VOCES8: Nightfall (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Jung Jae-il: Psalm 22:21; Sigur Rós: Fljótavík; Reger: Nachtlied; Taylor Scott Davis: Stardust; Ludovico Einaudi: Experience; Alfvén: Aftonen; Max Richter: On the Nature of Daylight; Caroline Shaw: and the swallow; Kim André Arnesen: Even When He Is Silent; Koji Kondo • Zelda's Lullaby; Dan Forrest: Good Night Dear Heart;  Lucy Walker: O Nata Lux; Kerensa Briggs: Media Vita; Frank Ticheli: There Will Be Rest; Jung Jae-il: Psalm 10:1. VOCES8 (Andrea Haines [1-15], Molly Noon [1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15] Maryruth Miller [2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14], soprano; Katie Jeffries-Harris, Barnaby Smith [artistic director], alto; Blake Morgan, Euan Williamson, tenor; Christopher Moore, baritone; Dominic Carver, bass; with Thomas Gould, violin [2, 5]; Emma Denton, cello [2, 5]; Sam Becker, double bass [2]; Lara Somogy, harp [5]; Lise Vandersmissen, harp [10]; Elsa Bradley, marimba {5]. DECCA 487 0458

 

VOCES8 is an English vocal octet that has made numerous recordings and recital appearances throughout the world. In June of 2025, they plan to mark the 20^th anniversary of their first public performance with a concert at the Barbican Center in London. They will be joined on stage by the VOCES8 Scholars, former members of the ensemble, and special guests, the BBC Singers. They have undergone numerous personnel changes over the years but have remained consistent in their overall sound. Indeed, as you can see from the personnel listing above, while recording Nightfall, there was a change in their soprano section. Unfortunately, the minimal liner sheet included by Decca with the CD provides scarcely any information about either the group or the music other than the names of the performers, the composers, and the titles and timings of the compositions. 

As its title implies, this album comprises a collection of reflective and generally soothing music inspired by the concept of night. Not, it would seem, the fearful darkness of deepest night, but the peace and calm that the night can bring. The program features a mix of choral classics and contemporary arrangements, including new choral versions of popular works by Ludovico Einaudi, the Icelandic alternative band Sigur Rós (see our review of one their albums here) Koji Kondo (composer of Nintendo video game music), Max Richter, plus world premiere works from British composer and 2024 Classic FM Rising Star Lucy Walker, as well as US composer and regular VOCES8 collaborator Taylor Scott Davis. The album opens and closes with contemplative psalm settings by South Korean composer Jung Jae-il, known for his work on Squid Game and Parasite. 

As usual with a VOCES8 recording, the sound is exquisite; almost too much so, as those soprano voices recorded in a reverberant space can become overbearingly intense over the space of an hour. Can there be such a thing as too much beauty? That judgment will lie with the individual lister. Nightfall is a beautiful release; beautifully sung and beautifully recorded. Yes, I dearly wish the producers would have seen fit to include a proper booklet with notes on the composers and their compositions; sadly, in this digital age, such niceties seem to be disappearing. Still, Nightfall is a recommendable release.

Mass of the Eternal Flame: New Music by Ēriks Ešenvalds and Rachel Laurin (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Ešenvalds: Mass of the Eternal Flame; Lux Æterna; Stars; The Heavens’ Flock; O Salutaris Hostia; Salutation; Who Can Sail Without the Wind; Laurin: Dedisti Domine, Op. 85; Diptych, Op. 107 – I. Bucolico II. Con fuoco. The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Houston (Robert Simpson, Canon for Music, conductor); The Treble Choir of Houston at Christ Church Cathedral (Marianna Parnas-Simpson, conductor); Thomas Marvil, organ; Daryl Robinson, organ; with Paragon Brass; Craig Hauschildt, percussion; Laura Smith, harp. Acis APL53868

 

It was back in 2020 that I first came across the music of the music of the contemporary Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977) on a remarkably beautiful Naxos release titled Translations, which featured utterly convincing sonics courtesy of former Stereophile magazine editor, John Atkinson (you can read our review here). Although not particularly long in duration at just over twenty minutes, his Mass of the Eternal Flame is large in its sonic scope and impact. Organ, brass, and chorus combine with great effect, producing a sense of hopeful, positive faith and energy. As Ešenvalds writes in the liner booklet, “it is inspiring to me tom know that in Houston, Texas, there is also a choir with faith in God in their hearts and a true passion for expressing the Good News through music.” You can feel that passion in this recording. 

The other works by Ešenvalds sustain the reverential atmosphere of the Mass, the brief (2:59) Lux Æterna for choir only, then Stars featuring the other-wordly sound of The Treble Choir with their voices augmented by the ringing of water-tuned glasses – a celestial combination indeed! Following the gorgeous The Heavens’ Flock performed by the Cathedral Choir. The Treble Choir continues to weave its spell in O Salutaris Hostia, this time with solo voices added to the mix. The Cathedral Choir returns for the composer’s settings of a poem by the Bengali poet and musician Rabindranath Tagore, Salutation, which adopts a more subdued tone, an attitude of prayer and supplication. The final piece by Ešenvalds, Who Can Sail Without the Wind, finds the Treble Choir accompanied by a harp. As the title implies, it is a song of parting; actually, it is a Swedish folk song, so something of a departure from the more religious orientation of the previous compositions. However, it does not feel entirely out of place.

