Kit Armstrong WILLIAM BYRD - JOHN BULL The Visionaries of Piano Music

 

THE VISIONARIES OF PIANO MUSIC

The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park FADING

 

FADING

 

Les Métaboles / Léo Warynski THE ANGELS

 

THE ANGELS

Contrapunctus / Owen Rees THE SWEETEST SONGS

 

THE SWEETEST SONGS

Anthony Romaniuk BELLS

BELLS

voces8 AFTER SILENCE I. REMEMBRANCE

AFTER SILENCE I. REMEMBRANCE

Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha ASH WEDNESDAY

ASH WEDNESDAY

The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park FADING

                                                                          FADING

Ferio Saxophone Quartet REVIVE

For its second album on Chandos, the young Ferio Saxophone Quartet presents a set of unique arrangements of milestones from the baroque repertoire, from Corelli via Bach to Handel.
Including many premiere recordings, these fresh interpretations, full of flair and vitality, played on instruments that combine elements of brass and woodwind, bring the tunes and counterpoint to a fascinating new register. The Ferio Quartet plays with power, warmth, and dexterity.

Seldom Sene / Klaartje van Veldhoven DELIGHT IN MUSICKE

Recorder quintet SELDOM SENE, founded in Amsterdam in 2009, is a group of five musicians with a mutual passion for consort playing. With a combined interest in the interpretation and performance of both early and contemporary music, these highly skilled and dynamic players each bring a wealth of expertise, creativity, passion and virtuosity to the ensemble. With inventive programmes that juxtapose early and contemporary music, Seldom Sene excels at all aspects of ensemble playing, performing with "power, precision and profound expression" (Gustavo Beytelmann, Illzach 2011).

The musicians originate from Germany, England, Spain and Holland and met whilst studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. They perform on a collection of over 50 different recorders, including a variety of baroque and modern instruments and also own renaissance consorts with recorders made by Bob Marvin, Francesco Li Virghi, Monika Musch and Ture Bergstrøm.

Whilst searching for more unfamiliar repertoire, one of the first pieces to catch their attention was Seldom sene by the English composer Christopher Tye – a short work full of beauty, precision and striking rhythmic complexity that they felt captured the essence of their vision: performing unique and compelling repertoire at a standard that is seldom seen and heard. Since their foundation, "Seldom Sene excels because of their excellent musical interpretation and beautiful choice of repertoire" (Frédéric de Roos, Le Mans 2009).

n October 2009 the group made their debut at the "Concours International d’Ensembles de Flûte á bec" organised by the "Société des Amis de Arnold Dolmetsch" in Le Mans where they were awarded 1st Prize. In 2011 they received the Interpretation Prize (by unanimous vote of the five jury members) at the 17th International Chamber Music Competition in Illzach (France). In September 2014 they were awarded the First Prize, the Audience Award and the Press Prize of the International Van Wassenaer Early Music Competition, which took place during the Utrecht Early Music Festival.

Seldom Sene has given many recitals in renowned series​They record for the Dutch label Brilliant Classics, which released CDs Taracea (2014), El aire se serena (2016) and J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (2017), selected as Bach Album of the Year 2017 by the listeners of the Dutch radio station Concertzender. Their fourth record, Delight in Musicke is a selection of songs and instrumental music from the English Renaissance featuring soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven.

Daniel Taylor / The Trinity Choir THE PATH TO PARADISE

The word sublime should never be used lightly, but if ever a collection of music warrants the term it's this one. In keeping with its title, this latest recording by Daniel Taylor and the Trinity Choir, their follow-up to Four Thousand Winter and the Juno-nominated The Tree of Life, offers a direct route to paradise, its figurative access achieved when the immediate space is filled with its glorious vocal performances. The set-list is dominated by choral works from the sixteenth century, the two by Arvo Pärt obvious exceptions. His pieces, as anyone familiar with the Estonian composer's output will have already guessed, sit comfortably alongside those by Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Nicolas Gombert, and others. Though their works are set to sacred texts about the soul's lifelong struggle to achieve salvation, The Path To Paradise presents spiritually replenishing music whose rapturous beauty is capable of speaking to the faithful and non-faithful alike. (Textura.org)

Contrapunctus / Owen Rees IN THE MIDST OF LIFE Music from the Baldwin Partbooks I

Early music needs another British vocal ensemble like a meerkat needs car insurance. It’s a field that’s already standing-room only, with long-established groups jostling with younger rivals for space. But Contrapunctus are special. Their first disc, ‘Libera nos: The Cry of the Oppressed’ (Signum, 11/13), was seriously, startlingly good: the intimacy of The Cardinall’s Musick, the rich, glowing tone of The Sixteen and the textual drama of Stile Antico. Their second disc proves that this was no one-off.

It’s a shame that both the group’s name and the rather earnest cover of ‘In the Midst of Life’ (subtitled ‘Music from the Baldwin Partbooks, Vol 1’) may dissuade casual listeners from exploring the contents, because they would find much to delight here. This first selection from the rich Baldwin repertoire (Latin-texted English church music) broods on mortality, death and judgement. Works by Byrd, Tallis, Parsons and Sheppard feature alongside the odd wildcard—Dericke Gerarde’s Sive vigilem is a quietly extraordinary discovery.

Contrapunctus play a long game with this often slow-paced, meditative repertoire. These are understated performances whose moment-to-moment drama is less striking than the long, aching arcs they achieve over five or six minutes—director Owen Rees shows his experience here, making a case for a conductor in a climate in which musical democracy is increasingly king.

