This is, I believe,
the final release in a series of three
CDs. I've already reviewed and greatly
enjoyed the two previous disc, one devoted
to Poulenc and his French contemporaries
review
and the other given over to music
by James MacMillan and other modern
British composers review.
In fact the latter disc was so impressive
that I selected it as one of my Recordings
of the Year for 2006. There's a
great deal to commend this latest volume
too, although there are a couple of
reasons that, for me, make it marginally
less successful.
One problem I have
with it, and which, I stress, is very
subjective, concerns the make-up of
the programme. Edward Higginbottom justifies
the inclusion of music by Stravinsky
on the grounds that he settled in America
in 1940. That's undeniably true but
if the music of his Mass has
any national accent it's surely that
of his native Russia. And just because
Tippett had a "fascination with
all things American", as Arnold
Whittall says in his notes, I don't
think an arrangement even of a Spiritual
by an English composer merits inclusion
on a disc which is supposed to be devoted
to American music. I only make this
point because there is music by several
native American composers that could
more usefully have been included instead.
One thinks of Dominick Argento, Samuel
Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Randall Thompson
or Virgil Thomson. But that's a very
personal view and other collectors may
take a different stance.
The other issue with
the disc concerns recorded balance.
This is the only one of the three discs
that was recorded on the choir's home
turf in Oxford. The previous volumes
were taken down, by the same engineer,
in what I am sure were more spacious
acoustics in L'Abbaye de Saint Michel-en-Thierache
(Poulenc) and Douai Abbey, Berkshire
(MacMillan). It seems that the change
to New College Chapel has meant that
the choir is much more closely recorded.
One very obvious effect of this is that
the choir's strong treble line is very
much more to the fore than was the case
with the companion discs. For my taste
the boys, excellently though they sing,
are often too prominent.
Turning to the music and the performances, the
programme contains two substantial works, one each by Stravinsky
and Copland. Stravinsky's
Mass dates from the 1940s, after
he had settled in the USA. The accompaniment
for five each of wind and brass instruments
contributes significantly to the air
of austerity married to piquancy that
pervades the piece. It's a pithy setting,
containing not a single superfluous
note. For me it's a work to admire rather
than love. Higginbottom directs a strongly
and purposeful performance and the cutting
edge of his trebles is very appropriate.
Rightly, he insists on and obtains sharply
delineated rhythms, always an essential
element of successful Stravinsky performance.
Copland's In the
Beginning is one of his few works
for unaccompanied choir and it's always
struck me as a fine piece. This newcomer
has competition on the same label from
Gloucester Cathedral Choir on a disc
released last year. review.
The recordings are very different for
the Gloucester choir are recorded at
a greater distance from the microphones
in the much more spacious acoustic of
their home cathedral. In terms of the
performances, both are very good. Both
Higginbottom and Andrew Nethsingha (Gloucester)
have the measure of the piece and encourage
their respective choirs to put it across
well. Both performances have the benefit
of excellent young British mezzos and
I really would be most reluctant to
express a preference between Frances
Bourne (Gloucester) and Katherine Bond
on the New College disc.
New College offer us
some shorter American pieces, some of
which are not very well known. That's
not a description that could be applied
to Morten Lauridsen's marvellous O
magnum mysterium. Indeed, much though
I love it, I do wonder if it's not in
danger of over-exposure on disc. As
it happens there's some Oxbridge rivalry
to enjoy here for the piece is also
included on a recent Hyperion release
from St. John's College Choir under
David Hill review.
On this occasion I think that victory has to go to the Light
Blues. David Hill adopts - and justifies - a more
spacious tempo than Higginbottom, and
his choir is a bit more distantly and
certainly more atmospherically recorded.
Crucially, St. John's also seem to offer
more in the way of dynamic control and
variety and, at least as recorded, manage
much quieter singing where called for,
greatly to the music's advantage. There
were also a couple of instances between
4:01 and 4:14 where, most unusually,
it sounded as if the New College trebles
were a touch fallible.
I salute Dr. Higginbottom for including some
music by Ned Rorem, one of the very finest American composers of
vocal music. Though not billed as such on the track-listing, the
three items offered here form a set, Rorem's
Three Motets on Poems by Gerald
Manley Hopkins. Here again there's
fairly recent competition in the form
of a Black Box disc by Harvard University
Choir review.
By a nice symmetry - or irony - the conductor on that release is Murray
Somerville. Not only was he an Organ
Scholar at New College some years ago
but also his support for this disc by
his old college is specifically acknowledged
in the booklet. The Harvard recording
differs from the new release in that
the American choir includes women's
voices. Listening to the two discs I
came to the conclusion that honours
were pretty even. O Deus, ego amo
te is treated more spaciously on
the Harvard disc. The Oxford choir sings
it well but this was another instance
when I felt a touch uncomfortable with
the prominence of the treble line. They
sound too assertive as compared with
the Harvard sopranos. In Oratio patris
condren: O Jesu Vivens in Maria
the American sopranos are again better
integrated within their choir than are
the New College boys. However, I thought
that the Oxford choir captures very
well the sophisticated simplicity of
this unaccompanied setting. The concluding
Thee, God! is a jubilant piece.
The New College performance is markedly
slower than the Harvard account and
at first I thought this might be a drawback.
However, Higginbottom's steadier tempo
proves to be a shrewd choice. His choir
imparts a greater clarity than do their
American rivals and they sing the piece
with fine fervour. Both performances
of these three fine motets have much
to offer the listener and, as I said,
I think that on balance honours are
even by the end.
I enjoyed making the
acquaintance of the pieces by Libby
Larsen and by the splendidly named Adolphus
Hailstork. The anthem by Hailstork is
written in a fluent and accessible style.
I found it to be most impressive and
it's clear that this composer is very
comfortable writing for unaccompanied
voices. One could say exactly the same
of the Larsen work except that it features
an important organ part. This jubilant
setting of words of St. Francis of Assisi
is very successful. The New College
choir put us in their debt by letting
us hear these unfamiliar pieces in fine,
committed performances.
Despite the reservations
I've felt bound to express this is a
very good disc, which nicely rounds
off a most stimulating mini-series.
I congratulate Dr. Higginbottom and
his excellent choir on putting together
three enterprising programmes and executing
them so well. Collectors who have acquired
the previous two volumes need not hesitate.
John Quinn
*Katherine Bond (mezzo) 