The program continues with a pair of compositions by the late Canadian composer and organist Rachel Laurin (1961-2023). Dedisti Domine is a motet that she composed for the 50th anniversary of her parish in Ottawa, Canada. It is one of the few choral pieces that she wrote, and features a Latin text sung here by the Cathedral Choir and accompanied by Thomas Mervil on organ. The piece takes the listener back to the more religious atmosphere of the Ešenvalds Mass, but with a somewhat different slant. 

The CD closes with Laurin’s Diptych, a work for organ in two parts, both of which are played by organist Daryl Robinson. The first, designated Bucolico, comprises five minutes of relatively calm, contemplative music, similar to what one might hear played in church. The second section, Con fuoco, gets more energetic, more virtuosic – out of church, into the recital hall, bringing the program to a rousing if somewhat disconnected finish. To be honest, however, I’m a bit puzzled as to why an organ piece was added to the program of choral music; it just doesn’t quite fit in. Unfortunately, in this context it just seems – and sounds – tacked on. It is enjoyable music in itself, but perhaps the producers would have been better advised to leave it off the program and leave us with an all-choral release. Still, this is an album well worth recommending for the sheer excellence of the works it contains by Ēriks Ešenvalds (and the Laurin choral work), which are outstanding.

Penitence & Lamentation (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring  

Nicolas Gombert: Lugebat David Absalon; William Byrd: Domine secundum actum meum; Thomas Tallis; In jejunio et fletu; Absterge Domine; Thomas Crecquillon: Pater peccavi: Robert Ramsey: How are the mighty fallen; William Byrd: Emendemus in Melius; Ye sacred muses; Ne irascaris Domine; Nico Muhly: Fallings; Robert Carver: O bone Jesu. Byrd Ensemble; Markdavin Obenza, artistic director. Scribe Records SRCD12

As music lovers and listeners with seemingly infinite options from which to choose when we decide we have the time and the means to listen to music, whether that be on earbuds as we exercise or commute, headphones or desktop speakers as we work at our computers at home or in the office, or best of all, through a carefully chosen and set up audio system in our own familiar listening room at home, we are free to choose the mood of the music to which we are going to listen. There are times when we might want to hear something energetic, perhaps a vigorous recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, but then there are times when we might want to hear something of an entirely different nature. The liner notes to Penitence & Lamentation begin in a way that let us know we are hardly going to be in for the “apotheosis of the dance” offered us by Beethoven: “The unifying theme of this disc is guilt and grief. These pieces tell stories and paint pictures much like the Frederic Leighton painting on the cover, in which David mourns the death of his son Absalom, a moment portrayed by the Gombert piece that opens the disc. Although these are religious texts, one not need be a believer to appreciate the drama of these stories or to relate to the universal human experiences they depict. In orienting the program around the sentiments expressed in the music, we invite listeners to take in not only the aural sound world but also the meanings of the texts, as well as the composers’ techniques for conveying meaning through music.”

 

Now, different listeners will listen to this music at different levels; in fact, the same listeners may listen at different levels at different times. What do I mean by this? There are times when listeners will simply enjoy the sound of the music without any regard whatsoever to what the words even are, much less what the text might mean. Many – my guess would be most, actually – listeners (and I am not ashamed to count myself in that group) will continue to enjoy the music at this level, even though they may well read the supplied texts in the liner notes and come to an understanding of and appreciation for their meaning and significance. Although the compositions may be about grief, they of course do not invoke a feeling of grief in those who listen. Given the sheer depth of beauty of the singing by the Byrd Ensemble, a Seattle-based early music choir that has was originally formed in 2004, listeners are far more likely to feel their spirits lifted up rather than in any way pulled down. 

The program maintains a remarkably consistent sonority throughout the first nine tracks, then changing – not surprisingly given the quantum leap forward in time from William Byrd (1543-1623) to Nico Muhly ( b. 1981) – but not at all jarringly so. Muhly’s Fallings brings a subtle sense of drama to the flow of the music, but then we jump back again several centuries to encounter the music of Robert Carver (1485-1570), ending the program with the longest composition on the disc, his serenely devotional O bone Jesu.

 

Scribe Records is to be commended for putting together a first-class product. The cover art, the liner notes, the sonics – all are excellent. For fans of this kind of choral music, Penitence & Lamentation is a release well worth an audition; indeed, anyone looking for music to calm the mind and soothe the soul might well want to set aside some time to give it a listen. 

Our Favorite Christmas Recordings (CD Reviews)

One of the most delightful dimensions of Christmas is the music that attends the season. From the most devotional church music to familiar carols to popular Christmas songs, music fills the air at this time of the year. At this most wonderful time of the year, we at Classical Candor thought it might be fun to share a few of our favorite Christmas recordings. 

 

Karl Nehring’s Christmas Favorites:

 

Essential Carols: The Very Best of King’s College Choir, Cambridge. (CD1) Hark! the Herald Angels Sing; The First Nowell; While Shepherds Watched; I Saw Three Ships; Ding Dong! Merrily on High; King Jesus Has a Garden; In Dulci Jubilo; Unto Us Is Born a Son; O Come, All Ye Faithful; Away in a Manger; O Little Town of Bethlehem; The Holly and the Ivy; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; See Amid the Winter's Snow; Past Three O' Clock; Invitatory; Adam Lay Ybounden; Gabriel's Message; (CD2) Once in Royal David's City; Sussex Carol; Rocking; Rejoice and Be Merry; The Cherry Tree Carol; The Three Kings; As with Gladness Men of Old; A Great and Mighty Wonder; The Infant King;Balulalow; The Crown of Roses; Christ Was Born on Christmas Day; Blessed Be That Maid Mary; Lute-Book Lullaby; Myn Lyking; Personent Hodie; In the Bleak Mid-Winter; Coventry Carol; Shepherds in the Field Abiding; Torches; Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Simon Preston, Andrew Davis. organ; The Choir of King’s College; David Willcocks, conductor. Decca B0005302-02. This is the straight stuff, traditional carols sung by a young British choir in a beautiful chapel. As you listen, you can almost close your eyes and imagine yourself at a Christmas Eve candlelight service. 

