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Track(s) taken from CDA67503

Valiant-for-Truth

First line:
After this it was noised abroad
composer
author of text
Pilgrim's Progress

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor)
Recording details: July 2005
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: May 2005
Total duration: 5 minutes 57 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

David Allsopp (countertenor), Temple Church Choir, Roger Sayer (conductor)
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)
King's College Choir Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

Reviews

‘As is only to be expected from its past record, the Choir of Westminster Cathedral brings tonal richness and a superb musicality to its performances of these works. The solos sound as confident from the trebles as from the men, and one can almost smell the incense from the atmospheric recording’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘A stirring Vision of aeroplanes testifies to the choir's extraordinary virtuosity which, under Baker, is clearly going from strength to strength … Hyperion has been making recordings in Westminster Cathedral almost since the day the company first came into being, and, as ever, the sound on this latest disc is gorgeous, full of depth, and with an ideal balance between, choir, organ and atmosphere’ (International Record Review)

‘A glorious celebration of music written with the acoustics of Westminster Cathedral in mind’ (Classic FM Magazine)
Vaughan Williams had a great fondness for the work of John Bunyan. Always aware of English heritage, he regarded him as one of the most powerful writers the country had ever produced. The setting of Mr Valiant-for-Truth’s great speech from Pilgrim’s Progress seems to have been prompted by the death of Vaughan Williams’ close friend Dorothy Longman. Unaccompanied solo altos (a favourite sonority for Vaughan Williams) act as a quasi-narrator to introduce the words of the hero sung by the choir, which are set with characteristic modal harmony. First performed in 1942 it must have had great resonances for all living through the dark days of the Second World War, especially with the concluding trumpet effects that accompany the welcome of the righteous one into the court of heaven.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2005

Vaughan Williams éprouvait une grande tendresse pour l’œuvre de John Bunyan, qu’il considérait – toujours cette conscience de l’héritage anglais – comme l’un des plus puissants écrivains que le pays eût jamais produits. La mise en musique de la grande tirade de Mr Valiant-for-Truth (extrait du Pilgrim’s Progress) semble avoir été dictée par la mort de Dorothy Longman, amie intime de Vaughan Williams. Une ligne d’alto a cappella (l’une des sonorités préférées du compositeur) fait office de quasi-narrateur pour introduire les paroles du héros chantées par le chœur et mises en musique avec une harmonie modale caractéristique. Créée en 1942, cette œuvre dut rencontrer de bien vifs échos chez tous ceux qui traversaient la sombre période de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, surtout avec les effets de trompette conclusifs qui accompagnent l’accueil du vertueux à la cour céleste.

extrait des notes rédigées par Andrew Carwood © 2005
Français: Hypérion

Vaughan Williams schätzte die Werke von John Bunyan sehr. Er war sich stets des englischen Kulturerbes bewusst und betrachtete ihn als einen der einflussreichsten Schriftsteller, die das Land je hervorgebracht hatte. Die Vertonung der großen Rede des Mr. Valiant-for-Truth aus Pilgrim’s Progress scheint durch den Tod von Dorothy Longman, eine enge Vertraute Vaughan Williams’, ausgelöst worden zu sein. Mehrere unbegleitete Soloaltstimmen (ein bevorzugtes Klangbild Vaughan Williams’) stellen eine Art Erzählerfigur dar und leitet die Worte des Helden ein, die vom Chor gesungen werden und in den charakteristischen modalen Harmonien vertont sind. Das Werk ist 1942 zum ersten Mal aufgeführt worden und muss für alle diejenigen, die die dunklen Tage des Zweiten Weltkriegs durchlebt hatten mit besonderen Erinnerungen behaftet gewesen sein, besonders wenn gegen Ende die Trompeten den Empfang des Gerechten im Himmel begleiten.

aus dem Begleittext von Andrew Carwood © 2005
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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