Christ Church Cathedral Choir - CD review
Raymond Tuttle
later to be called Christ Church; his Kyrie le Roy opens the program. In
1987, John Tavener (who traces his ancestry back to Taverner) wrote a
"Hymn to the Holy Spirit" for the Christ Church Cathedral Choir, and
this work closes the disc. In between, the choir sings 12 selections
from the intervening centuries, each of them associated with or
written for the choir. Some of the names are familar (Blow, Purcell
and none other than King Henry VIII) and some less so (Robert Dering,
Maurice Greene and the rather unfortunately named William Crotch).
More importantly, the music has been selected with great care and
concern for both quality and variety. For example, a work written by
Sir William Walton while he was still in his teens belies the
composer's age, filled as it is with a sensitive treatment of the text
and a daring harmonic imagination.
For me, the most interesting work on the disc is Tavener's closing
"Hymn". The parallel chords and the extremes in vocal range suggest
sacred music from the Slavic tradition more than anything English, and
the Christ Church Cathedral Choir rises to the considerable technical
challenges posed by this work.
Another piece, Edward Harper's "The Universe," requires the different
sections of the choir to sing in different keys at the same time, and
they do so without seeming to bat a vocal eyelash (indeed, the work's
serenity is its other most notable feature).
The choir was recorded in Dorchester Abbey last year, and Nimbus'
engineers surround them with warmth without losing them in
reverberation. Except for the absence of most of the sung texts, this is
a completely commendable and enjoyable disc of English choral music,
enterprisingly planned and lovingly executed.
--
**************************************** Raymond S. Tuttle
"Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod," University of Rochester
but it's nothing to get depressed about! (still with his two little
**************************************** white mice).