 

A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas. Joy to the World; Carol of the Bells; I Wonder As I Wander; Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?; Masters in This Hall; The First Noel; How Far Is It to Bethlehem?; Pat-A-Pan; What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?; One December Bright and Clear; Fantasy on 'What Child Is This?; Hark! the Herald Angels Sing; Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head; Angels from the Realms of Glory; Silent Night. Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Orchestra at Temple Square; Craig Jessop, conductor. Telarc DSD CD-80552. From this side of the pond, another world-class choir serves up a program of traditional Christmas music. Here we have the 350-voice strong Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now known as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square) with orchestral accompaniment recorded in glorious sound quality by the engineering team at Telarc. Hard to find but worth the search.

 

Christmas Rhapsody. O Come All Ye Faithful / Angels We Have Heard on High / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; I'll Be Home for Christmas / "Going Home" (New World Symphony); Santa Claus Is Coming to Town / Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; The Christmas Song; Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer / Let It Snow; Ave Maria; O Come O Come Emanuel / O Little Town of Bethlehem / The First Noel; Winter Wonderland / Jingle Bells; Silent Night / O Holy Night; Sweet Little Jesus Boy / Away in a Manger / What Child Is This?; Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring / Amazing Grace; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; White Christmas. John Bayless, piano. Koch KOC-CD-9610. This is an album that brings a joyous, upbeat holiday spirit into your home. The medleys include carols along with more popular music associated with the holidays. I still remember receiving the CD for review years ago and thinking I was going to hate it – I thought it was going to be superficial, lightweight, New Age fluff. I played it only out of a sense of duty and was delighted – and have played it every year since. It’s a keeper.

 

Joyous Day! Songs of Christmas Arranged by Barlow Bradford. Angels We Have Heard on High; Infant Holy, Infant Lowly; Sussex Carol; Still, Still, Still; I Wonder As I Wander; Pat-a-Pan; Star Candles; Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head; Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella; Suo Gan; Carol of the Bells; Silent Night. Utah Chamber Artists; Barlow Bradford, artistic director. Clarion CLR928CD. Familiar Christmas music from an unfamiliar ensemble, but my goodness, in many ways this deftly arranged and expertly recorded release is the most fully satisfying Christmas recording I have ever heard. Perhaps it is because of the smaller forces involved, but somehow the balance of sound seems just right, perfectly appropriate for the music. Whatever the reason, this CD is a hidden gem of a Christmas recording!

 

Ki ho’alu Christmas: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. Do You Hear What I Hear?; C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (The Meaning of Christmas); Christmas Carol Waltz; Mele Kalikimaka; Away in a Manger; Winter Wonderland; Christmas Memories; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Little Drummer Boy; Fireside Ki ho’alu; Medley: Kanaka Waiwai / Jesu Mo Ke Kahuhipa; Po La’i E (Silent Night); Silent Night. Keola Beamer, guitars; Ledward Kaapana, guitar, autoharp; Moses Kahumoku, guitar; Cyril Pahinui, 12-string guitar. voice; James “Bla” Pahinui, guitar; Barney Isaacs, acoustic steel guitar; George Kuo, guitar; Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, 12-string guitar, voice; Ozzie Kotani, guitar; George Kahumoku, 12-string guitar; Cindy Combs, guitar; Joanie Komatsu, guitar, voice; Ruth Komatsu, recorder. Dancing Cat Records 090222-38037-2. For those unfamiliar with slack key guitar, here is a quick explanation courtesy of the good folks at Wikipedia: “slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian kī hōʻalu, which means "loosen the [tuning] key") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii. Nearly all slack key requires retuning the guitar strings from standard (EADGBE), and this usually (but not always) means lowering or "slacking" several strings. The result will most often be an open major chord, although it can also be a major-seventh chord, a sixth, or (rarely) a minor.” Hearing this Christmas music played in these unusual tunings is an ear- and mind-opening experience that will bring a smile to all but the most hidebound mainlander. (To be perfectly honest, though, my very favorite CD in this style is Slack Key Christmas on the Windham Hill label, but sadly enough, it is now out of print and difficult to track down.)

 

