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Track(s) taken from CDA67970

The Edinburgh Te Deum

First line:
Te Deum laudamus
composer
1978; SSAATB and organ; dedicated to Father Aidan Nichols; first performed in Westminster Cathedral in November 2011
author of text
Hymn to the Trinity

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor), Peter Stevens (organ), David Knight (tenor), William Gaunt (bass)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: July 2012
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: June 2013
Total duration: 9 minutes 17 seconds

Cover artwork: Angels Supporting a Dial which Indicates the Hours of the Different Scenes of the Passion, an illustration for The Life of Christ. James Tissot (1836-1902)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘The combination of Westminster Cathedral Choir and MacMillan is irresistible. We are drawn immediately into their complicity by the jaw-dropping Tu es Petrus … its simultaneous celebratory character and clear rootedness in liturgical tradition make it far more than a one-off firework. Quite different are the extraordinary Tenebrae Responsories … the sound of the Westminster choristers adds something unique and the building's resonance buoys up MacMillan's arching lines (carefully shaped under Baker's direction) and dazzling, often bitingly dissonant choral pillars … the performances throughout are outstanding, and beautifully recorded’ (Gramophone)

‘James MacMillan creates a magnificent effusion of sound, over which the trebles of the Westminster Cathedral Choir soar dramatically … the three movements of Tenebrae Responsories are remarkable for different reasons … this is an intensely concentrated sequence visiting dark, lonely places of the spirit. Of the nine shorter pieces, the ebullient Edinburgh Te Deum is particularly valuable, further attesting to MacMillan's reputation as one of the finest living composers of ecclesiastical music. Martin Baker's direction is masterly’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘MacMillan is proof that Catholic composers need not be conventional … the three Tenebrae Responsories are an excellent example of that … this is honesty not often heard in sacred music … it's hard not to be impressed by the committed and well-disciplined singing of the Westminster Cathedral Choir, particularly by its boys, who negotiate MacMillan's difficult melismatic writing with confidence’ (International Record Review)

‘MacMillan has a close relationship with Westminster Cathedral, seeing it as a beacon of musical professionalism to which other Catholic churches should aspire. The performance is correspondingly electric: a perfect balance of voices, topped with a searing, steely treble tone, delivering such perfectly consonant harmonies it’s often goosebump-inducing. An additional draw is the cavernous acoustic of Westminster Cathedral itself—particularly in the joyful noise that is Summae Trinitati, you could be standing in its late-Victorian splendour as the brass and percussion reverberate around you. It's glorious’ (Sinfini.com)
The Edinburgh Te Deum was written in 1978 when MacMillan was an undergraduate at Edinburgh University and studying with Kenneth Leighton. He had formed a Schola (choir) for the Catholic Chaplaincy in the city at the invitation of Father Aidan Nichols OP, later to become one of the major Catholic writers in theology and liturgy. The Te Deum is dedicated to Father Nichols; never performed at the time, it was finally given its premiere in Westminster Cathedral in November 2011. The Te Deum is a large-scale setting intended for liturgical use. The whole of the first section is given to trebles (or sopranos), the cries of ‘Sanctus’ are given dramatic block chords punctuated by the organ. Here are the embryonic choral outbursts which we noted in the Tenebrae Responsories and Seven Last Words from the Cross. The ‘Tu, rex gloriae’ brings further drama before a slow bass solo for ‘Te ergo quaesumus’ leads into the gentle final section and a quiet ending.

from notes by Paul Spicer © 2013

MacMillan écrivit The Edinburgh Te Deum en 1978, alors qu’il était en licence à l’Université d’Édimbourg et qu’il étudiait avec Kenneth Leighton. Il avait formé une Schola (chœur) pour l’aumônerie municipale, à l’invite du F. Aidan Nichols O.P., appelé à devenir l’un des plus grands théologiens et liturgistes catholiques. Cette œuvre d’envergure, à vocation liturgique lui est dédiée; jamais exécutée à l’époque, elle fut finalement créée en la cathédrale de Westminster, en novembre 2011. Toute la première section est confiée aux trebles (ou sopranos), les exclamations «Sanctus» se voyant confier de saisissants blocs d’accords ponctués par l’orgue. Ce sont là les embryons des explosions chorales que nous avons rencontrées dans les Tenebrae Responsories et dans les Seven Last Words from the Cross. Le «Tu, rex gloriae» ajoute au drame avant qu’un lent solo de basse, à «Te ergo quaesumus», ne mène à la douce section finale et à une paisible conclusion.

extrait des notes rédigées par Paul Spicer © 2013
Français: Hypérion

Das Edinburgh Te Deum entstand 1978, als MacMillan unter Kenneth Leighton an der Universität zu Edinburgh studierte. Er hatte für das katholische Kaplansamt der Stadt auf die Aufforderung des Dominikanerpriesters Aidan Nichols—heute einer der wichtigsten katholischen Schriftsteller zur Theologie und Liturgie—hin eine Schola (einen Chor) gegründet. Das Te Deum ist Nichols gewidmet, wurde jedoch erst im November 2011 in der Westminster Cathedral uraufgeführt. Das Te Deum ist ein großangelegtes Werk, das für den Einsatz in der Liturgie gedacht ist. Der gesamte erste Abschnitt ist den Sopranstimmen übergeben; die „Sanctus“-Rufe erklingen in dramatischen Akkordblöcken, die von der Orgel durchbrochen werden. Hier finden die embryonischen Chor-Ausbrüche statt, die wir bereits in den Tenebrae Responsories und den Seven Last Words from the Cross beobachtet haben. Das „Tu, rex gloriae“ sorgt für eine noch stärkere dramatische Note, bevor ein langsames Bass-Solo bei „Te ergo quaesumus“ in den sanften Schlussteil und zum leisen Ende hinüberleitet.

aus dem Begleittext von Paul Spicer © 2013
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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