This fascinating programme
brings together an eclectic mix of unaccompanied
choral pieces composed between about
1430 and 2002. Inevitably, there’s a
wide range of musical styles but what
unites the music is that all the pieces
are settings of verses from that unique
book of the Old Testament, The Song
of Songs. Another thing that binds the
programme together is the virtuoso singing
of Laudibus under the inspiring direction
of Michael Brewer. This choir of young
singers, comprising ten sopranos, seven
female altos, eight tenors and six basses,
is a marvellously flexible ensemble,
capable of adapting easily and idiomatically
to the differing styles of music in
what is a hugely demanding programme.
So in the earliest
piece, Dunstaple’s Quam Pulchra es
there’s what I’d term a cultivated roughness
in the tone, which is not overdone yet
is highly appropriate. This piece is
a processional for three voices and
I was a little surprised by how lively
the music is. From there, chronologically,
we move to the polyphonists of sixteenth-century
Italy and Spain. Brewer achieves an
exquisite purity of sound in Palestrina’s
wonderful piece and his choir serves
Victoria’s extensive anthem equally
well.
Roughly contemporaneous
with these two pieces – there’s no date
of composition in Anthony Burton’s excellent
notes – is the six-voice Surge, amica
mea by the French composer Guillaume
Bouzignac. This music – and composer
– was completely new to me. It’s an
urgent setting and the performance here
has real spring. As in everything else
on this disc the internal balance between
the parts is superbly achieved.
The remainder of the
programme comprises twentieth-century
music but the menu is extremely varied.
Best-known is Walton’s fine wedding
anthem, Set me as a seal upon thine
heart. Off hand I can’t recall hearing
a finer performance than this one by
Laudibus. Mike Brewer adopts a nice,
broad speed and this, plus the skill
of his young singers, means that every
line of the texture registers clearly.
The unnamed tenor and soprano soloists
are excellent.
The work by Howard
Skempton consists of four short movements.
It was written for the Estonian Philharmonic
Chamber Choir and the second movement
in particular shows that national influence:
it’s set for basses, divided into three
parts, singing against a drone by the
tenors which is monotonous, in the true
sense of the word. Laudibus’s young
basses may not possess the cavernous
tone of Eastern European basses but,
singing softly, they are fully up to
the task that Skempton sets them. The
third movement is for sopranos and altos,
singing sensuous close harmony in four
parts. The outer movements are for full
choir. It’s a very beautiful set of
pieces and I enjoyed getting to know
it.
Gabriel Jackson’s I
am the Rose of Sharon is another
very interesting piece. It was originally
written for five solo voices and this
doubtless explains the often florid
ornamentation of single lines. The full
choir version that’s performed here
was made later by Jackson himself and
it seems to work very well. In places
the writing is pretty spare in texture
and has something of the feel of medieval
music. Elsewhere the harmonies must
be the very devil to sing accurately,
let alone with the conviction that’s
apparent here.
Francis Grier’s Dilectus
meus mihi is another virtuoso offering.
The music is in up to eight parts but
Grier employs solo voices and a semi
chorus to produce a wide ranging variety
of texture. Indeed, the differing textures,
ranging from rich to spare, bring great
fascination to the piece. It sounds
to be very difficult music but these
singers deliver it with seemingly effortless
virtuosity. As an example of Grier’s
vivid aural imagination sample the amazingly
descriptive harmonies he employs on
the word "langueo" [track
8, 4:40].
The recital culminates
in La cantique des cantiques
by Daniel-Lesur. It’s no surprise to
learn from the notes that this French
composer was, with Olivier Messiaen,
a co-founder of the Jeune France group
in 1936. There’s another link with Messiaen
in that La cantique des cantiques
was dedicated to Marcel Couraud
and his Vocal Ensemble. These performers
had also been responsible for the première
of Messiaen’s Cinq réchants.
Daniel-Lesur’s piece is no less demanding
than Messiaen’s work, not least because
often the writing divides into as many
as twelve parts.
There are seven movements,
all of which are rich and complex. There’s
often a most definite erotic flavour
to the music, which is highly appropriate
to the subject matter. I think it helps
also that the text is in French, which
is such a wonderfully evocative and
subtle language. The fifth movement,
‘Le Jardin clos’, is marvellous; I love
the way in which, for much of the time,
the male voices sing of the female beloved
in music whose sheer sensuality is accentuated
by the wordless carolling of the women’s
voices. At the other extreme, the fourth
movement, ‘Le Roi Solomon’, depicts
the arrival of the king and the urgency
and excitement of the music graphically
illustrates his importance. The seventh
and final movement, ‘Epithalame’, is
a wedding song. It begins softly but
the music quickly gathers in volume
and intensity and as the movement progresses
the increasingly dense textures are
capped by stratospheric soprano lines.
At the very end the word "Alleluia"
is sung repeatedly and ecstatically.
Throughout the piece Daniel-Lesur’s
skill in writing for unaccompanied voices
is most impressive. For the most part
the performers are required just to
sing but in the sixth movement, ‘La
Sulamite’, some of the choir punctuate
the music with percussive vocal sounds;
these are highly effective. It’s a remarkable
work and though it’s not always easy
listening the music amply repays the
attentive listener.
In this work by Daniel-Lesur
the assurance and collective virtuosity
of Laudibus is quite amazing and that’s
typical of the programme as a whole.
Clearly they have received expert training
from Michael Brewer but as well as the
technical excellence of the singing
a palpable sense of commitment and enthusiasm
comes across.
This is an outstanding
disc and the thoughtfulness and flair
behind the planning of the programme
is most impressive. The recorded sound
is first rate and, as I’ve already commented,
the succinct notes by Anthony Burton
are first rate. I’ve found this a most
enjoyable and highly stimulating CD
and I hope many other collectors will
derive similar pleasure from it. Bravo!
John Quinn
Information received
John Quinn's very enthusiastic
and kind review of this disc - for which
many thanks! - does contain one misapprehension
which should, perhaps be corrected.
The notes are, I realise, somewhat ambiguous
about this, but my piece "I am
the Rose of Sharon" is not performed
in a version for full choir! It has
been transposed upwards, for SAATB,
but it is still one-voice-to-a-part.
Gabriel Jackson
for details
Laudibus/Michael Brewer 