We Three Kings - The Roches. Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light; For Unto Us A Child Is Born; Angels We Have Heard On High; Deck The Halls; Christmas Passing Through; Sleigh Ride; Away in a Manger; Here We Come a Carolling; The Little Drummer Boy; The Holly & The Ivy; Frosty The Snowman; Do You Hear What I Hear?; We Three Kings; Star Of Wonder; Winter Wonderland; Joy To The World; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Good King Wenceslas; Jingle Bells; The First Noel; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; Adeste Fideles; Silver Bells. Maggie Roche, vocals, keyboards; Terre Roche, vocals, guitars, piano; Suzzy Roche, vocals, guitars, keyboards; Vince Cherico, drums and drum programming, percussion; Paul Ossola, bass guitar, upright bass; Victor Lesser, Saxophones. MCA Records / Paradox Records MCAD -10020. This is one of those albums that you will either love or hate. Or you might love it on Monday, hate it on Tuesday, put it away for a few days, but on the Saturday before Christmas, pull it out and love it again. The three sisters harmonize, weave in and out in counterpoint, have some fun, but also show reverence when reverence is called for. Quirky? Yes. But full of the spirit of Christmas. It will make you smile and enjoy the holiday season.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Deluxe Edition). Tannenbaum; What Child Is This; My Little Drum; Linus & Lucy; Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental); Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal); Skating; Hark, The Herald Angels Sing; Christmas Is Coming; Für Elise; The Christmas Song; Tannenbaum (Take 2/recorded September 21, 1965);Tannenbaum (Take 3/recorded September 21, 1965); Greensleeves (Take 6/recorded October 28, 1965); Linus And Lucy (Take 1/recorded September 17, 1965); Christmas Time Is Here (Take 1/recorded September 17, 1965);Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal) (Rehearsal/recording Date Unknown); Christmas Time Is Here (Take 4/recording Date Unknown); Skating (Take 1/recorded September 22, 1965); Jingle Bells (Takes 1-4/recorded September 21, 1965); Christmas Is Coming (Take 3/recorded September 17, 1965); Christmas Is Coming (Take 3/recorded September 21, 1965); Für Elise (Takes 1-2/recording Date Unknown); The Christmas Song (Take 8/recorded October 28, 1965). Ince Guaraldi Trio. Craft Recordings. This is the latest incarnation of a true Christmas classic. According to the Craft website,” this deluxe CD release of A Charlie Brown Christmas features a brand-new Stereo Mix of the classic album remastered from the original three-track and two-track sources, as well as thirteen unreleased outtakes, highlights taken from five sessions of recording material. Amazing in their own right these unheard versions give insight into how this iconic score took shape. The package also features new liner notes from Peanuts historian, Derrick Bang.” For many homes, including mine, Christmas is just not Christmas without frequent playing of this soundtrack, a true Christmas classic.

Bill Heck's Christmas Favorites

What would the holiday season be without Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet? Surely even Ebenezer Scrooge had a soft spot for this lovely, imaginative music and, at least for many of us if not for poor Ebeneezer, the warm memories that it can evoke.

Antal Dorati/London Symphony Orchestra. Mercury Living Presence 475 6623. If we can say that any recording of the complete ballet is the “standard”, this might be it. It is well-played, with tempos that are mostly quick but rarely rushed. The recording, one of the Mercury Living Presence series, is superb for its time and still holds up well. Some may with for a little more atmosphere, both artistically and sonically, but you can hardly go wrong with this as your baseline for how the Nutcracker should be done. 

Seiji Ozawa/Boston Symphony Orchestra. DG 00289 477 5153. Another fine option for the complete ballet, and it’s packaged with Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty in the multi-CD set. This performance seems to have a little more of that aforementioned “atmosphere”, with slightly freer tempi and slightly more sonic clarity to bring out all the marvelous inner parts. I really must give special mention to the Waltz of the Flowers, which is simply stunning; how can one not want to dance along? 

 

Stewart Goodyear (piano arrangement) Steinway STNS 30040. Goodyear’s is not the only piano arrangement of the ballet out there, but is arguably the best, and the arranger plays it well indeed. If, when hearing this, you did not know that it was a transcription of an orchestral piece, you might easily assume that it was originally written for the keyboard. It’s a given that the Steinway engineers do a good job of capturing the sound of – yes – a Steinway.

 

LA Guitar Quartet: Nutcracker Suite Delos DE 3132. Not the complete ballet, of course, but it’s amazing how well Tchaikovsky’s music can be adapted beyond its original orchestral context. Four guitars allow real exploration of the harmonies that were in the orchestral version, but with completely different balances, each line winding its way through a unified whole. The playing is first rate, as is the Delos audiophile-grade sound.

Nutcracker Suite as arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn; played by the Harmonie Ensemble of New York, conducted by Steve Richmond. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907493. Seventeen tracks of syncopated enjoyment. Ellington and Strayhorn work their magic in (re)arranging the originals into a jazzy suite, here played by an excellent big band. (Alas, it appears that the Harmonie Ensemble is now defunct.) Just the thing to cap the holidays and send us off in rousing style!

Bryan Geyer's Christmas Favorites

I'm unable to pick any particular recording, but these two modern era Christmas songs have always seemed more significant than the rest: 

"The Christmas Song" became a Nat King Cole classic and any of his various recordings would be appropriate.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was subject to excessive revision, generally applied to "jolly up" the basic WWII thematic setting. I personally prefer the original, or versions close to it—maybe because I clearly remember those WWII days—but it's catchy stuff regardless of the score.

Ola Gjeilo: Dreamweaver (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

The Road (text: Charles Anthony Silvestri); Autumn (text: Silvestri); The North; Dreamweaver; Winter Light; Agnus Dei; Stone Rose; Ingen Vinner Frem Til Den Evige Ro (trad. Norwegian hymn arr. Gjeilo). Ola Gjeilo, piano; Grace Davidson, soprano; Duncan Riddell, solo violin; Roberto Sorrentino, solo cello; The Choir of Royal Holloway; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Rupert Gough, conductor. Decca 485 4635

The last time I reviewed an album by the Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978, pronounced “yay-lo”), the solo piano album Dawn, I mentioned how impressed I had been by a couple of his earlier choral albums but then concluded my review as follows: “This new one, however, is a disappointment, comprising as it does music that never seems to rise above the merely pleasant. For a composer with Gjeilo’s talents, merely pleasant is not nearly enough. As they say in the sports world, “c’mon man!” Perhaps it is time to for Gjeilo to get back to choral writing.” (You can see the complete review here.) Well, it looks as though that time has come, given that Dreamweaver, this new release from Decca, although not entirely choral, features a generous helping of Gjeilo’s masterly choral writing. 

