perhaps in this form it will draw broader attention and more performances.

The Mass always seems difficult to record, and that’s true here, with some harshness in the loudest passages and occasional uneven balances between the two choirs and between the choir and quartet of soloists. It’s not a big deal, just a peculiar phenomenon that may be related to the particular features of the work’s scoring, harmonic structure, and voicing. I also have to mention that for a recording of choral music to come without printed texts, as is the case here (they are only available online), is not ideal, especially when the majority of texts will not be familiar to most listeners. That said, this is an excellent and much needed addition to the Vaughan Williams choral catalog, and fans of the composer will not want to be without it.

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SPOILER (LOG FILE)


This post has been edited by kgkk on 07-05-2011, 21:20
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