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He's the thinking choristers' John Rutter, highly regarded in the USA and noted for bringing the multi-voice polyphonic style of the great Renaissance masters into the present. More than that, he has a way of writing melodies of graceful shape and great beauty. So choirs love to sing his music, and really it needs the best among them. In Polyphony, on this disc, it gets one such, and sounds...
The choral work of Polyphony, under the direction of Stephen Layton, is solid and inspiring throughout the CD, but it is in the a capella performances where their true musicianship, impeccable intonation and sense of ensemble is most appreciated and at its best. They truly sing with one heart. The choral sound, for the most part, is warm and rich. At times however, the straight tones of the...
I had seen the name of Morten Lauridsen with growing frequency over the past few years; he seemed to be attracting an ever-larger reputation among choral circles for a body of music that singers love to perform. But even though as long ago as 1998, I had noted a CD of his Lux aeterna and other choral works garnering a Grammy nomination, and several other recordings of his music have since emerged...
*****
Written in 1997, US composer Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna was immediately hailed as a classic when it was first performed. Listening to this recording from British choir Polyphony (accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia), it’s not hard to understand why. Marrying old-world texts with contemporary choral tradition, this work has an immediacy and emotional power that’s simply spine-tingling in...
The Veil of the Temple is a huge conception. The full version plays for 480 minutes, according to the Chester Novello website www.chester-novello.com. I believe the full score consists of 850 pages! What we have here is a recording of the concert version which Tavener made and which was performed by these same forces at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts in London on 1 August 2004. I vividly...
Like most John Tavener works, this one presents itself with an immense sense of spiritual self-importance. Unlike most Tavener, this one lives up to its billing.
Written as an all-night vigil, “The Veil of the Temple” draws on any number of religious musical cultures— from Sufi texts to British Anglican chord structures — in a series of choruses, chants and prayers. Woven throughout is an...