 

There are two multi-movement choral works by Gjeilo (who, by the way, now resides in New York) on the album, which opens with his six-movement piece titled The Road. The text, which Gjeilo says is his “tribute to one of Norway’s most stunning stretches of road,” is by Charles Anthony Silvestri, who wrote the lyrics for Eric Whitacre’s beautifully moving composition The Sacred Veil, which revolves around the death of Silvestri’s wife, Julia, from cancer.  We have reviewed two remarkable recordings of that piece, one featuring The Los Angeles Master Chorale (which you can find here), the other featuring the English ensemble Voces8 (which you can find here). Gjeilo plays piano on all but one of the six  movements, Riddell weaving his solo violin lines into the opening and closing movements, with the choir and orchestra providing the bulk of the music on all but the opening track. The other major choral work is the title piece, Dreamweaver, also with text by Silvestri, a seven-movement-piece based on a Norwegian folk poem about a man who has a dream about the afterlife and then awakens to tell others what he has seen. As in The Road, there are contribution from piano and violin as well as chorus and orchestra.

The remaining pieces are varied in format and are all relatively brief. Autumn (2:51) is a choral version of a piano track from a previous Gjeilo release, an EP titled Seasons. The composer asked Silvestri to write a text that would capture the feeling of the season, and the poet responded with the text which is sung here by The Choir of The Royal Holloway under the direction of Rupert Gough. The next piece, The Road (2:49), features Gjeilo alone at the keyboard. It is pleasant, gentle, a nice palette cleanser before the title piece that follows.

 

Following Dreamweaver are four more brief tracks. First up is Winter Light (2:50), which features Roberto Sorrentino on cello playing a simple melody, accompanied by Gjeilo on piano. Much richer in both sound and feeling is the reverent Agnus Dei (3:36) for choir alone. Then comes Stone Rose (3:40) another pleasant but fairly straightforward tune, augmented here by wordless choir. The program closes with Ingen Vinner Frem Til Den Evige Ro (“Nobody Wins Until Eternal Rest”) (2:53), an arrangement by Gjeilo of a traditional Norwegian folk song. As Gjeilo explain, “this is an arrangement of one of my favorite folk songs, which later became part of the Norwegian hymnal. The melody is from Hallingdal, a far-reaching valley including the town of Geilo, where my family is from.” As you might expect from a folk song that was adapted for a hymn, the melody is easy to follow and sung to great effect by the choir.

 

Although not as powerful overall as his purely choral albums (the Chandos album Northern Lights is breathtakingly good), Dreamweaver is still a welcome effort from a composer capable of creating music of great beauty. In terms of production, the sound quality is rich and full bodied. Texts are included, but it would have been nice to have more information about the music and especially the musicians. Let’s hope that Gjeilo continues to find the creative inspiration that will lead him to compose more fine choral music in the future. But for right now, Dreamweaver is well worth a listen.

 

Recent Releases No. 59 (CD Reviews)

 By Karl Nehring

Veljo Tormis: Reminiscentiae. The Tower Bell in My Village (for choir, two sopranos, reciter, and bell); Worry Breaks the Spirit (for choir and orchestra); Melancholy Songs (for mezzo-soprano and orchestra); Reminiscentia(for orchestra) - Autumn Landscapes - Winter Patterns - Spring Sketches - Summer Motifs - Three I Had These Words of Beauty; Hamlet’s Song (for choir and orchestra); Herding Calls – Childhood Memories (for choir, soprano, and orchestra). Veiko Tubin, reciter; Annika Lõhmus, soprano; Triin Sakermaa, soprano; Madis Metsamart bell, percussion; Iris Oja mezzo-soprano; Indrek Vau, trumpet; Linda Vood, flute; Maria Valdmaa, soprano; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor. ECM New Series ECM 2783

 

Like most listeners, I first became acquainted with the music of the late Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930-2017) from his 1992 recording ECM recording Forgotten Peoples. That recording, which also featured the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, was quite an ear-opener when it was released, for it was choral music unlike anything that had ever been encountered before, sounding ancient and sophisticated all at once. It would be seven more years before we would once again hear a recording of the Tõnu Kaljuste conducting Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in the music of Veljo Tormis, this time accompanied by a shamanic drum on an ECM recording appropriately titled Litany to Thunder. Now, 24 years after the release of that second ECM album, we now have a third, one in which conductor Kaljuste has assembled a program in tribute to his departed friend and mentor.

 

“The present album marks a rich artistic collaboration that shaped and bound Tõnu Kaljuste and Veljo Tormis for decades,” explain the liner notes. “Featuring may first recordings, it focuses on works not just significant for the artists, but for Estonian culture at large. Kaljuste draws attention  to the orchestral potential of music by Tormis, who mainly wrote for choir. Most of the arrangements featured on this album Kaljuste commissioned from Tormis. However, Worry Breaks the Spirit, Hamlet’s Song, and Harding Call – Childhood Memories are new arrangements by Tõnu Kaljuste himself, continuing and commemorating the work of the great composer. By combining the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Kaljuste highlights the brilliant harmony of Tormis. Awakening new layers in music that is initially rooted in words.” 

