Hyperion have put us in their debt in the last few years through
a series of CDs that have explored recent choral music from
Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. Stephen Layton has recorded
music by Ešenvalds (review),
by a group of Baltic composers (review)
and by Tormis (review).
Rupert Gough has already given us discs of music by Miškinis
(review)
and Dubra and Hubert Culot nominated the latter as one of his
2010
Recordings of the Year. Now Gough and his Royal Holloway
Choir turn their attention to the Swedish composer Bo Hansson.
Hansson has a varied background. Initially he was active in
folk and jazz music and I believe he remains active as a guitarist.
In the liner notes Rupert Gough tells us that Hansson became
increasingly interested in composition in the mid-1980s and
in due course he gravitated towards a contemporary classical
style and began to write vocal music. The earliest piece on
this disc, Som när handen is his first major choral
piece. That’s one of three pieces on the programme that has
been recorded previously – the others are Salve Regina
and Lighten mine eyes – the remaining pieces on the
programme appear on disc for the first time.
There is a good deal of attractive music here, which sounds
to be well written for choir – and imaginatively written into
the bargain. Som när handen, for example, contains
some warm, inviting harmonies. Rupert Gough comments that Salve
Regina has “a strong sense of plainchant modality” and, indeed,
from 3:42 onwards the music is clearly based on the traditional
plainchant melody. From this point onwards the music moves at
a slower pace and I find it more effective. Prior to that the
writing has featured quick, dancing rhythms and repetition of
short musical phrases and, to be honest, didn’t do a great deal
for me.
Then I heard the singing was commissioned by Gough
and his choir and is a setting of words by the fourteenth century
visionary, St. Bridget of Sweden. The music includes some beguiling
harmonies and is beautifully sung. However, Gough comments that
the composer takes an “unhurried approach” to the text. I couldn’t
help feeling that a bit more concision in the writing would
have been beneficial; as it is, I felt the piece slightly outstayed
its welcome.
The place amongst the trees was originally a setting
for eight-part choir of a Swedish text but here it’s presented
in an English translation made especially for this recording.
Again the music sounds well but I came to wonder, as it unfolded,
if the piece was about anything more than an exploration of
choral textures – not that there’s anything wrong with that
per se. I have to confess that my attention wandered.
For as the rain and Missa Brevis rather go
together since both were written for the same church music festival
and in both cases Hansson took advantage of the forces at his
disposal to write for choir and organ plus a separate female
semi-chorus. For as the rain offers rather more astringent
harmonies than some of the other pieces on the programme and
it builds convincingly to a powerful and energetic close. The
Missa Brevis is an interesting composition which often
makes use of Hansson’s penchant for the repetition of small
musical cells or fragments. The Gloria frequently alternates
short sections of energetic staccato writing with passages in
which the music consists of warm legato lines. The Sanctus
achieves an expansive climax at Dominus Deus sabaoth
and a little later, at Pleni sunt coeli, we hear one
of the sections where the female semi-chorus is deployed to
good effect. The dark Agnus Dei brings the work full
circle by reprising music from the Kyrie.
The final piece in the programme, Endless border, is
perhaps the most ambitious in that Hansson writes for ten-part
choir and also uses a separate consort of six soloists. Some
of the writing in this piece is the most attractively lyrical
on the disc and Hansson shows himself to be adept in the use
of varied, rich choral textures.
The composer was present at the recording sessions and I am
sure he will have been delighted to find his music so splendidly
served. Rupert Gough has clearly schooled his young singers
very thoroughly in this unfamiliar music which they put across
with conviction and assurance. The choral sound is consistently
pleasing.
So I have no reservations whatsoever about the quality of the
performances but I’m less sure about the music. I’ve heard and
enjoyed all the Hyperion recordings that I mentioned at the
start of this review but I’m afraid that Bo Hansson’s music,
for all its evident skill and sincerity, did not always hold
my attention in the way that the compositions of his peers have
done. I’m unconvinced as to its substance, I suppose, and I
can’t say that any of it has left a lasting impression on me.
This, I readily acknowledge, is a subjective response which
may well not be shared by others. Despite my reservations -
and, indeed, because those reservations are subjective
– I’d encourage collectors who have been engaged by some or
all of the above-mentioned Hyperion releases in this genre to
investigate this disc. One thing’s for sure: if you find you
like Bo Hansson’s choral music I’d be surprised if you come
across it in better performances than these.
John Quinn
The Choir of Royal Holloway/Rupert Gough