Choral blend is mossy-soft and balance immaculate, perfect for the yearning loveliness of Taverner’s Quemadmodum or Sheppard’s Media vita. After two discs of penitence, however, I’d love to hear something a bit more rhythmic, more energetic in their next release. If Contrapunctus can do vivid attack as well as they do misty piety, they may find themselves setting the bar in this repertoire. (Alexandra Coghlan / Gramophone)

ORA REFUGE FROM THE FLAMES

Following the stunning success of their best-selling debut, Suzi Digby’s crack vocal ensemble ORA presents their new album: ‘Refuge from the Flames’. Dedicated to the legacy of Girolamo Savonarola, 15th century Dominican and religious reformer, this new CD further showcases ORA's commitment to bringing together Renaissance choral masterpieces and commissioned reflections from contemporary composers. ORA bring a wealth of experience that gilds these pieces, both new and old, into the lustrous works of art they truly are.

“We begin and end this second ORA album with two contrasting settings of the Miserere mei (Psalm 50, Vulgate). Over the centuries this text has inspired reflections by many Christian writers, none more influential than those by Girolamo Savonarola, and we have devoted much of this album to his extraordinary legacy. Central to the recording is Savonarola’s meditation on the psalm, 'Infelix Ego', written shortly before his execution. We present it here in William Byrd’s justly famous setting, and in a newly commissioned masterpiece by the Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds.” (Suzi Digby OBE, artistic director & conductor)

Magnificat / Philip Cave SCATTERED ASHES Josquin's Miserere and the Savonarolan Legacy

To celebrate their 25^th anniversary, vocal ensemble Magnificat directed by Philip Cave have created a programme of Renaissance polyphonic works inspired by Girolamo Savonarola's (1452-98) famous meditations written while awaiting execution. One contemplates Psalm 50, Miserere mei, Deus, and another Psalm 30, In te, Domine, speravi. Savonarola was a Dominican friar burnt at the stake for his reformist preaching, his ashes scattered in a river to prevent supporters preserving them as relics.
This disc opens with Josquin's extraordinarily vast setting of the Miserere. Weighing in at just over 17 minutes, it is a motet of grandiose proportions characterised by repetition of the words ‘Miserere mei, Deus' (Have mercy on me, God). This functions like a refrain with five voices framing what is mostly a two- or three-voiced texture. Added to this, Cave employs his full complement of singers for each refrain and uses just solo voices in between, further emphasising the variations of texture. The overall tempo is quite slow if compared, say, to La Chapelle Royale under Philippe Herreweghe, but solo voices allow for a suppleness of phrasing that enhances forward momentum, often with arrestingly beautiful segues between textures such as at ‘et impii ad te convertentur' (‘and the unholy will turn back to you'), where a solo soprano soars over the dying echo of Savonarola's repeated plea.
In Lhéritier's more dense polyphonic setting of In te, Domine, speravi, Magnificat's velvety sound is at its most luxurious. This sonorous ensemble, combined with Cave's unhurried tempi, create a wonderfully melancholic sound world. Their interpretations of the post-Josquin generation of continental composers, Gombert and Clemens specifically, are among the finest on disc.
The programme ends with Byrd's Infelix ego. It's a tender performance; phrases roll pleasingly forwards under Cave's direction and his interpretation nudges Byrd closer to his continental counterparts. My own preference lies with a more demonstrative madrigalian approach such as The Cardinall's Musick under Andrew Carwood, leading to a dramatic final plea ‘Miserere mei, Deus' scorching the texture with emphatic chords. Here, instead, Cave strikes a prayerful note to end his programme. (Edward Breen / Gramophone)

New York Polyphony TIMES GO BY TURNS Byrd / Plummer / Tallis

In the years when the four women of Anonymous 4 were regularly recording, you looked forward to each new release, knowing that they would consistently offer first-rate performances and thoughtful, enlightening programs. So far, the four men of New York Polyphony have maintained a similar standard of world-class performance and engaging programming. You may not think the world yearns for another Byrd 4-part Mass recording—that is, until you hear these four male voices sing it. Sure, you’ve heard the Tallis Scholars’ reference version, but have you ever heard it performed by just four voices, ideally matched, of uniquely compatible timbre, combined into such a richly resonant sound? Not to mention theRead more nuances of phrasing, of breathing, of inflection obtainable only by small ensembles whose members are closely bonded personally and are musically of one mind. It’s sung a major-third down from its usual key, and although generally taken at a slightly faster pace than we’re used to (the Agnus Dei a bit too fast to wrench its full emotional impact), in this decidedly non-liturgical context you appreciate the purposeful flow and momentum.
The “early music” part of the program also includes two rarely-heard but eminently worthy works, the Missa sine nomine by English composer John Plummer (1410-1483) and Thomas Tallis’ Mass for Four Voices. The latter, minus a Kyrie, features some of the most gorgeous passages of pure homophony you will hear, sparingly interspersed with polyphonic sections. Here, you really appreciate the vibrant quality of this quartet’s sound, as well as the effect on the ear of such impeccably tuned chords.
Modern works by Richard Rodney Bennett (A Colloquy with God), Andrew Smith (Kyrie: Cunctipotens Genitor Deus), and Gabriel Jackson (Ite missa est) fit perfectly, not just because of their texts, but because of their basic musical compatibility with the older works—set in a modern-tonal structure that respects the sacred-spiritual context. All three of these pieces were written for New York Polyphony; Jackson’s jaunty, jazzy Ite missa est is an ingeniously written little gem, a program-ending highlight that shows off the composer’s affecting harmonic concept and inventive rhythmic textual treatment along with the singers’ most delicate ensemble virtuosity. The sound on this SACD recording, from a Swedish church, is consistent with BIS’s usual high standard. Recommended with the assurance that you will listen to this disc often. (David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com)