Partly because the album covers such a long period of time, partly because Kaljuste has taken some music originally written for choir and arranged it for orchestra, and partly because Tormis wrote music of varying styles and moods, there is an impressive variety of music to be found in this collection. Kaljuste and his players have an intimate connection with Tormis’s sound world; in fact, the oldest composition on the album, the opening The Tower Bell in My Village, resulted from a 1978 commission from Kaljuste. “I went to his door holding in my hands the text by Fernando Pessoa and asked him to create a piece for a concert tour with my choir,” Kaljuste writes. “This album reflects upon our collaboration over the years. It is the first album that I have recorded since Veljo Tormis passed away.” It’s a labor of love, a lovingly performed and beautifully recorded labor of love.

Dream Box. Pat Metheny: The Waves Are Not the Ocean; From the Mountains; Ole & Gard; Trust Your Angels; Russ Long: Never Was Love; Styne/Cohn: I Fall in Love Too Easily; Metheny: P.C. of Belgium; Bonfa/Maria: Morning of the Carnival; Metheny: Clouds Can’t Change the Sky. Pat Metheny, electric guitar, baritone guitar. Modern Recordings 538891672

 

A couple of years ago, we reviewed an album titled Road to the Sun (you can see that review here) by guitarist Pat Metheny (b. 1954) that featured him as a composer rather than a guitarist, although he did do some playing on the album, including a haunting version of Arvo Pärt’s Für Alina on his custom-made 42-string Pikasso guitar. Although Metheny is primarily known as a jazz musician, having won 20 Grammy awards in 12 categories, Road to the Sun was a classical album featuring Metheny’s compositions for guitarist Jason Vieaux and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. On his most recent release, Dream Box, most of the music was composed by Metheny; whether or not you want to call it jazz or classical is up to you. Does it really matter? Metheny had recorded these tracks at various times over the past few years and saved the recordings on his hard drive. While on tour in 2022, he found time to listen to some of the tracks that he had saved and found some that seemed to fit together as a coherent whole. In his liner note, he writes that he was “excited to share what was buried in there. These nine tracks are my favorites and added up to something unique for me. I had never played any of these initial tracks included here more than once. These are really important moments in time, and in fact, I have almost no memory of having recorded most of them. They just kind of showed up.”   

The tone of the album is set from the opening piece, The Waves Are Not the Ocean, which is gentle and contemplative. Although seeing “electric guitar” listed above as his instrument might lead you to expect some loud, perhaps even distorted sounds, Metheny explains that: “The focus here is on electric guitar, but maybe more to the point, quietelectric guitar. It is an are of particular interest for me. A goal has always been to have a touch on the electric that get me as close to the kind of phrase-by-phrase dynamics that can occur naturally with an acoustic instrument… Regarding the title, box is musician slang for a hollow-body electric guitar. Using that vernacular, there are some super cool Dream Box instruments represented on this recording…  But dreams in in their broadest sense make up the vibe with this set.” The gentle, contemplative mood continues throughout the album; however, Metheny’s imaginative touch ensures that things never get boring. Just listen to what he does with that old standard I Fall in Love Too Easily, taking a familiar melody and making it blend right into this sonic portrait of waves, mountains, clouds… This is a remarkable album, well worth a listen. (And by the way, Metheny is currently touring -- solo performances framed around the music on this album.)

From the Imperial Court (SACD review)

Music for the House of Hapsburg. Stile Antico. Harmonia Mundi HMU 807595.

Stile Antico (ancient style) is a relatively small British choir of about a dozen singers who specialize in music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Founded in 2001, they have made all of their records so far for Harmonia Mundi, this latest called From the Imperial Court and featuring music written for the ruling Hapsburgs of the 1600's.

A booklet note explains that the Hapburgs were one of Europe's most extraordinary ruling dynasties, controlling "greater or lesser portions of Europe from the 11th century until 1918, their heyday coinciding with the supreme musical flourishing of the 16th century." They "essentially ruled Spain, Germany, Austria, Burgundy and the Low Countries" throughout the century. As "successive generations enlarged their power and territory, they gathered around themselves the leading composers of the day." Thus, Stile Antico have chosen what we must assume is some of the best of the music written for the House of Hapsburg in the sixteenth century: eleven selections from as many different composers, each item exquisitely handled.

Some listeners may know the composers, all born in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth centuries, but I found most of them new to me. Names like Cristobal de Morales, Thomas Crecquillon, Thomas Tallis (ah, finally a familiar name), Josquin Desprez (fairly familiar), Ludwig Senfl, Nicolas Gombert, Pierre de la Rue, Jacob Clemens non Papa, Alfonso Lobo, and Heinrich Isaac.

I won't try to describe each piece; the booklet notes do a good job in that regard, providing a background on the composition of each work in addition to texts and translations. While most of the music is in the form of motets--polyphonic songs, usually on Biblical or similar prose texts and meant for use in church services--the various court composers involved in this recording wrote most of the music we hear for events of state, such as occasions celebrating newly acquired lands and power. Well, they were that kind of people: church and state entwined. At least one composer, de la Rue, hung around writing "soulful music" for a despondent and "increasingly insane" widow. Wonderful stuff.

Favorites? Yes, I of course. I enjoyed Morales's opening "Jubilate Deo" for its spacious grandeur. Crecquillan's "Andreas Christi famulus" has a likable luxuriousness about it. Desprez's "Mille regretz" has a touching simplicity about it (and apparently King Charles liked it, too, as it was also one of his favorite songs). A few of the selections were a little too mournful for me, but the motet "Versa est in luctum," which Lobo wrote for his own funeral, is quite lovely. Then, too, the closing number--Isaac's "Virgo prudentissima"--sounds beautifully elaborated.

