I started with three questions. Would the Renaissance and twentieth
century works go well together? Could the performers convince in the
different styles? Would Richard Rodney Bennett's setting of Wordsworth's
Immortality Ode convey the magic of the poetry as well as the
wonderful Gerald Finzi setting of that poem,
Intimations of
Immortality (Lyrita SRCD.238, with Patrick Hadley
The Trees so
High: Recording of the Month -
review -
Download Roundup January 2009)?
In the event, lovers of Renaissance music need have no fears about the
Richard Rodney Bennett work nor need lovers of twentieth century music fear
the reverse.
About the quality of the Yale Schola Cantorum I had no doubts, having
enjoyed their earlier recording of the music of Heinrich Biber and his
contemporaries (Carus 83.348 -
Download Roundup August 2011/2 and
review by Mark Sealey). They live up to the quality of that
earlier release.
The choir opens proceedings with Tallis's Mass based on the secular tune
'Western wind, when wilt thou blow?' Helpfully, the first track begins with
the tune itself - with this in mind it's possible to follow how Taverner
weaves this simple melody into his elaborate polyphony, a piece of
assistance which not all recordings provide. This is hotly disputed
territory with very fine recordings from The Tallis Scholars and Peter
Phillips which can be found on Gimell CDGIM027, with Masses on the same
theme by Sheppard and Tye, or on a splendid 2-for-1 bargain set CDGIM209,
with music by Browne, Cornysh and, again, Tye's
Western Wind Mass:
Bargain of the Month -
review. Then there's The Sixteen/Harry
Christophers (Hyperion Helios CDH55056 at budget price: Bargain of the Month
-
review - or even better value on a 10-CD set,
CDS44401/10,
The Golden Age of English Polyphony: Bargain of the
Month -
review) and Ars Nova Copenhagen/Paul Hillier (DaCapo
8.226050).
The Yale singers may not raise the rafters with the more soaring parts of
the setting to quite the same extent as the Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen,
between whom I find it impossible choose, but some listeners may well prefer
the slightly more subdued approach on the new recording.
Richard Rodney Bennett's setting of the
Immortality Ode also
receives - and, I think invites - a comparatively subdued approach, though
the singers rise to the occasion at the climaxes and they are well supported
by Thomas Murray on the organ. Gerald Finzi responded instinctively to
visionary texts such as Wordsworth's
Immortality Ode and Thomas
Traherne's
Centuries (
Dies Natalis, still best conducted
by Christopher Finzi on EMI British Composers 0954332, 5 CDs) but Bennett
also seems to have been inspired by the poem. This is the only recording in
the UK catalogue, which provides a strong incentive to buy the CD.
The three pieces by Orlando Gibbons offer a short but useful introduction
to his music. If you don't yet know his output, they may well encourage you
to explore further. Fortunately he has received some high-quality attention
on record in recent years: the recording from Winchester Cathedral
Choir/David Hill on Hyperion Helios CDH55228 involves duplicating the three
works on the Delos album but Hyperion's budget price amply compensates and
there's plenty of other fine music on this CD. Here again, though my
marginal preference would be for the Anglican cathedral choir with the music
in its heritage - Gibbons was one of the first generation of composers to
write solely for the post-reformation church - the Yale singers are not far
behind.
The final work is Tallis's setting of the short evening hymn,
Te lucis
ante terminum, Before the ending of the day. The notes indicate the
probability that, though the text is in Latin, it was intended for Queen
Elizabeth's Chapel Royal. It's a reasonable assumption, though Chapelle du
Roi and Alistair Dixon hedge their bets by placing
Te lucis not in
the
Music for Queen Elizabeth in their complete Tallis recordings
but in the second volume of
Music for the Divine Office (Signum
SIGCD016 -
review - or the complete edition, Brilliant Classics 94268, 10 CDs at
budget price -
review).
If the Yale performance yields slightly to Chapelle du Roi or The Tallis
Scholars (
The Essential Tallis Scholars, Gimell CDGIM201, 2 CDs at
budget price -
review), it's not by much. Here again, I
would hope that if it was the Bennett that attracted you and you don't yet
know much of Tallis's music this performance would lead you to either of
those recordings or to one of the many other fine recordings of his music,
such as
The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis (Gimell CDGIM203, 2
CDs, budget price -
review).
The Delos recording was made live but mercifully the audience are
conspicuously inaudible. I know that some listeners cannot abide repeated
hearing of live recordings - they know where that intrusive cough comes and
tense up in anticipation - but there's no problem here. The recording itself
is good, though very slightly recessed and benefiting from a volume
boost.
The booklet notes, by Simon Carrington and Karen Jones, are brief but
helpful - wisely Ms Jones refrains from the usual unproven speculations
about Taverner's religious beliefs. The texts and translations are
included.
All in all there's plenty to like about this new recording and very little
to dislike.
Brian Wilson
