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Track(s) taken from CDA68047

Feast Song for Saint Cecilia

First line:
When the sun with great flashes of grandeur
composer
composed for the 1975 Festival of St Cecilia; SATB divisi with soli unaccompanied
author of text

Royal Holloway Choir, Rupert Gough (conductor), Sophie Edwards (soprano), Louise Laprun (alto), Jack Wilde (tenor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: April 2013
All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: November 2014
Total duration: 6 minutes 9 seconds

Cover artwork: Saint Cecilia. Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Photograph by Martin Cheung for Friends of Historic Second Church / www.2ndpresbyterianfriends.org
 

Other recordings available for download

Jeremy Budd (treble), Simon Hill (countertenor), Alan Green (tenor), St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

Reviews

‘Gough has an exceptional group of singers here. They are impressively responsive, shifting from the rich homophony of Howells’s A Hymn for St Cecilia (anchored always in the bass), to the fidgety contrapuntal writing of Britten’s ‘I have no shadow’ episode and embracing the bluesy harmonies of Richard Rodney Bennett’s Verses on St Cecilia’s Day’ (Gramophone)

‘The performances by the fine mixed choir of choral scholars are superb’ (American Record Guide)

‘I regard this as a recording of the greatest interest and significance, a ‘must’ for any serious enthusiast’ (Cathedral Music)» More

‘A Cecilian smorgasbord of excellent music from two centuries’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)» More

‘Gabriel Jackson's La Musique is attractive and beautifully imagined; this is another example of Jackson’s highly inventive ear for unaccompanied choral textures. The soprano solo line, which is a gift for a singer like Dame Felicity, contrasts with and complements the choral parts most effectively. The music is gorgeous, not least the soft, rapt conclusion … this is a most interesting and nicely varied programme of music. The singing is consistently fine. The choir’s blend is excellent and I admire very much the fresh tone that they produce. Rupert Gough, as we know from previous releases, trains his choir marvellously and this disc is another notable achievement. With Adrian Peacock and David Hinitt serving as producer and engineer respectively it’s no surprise that the recordings are excellent. Quite a few of these pieces will be unfamiliar to many collectors, which adds to the attraction of this splendid disc’ (MusicWeb International)» More

„Kurz und gut: Dieses Album ist hochgradig inspirierend. Vermittelt es doch nicht nur einen absolut frappierenden Einblick in die britische Chormusik der letzten zwei Jahrhunderte. Es zeigt auch, mit wie viel Inbrunst und Hingabe selbst als eher „säkular“ bekannte Komponisten Musik schrieben, wenn es um die Ehrerbietung für die heilige Cäcilia ging. Man könnte meinen, in vielen dieser Stücke würde der Musik selbst gehuldigt. Nikolaus Harnoncourt nannte die Musik sinngemäß einmal einen „Strahl des Göttlichen, der in unser weltliches Leben scheint“, und das fasst diese CD vielleicht besser zusammen, als man es mit vielen anderen Worten beschreiben könnte.

Dank des britischen High Quality-Labels Hyperion ist auch der Sound ausgezeichnet ausgefallen, sodass man eine Natürlichkeit des Klangeindrucks erhält, die man auf anderen Chormusik-CDs leider allzu oft mit der Lupe suchen muss. Großartig“ (The Listener, Germany)» More

Dr Bernard Rose (1916–1996) was, until 1981, Informator choristarum at Magdalen College in Oxford. He was appointed to that post in 1957 and had been associated with Oxford University after leaving Cambridge in 1939 having taken his music degees there. As well as being a composer, Dr Rose was also a scholar in his own right, having concentrated his research in the early 1960s on the choral music of Thomas Tomkins. Under Dr Rose’s direction, the choir of Magdalen College quickly established a reputation as one of the finest college choirs in this country. Rose made many recordings with this choir, notably of music by less well-known early English composers.

As a composer, Rose’s output has been concerned with liturgical music, and many of his compositions have become standard cathedral repertory. The Feast Song for Saint Cecilia, with words by Gregory Rose, the composer’s son, was composed for the 1975 Festival of Saint Cecilia which was held in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in London. With its refrain, set for treble soloist by the composer, the poem is reminsiscent of Auden’s ‘Hymn to Saint Cecilia’ set by Britten. Here Rose sets the words carefully, drawing out the natural rhythms and painting the text in the most captivating manner.

from notes by William McVicker © 1991

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