But picking favorites seems superfluous. It's really the splendid singing that counts here, and all of it is wonderful. Although there are only a dozen singers in Stile Antico, they sound almost like a full choir, their voices blending so well, the harmonies so exacting, the tone and timber so precise, so lilting, lyrical, and soaring. I think I could listen to them sing anything. For the record, they are Helen Ashby, Kate Ashby, Rebecca Hickey, and Alison Hill, sopranos; Emma Ashby, Eleanor Harries, Katie Schofield, and Cara Curran, altos; Jim Clements, Andrew Griffiths, Benedict Hymas, and Matthew Howard, tenors; and James Arthur, Will Dawes, Thomas Flint, and Matthew O'Donovan, basses.

Producer Robina G. Young and engineer and editor Brad Michel recorded the music in Direct Stream Digital at All Hallows' Church, Gospel Oak, London in October 2013. One can play the resultant Super Audio CD in two-channel stereo on a regular CD player or in two-channel or multichannel on an SACD player. I listened in the two-channel format and found the results more than satisfying.

Probably the most striking thing about the recording besides the fact that it's clear and detailed is how prominent the acoustic stands out. The ensemble members actually appear to be in a reverberant hall with a healthy decay time, the ambient bloom giving the voices both a richness and a sense of place. Yet, as I say, this setting never interferes with the clarity of the voices, which always project a healthy transparency. Perhaps the upper midrange is a mite forward, seeming a tad too bright on occasion, but otherwise there's a fine balance involved.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

Passion & Resurrection (SACD review)

Music inspired by Holy Week. Stile Antico. Harmonia Mundi HMU 807555.

Stile Antico (“ancient style”) is an early-music vocal ensemble of British singers who formed in 2001 and specialize in music of the Renaissance and early Baroque. They have already recorded half a dozen albums for Harmonia Mundi, and this latest one, Passion & Resurrection, offers a series of thirteen selections based on texts inspired by Holy Week and Easter. It presents a cross-section of composers from England and the European continent that take the listener from Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through His Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, the Crucifixion on Good Friday, and the resurrection on Easter day.

The composers range in date from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries, some of them famous, some of them not so much. They include William Cornysh (1465-1523), Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585), Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594), Cristobal de Morales (c. 1500-1553), Tomas Luis de Victoria (c. 1548-1611), John McCabe (b. 1939), John Taverner (c. 1490-1545), Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599), William Byrd (1540-1623), Jean Lheritier (c. 1480-1551), and Thomas Crecquillon (c. 1505-1557).

The program begins with William Cornysh’s “Woefully Arrayed,” a poem given fresh musical fittings from John McCabe over four centuries (and five tracks on the disc) later. McCabe’s version is a little secular sounding but still reverent. Did I have any favorites among the selections? Certainly, Thomas Tallis’s “O sacrum convivium” encapsulates everything good about this early musical genius. It’s beautiful in its harmonic structure and sung to perfection by Stile Antico.

There is an especially intent devotional quality to Cristobal de Morales’s “O crux, ave” that is hard to resist. And Thomas Crecquillon’s “Congratulamini mihi” is lovely in the extreme, while exuding a feeling of joyfulness, exultation, and inspiration. But to pick favorites among so many engaging tunes is fruitless. Take your pick; they’re all a joy.

The singing is the special pleasure of Stile Antico, though. Although there are only about fifteen persons involved in this particular production, they sound almost like a full choir, their voices blending so well, their harmonies so exacting, their tone and timber so precise, so lilting, lyrical, and soaring. I think I could listen to them sing anything. For the record, they are Helen Ashby, Kate Ashby, Rebecca Hickey, and Alison Hill, sopranos; Emma Ashby, Eleanor Harries, Carris Jones, and Martha McLorinan, altos; Jim Clements, Andrew Griffiths, and Benedict Hymas, tenors; and James Arthur, Will Dawes, Oliver Hunt, and Matthew O’Donovan, basses. You’d swear there were two or three times their number singing.

Recorded in exemplary fashion by Harmonia Mundi at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London in 2012, the sound is most pleasing on the ear. HM recorded it in stereo and multichannel on this SACD hybrid disc, so depending on your playback equipment, you can listen to it either way; I listened in stereo on an SACD player, and it sounded splendid. There’s a sweet ambient glow around the voices, making them sound very much in a large, mildly reverberant church acoustic. However, the resonance is not so great as to cloud, veil, or diminish the vocals in any way. It simply makes them appear richer and fuller. The ensemble sound entirely natural in this setting, the voices miked at a moderate distance to provide a realistic presentation, the singers sounding warm, smooth, and lifelike, never bright or edgy. Each section of the choir--indeed, each individual member--comes across clearly and distinctly.

The foldout Digibook packaging contains an extensive, forty-five page booklet of notes, pictures, and texts. Moreover, a healthy seventy-one minute running time contributes to the album’s appeal. It’s all very impressive.

To hear a brief excerpt from this album, click here:


JJP

Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart (SACD review)

Tudor & Jacobean music for private devotion. Stile Antico, Fretwork. Harmonia Mundi HMU 807554.

First, a description of the music. Most of us probably think of Renaissance music as played either by minstrels for the entertainment of the masses or by choirs and such for liturgical services. Apparently, however, there was also a good deal of music for private, domestic devotion, secular religious music for use in the home. The present album offers a selection of fifteen songs from the English Tudor and Jacobean eras (1500's and 1600's), played by the English vocal ensemble Stile Antico, accompanied by the English consort of viols, Fretwork.

