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Gabriel Jackson is a Bermuda-born Englander who descends from an Anglican clergyman and has himself an intense devotion to that confession, though he describes it as unconventional. But his interests do seem pegged to liturgical choral music despite the fact that he composes in other forms as well. One particular obsession seems to be with the Tudor tradition of Tallis, Browne, and Carver, their...
Soloists and chorus alike excel in three of Handel's Chandos Anthems
This contains three of the 11 so-called Chandos Anthems composed between August 1717 and summer 1718 for James Brydges, the Earl of Carnarvon (from 1719 the First Duke of Chandos). Handel's music was tailor-made for fewer performers than those featured here. Nevertheless, the 40 members of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge...
*****
The recent slew of Handel releases in honour of the 250th anniversary of his death has reinforced the composer’s versatility. Clever and entrepreneurial, Handel came to London primarily to make his name in opera, but that did not stop him from seeking out rich patrons like the Duke of Chandos and fulfilling their musical needs. In this case, it was providing music for the duke’s private...
In good voice after 800 years
Garry Humphreys samples a festival of Cambridge choirs
AS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY celebrates the 800th anniversary of its foundation, it is no surprise, in a city famous for its choirs, that a week should be devoted to demonstrating not only the current prowess of its resident singers and players of the past and present, but also the composers who flourished there, as...
Korsvejen på nye toner
De 15 stationer på Jesu korsvej er børnelærdom for de fleste, men det er især via den katolske kirke, at man møder dem sat i musik. Det er da også en ung polsk katolik, der har skrevet det seneste storværk om vejen, fra Jesus dømmes til døden, til han står op af graven påskemorgen.
Lukaszewski, der er født i 1968, har skrevet et særdeles umiddelbart værk i et...
This devotional piece, which makes a noble addition to the music of Passiontide, could be seen as a reflection on Pawel Lukaszewski's native Poland and Catholicism's triumph over communism. Whatever its genesis, there is no denying the beauty of the choral writing and the sincerity of faith which lies behind it. Built around the Stations of the Cross, jewel-like recurring refrains, exquisitely...