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Track(s) taken from SIGCD281

Christe, qui lux es et dies I

composer
author of text
Office Hymn at Compline

Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: November 2009
Ely Cathedral, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by Neil Hutchinson
Release date: March 2012
Total duration: 4 minutes 29 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Clare College Choir Cambridge, Timothy Brown (conductor)
The Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
Gallicantus, Gabriel Crouch (conductor)

Reviews

'Any disc subtitled 'Music of Mourning & Consolation' is not going to be a bundle of laughs. But Paul McCreesh has devised such a satisfying programme of mostly short a cappella pieces that the effect is the reverse of depressing. Gibbons would not have approved of the English Hymnal's truncation of his joyful 'song' to fit different (albeit contemporary) words; but he might still have been moved by the slow, prayerful performance given here … an excellent disc' (Gramophone)

'The raison d'être of the disc is Howells's Requiem and it is impressive as the core of a powerful programme. Going back to the opening Gibbons hymn 'Drop, drop slow tears', it then seemed right. Some discs are built out of contrast: this glories in its breadth of tone, matching the sombre consolation of the words and music. It is certainly impressive' (Early Music Review)» More

'A Song of Farewell was recorded in the warmly reverberant acoustic of the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral. The singing is immaculate. James MacMillan's A Child's Prayer builds from a quietly pulsing heart beat, deep in the bass register, and blooms ecstatically on the words 'Joy and love my heart are filling'. The soprano soloists Amy Moore and Kirsty Hopkins deserve a special mention for sustaining a sumptuous tone whilst all the while their voices ascend heavenward. MacMillan's music is as technically demanding as it is emotionally powerful and it is a wonder that these exceptional young singers make it all sound so effortless' (Classic FM)» More

'The first line of my review says it all—'This is a disc of staggering beauty and effortless sophistication'. The tradition of British Choral singing at its best' (MusicWeb International)
Robert White (whose short but successful career took him to Trinity College, Cambridge, Ely Cathedral and Westminster Abbey) composed four settings of the Lenten Compline hymn Christe, qui lux es et dies, all based on the traditional chant melody. This, his first, is an understated exercise in textural contrast, alternating single-voice chant with a five-voice chordal texture. Subtle changes in harmony gently colour each verse of the text, but the voices remain homophonic throughout, with only one instance of a voice moving separately from the rest—in the middle polyphonic verse, at the end of the important phrase ‘Cor ad te semper vigilet’ (‘Keep our hearts forever awake to you’).

from notes by Owain Park © 2018

Other albums featuring this work

English Motets
Studio Master: CDA68256Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Illumina
COLCD125Download only
Vigilate!
Studio Master: SDG720Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
White: Sacred Music
SIGCD134Download only
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