Some of the composers may be familiar to you, others not so much.  Among the better known names are John Taverner (c. 1490-1545) with "In nomine (Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas)," Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585) with "Purge me, O Lord," John Dowland (1562-1626) with "I shame at my unworthiness," William Byrd (c. 1540-1623) with "Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?" and Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) with "See, the Word is incarnate." Lesser-known names (at least to me) include Thomas Tomkins, John Amner, Robert Ramsey, Robert Parsons, Giovanni Croce, and, to a lesser degree, Thomas Campion.

I liked this line from Matthew O'Donovan, who sings bass with the group, from his booklet essay:  "In hindsight the shaking of the Church music at the Reformation could be said to represent little more than a historic example of evangelicals bringing 'pop' music into worship." Certainly, we hear the overlap of popular, secular, and ecclesiastical music in these tunes.

The singing is a special joy. While there are only about a dozen singers in Stile Antico, they almost sound like a full choir, their voices blending so well, the harmonies so exacting, the tone and timber so precise, so lilting, lyrical, and soaring. What's more, the five members of Fretwork also contribute to the performances seeming bigger than the sum of the participants, Fretwork's instruments lending subtle but solid support. Most of their work we hear during the introductions to the songs and in the purely instrumental number "In nomine a 4 nos. 1 and 2 by Robert Parsons (c. 1530-1570).

The songs offer a unique glimpse into the evolution of music as we know it. But, more important, the songs are beautiful in and of themselves and perfectly executed by all involved.

Recorded for SACD at Air Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London, in February, 2011, the sound is as realistic as one could imagine. In the two-channel stereo mode of this hybrid stereo/multichannel disc (which I listened to on a Sony SACD player), the voices sound well defined and well separated, with a wide front-channel spread and ample depth. The viol accompaniment is subtle and well integrated into the sonic field. To make matters even better, the acoustic displays a touch of inherent hall resonance for a warm and natural effect, an effect the multichannel layer would undoubtedly enhance.

To complete the package, we get a well-explained, well-illustrated booklet insert, which also contains the full text and translations of the songs in English, French, and German. The package itself is a Digipak, which I don't care for all that much, but I can forgive this one drawback when the Harmonia Mundi folks have done everything else so well.

JJP

Troubadours, Trouveres & Minnesanger (CD review)

And Other Courtly Arts. Rene Clemencic, Clemencic Consort; Paul Hillier, Theater of Voices; Andrew Lawrence-King, The Harp Consort; The Dufay Collective; Drew Minter, contre-tonor; Mary Springfels, The Newberry Consort. Harmonia Mundi Century HMX 2908166.

Listening to this disc and reading the extensive booklet notes that go with it are a little like taking a history course. It's a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, if you just sit back and listen to the music, the album can provide quite a lot of enjoyment, too.

The music here covers the Middle Ages; it's volume four of twenty compilation titles in the Harmonia Mundi "Century" series that also includes music of the Antique, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and modern eras.

The album reviewed here covers five areas of the Middle Ages. The first is the music of the troubadours of Southern France in the 11th and 12th centuries. Troubadours were, as the booklet explains, the "first known representatives of lyric poetry which can be described as secular (that is, non religious) and more specifically as courtly." Today, we tend to think of troubadours as wandering minstrels or singers, but now we know they were more than that, at least in the beginning. Rene Clemencic and his Clemencic Consort, aided by soprano Pilar Figueras, perform three songs of the troubadours to start the program. While the tunes aren't exactly showstoppers, they do give us a feeling for the age, and the singing is splendid.

The next section of the album covers "The art of the Trouveres," who sort of took up where the troubadours left off, this time in Northern France in the 12th and 13th centuries. Here we find seven song selections done by Andrew Lawrence-King and the Harp Consort, aided by the vocals of Stephen Harrold, Julian Podger, Ian Honeyman, Paul Hillier, and the Theatre of Voices. I found this selection of tunes somewhat hit-and-miss, but there is no denying the artistry involved.

The third segment of the album was my favorite, the Cantigas de Santa Maria, canticles (poems or songs of praise) from Spain in the 13th century, mostly dedicated to the King of Castille, Alfonso X the Wise. Here, the Dufay Collective present primarily instrumental music, and it's lively and engaging, practically stealing the show.

The next section of the program involves the music of the 13th, 14th, and 15th-century German minnesingers (singers of love songs). Again, we get more courtly songs of romance, performed by Mary Springfels and the Newberry Consort, with help from Drew Minter, David Douglass, and Kevin Mason. It's all quite lovely, actually, if a bit heavy.

The program concludes with two selections from the Carmina Burana. No, not the one by Carl Orff; that came much later, with Orff finding his material in the original Carmina Burana of the 13th century, a manuscript discovered in the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuren. While I can't say I liked the music much, the Clemencic Consort, who opened the album, close it as well as one could expect.

The sound, which comes from several previously released Harmonia Mundi recordings bearing publication dates between 2003 and 2005, is uniformly excellent. Whether the ensembles are relatively large or simply duets, the sonics treat them with clarity and cleanness, featuring a wide stereo spread when necessary and a wonderful sense of presence. The acoustics are often quite resonant, providing a pleasant and realistic ambient bloom on the music. Dynamics are strong and pointed, and midrange transparency is top notch without adding any brightness or edge in the process. When the sound needs depth, we get depth; when it needs a quick transient response, we get a quick transient response; and when voices need a natural accuracy, we get a natural accuracy. Very nice.

JJP