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Track(s) taken from CDH55228

This is the record of John

composer
author of text
John 1: 19-23

Robin Blaze (countertenor), Winchester Cathedral Choir, David Hill (conductor), Sarah Baldock (organ)
Recording details: April 1999
Winchester Cathedral, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: April 2000
Total duration: 4 minutes 18 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Thomas Lilburn (countertenor), St George's Chapel Choir Windsor, James Vivian (conductor), Luke Bond (organ)
St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor), Christopher Royall (countertenor)
Charles Daniels (tenor), Magdalena Consort, Fretwork
St John's College Choir Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha (conductor), Hugh Cutting (countertenor), Joseph Wicks (organ)
Joel Williams (tenor), King's College Choir Cambridge, Tom Etheridge (conductor), Douglas Tang (organ)

Reviews

‘Hill breathes new life into Gibbons' musical and spoken rhetoric, using tempo and dynamics to set up conflicts between vocal lines. Perfectly complemented by Robin Blaze … the choral sound is exemplary―clean, but edged with an appealing English softness … a glorious sound’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘This recording is a well-balanced introduction to Gibbons' obvious musical talent’ (Scotland on Sunday)
The Epistle and Gospel readings for the Sundays of Advent deal with different themes. The Third Sunday in Advent has as its Gospel part of the first Chapter of the Gospel according to John. These words are set by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) as This is the record of John, one of the most remarkable of all Tudor verse anthems.

Gibbons sang in the choir at King’s College Cambridge with his brother, became a student at the University and went on to sing at the Chapel Royal when James I was on the throne. By 1625, the year of the composer’s death, Gibbons had become the senior organist.

The music—originally set with an accompaniment provided by viols—seems brilliantly matched to the words: the question ‘Who art thou?’; the long notes at ‘and said plainly’; the florid reply ‘I am not the Christ’; the rising figure at the question ‘Art thou Elias?’. There are three sections for the soloist; each is answered in turn by the choir ending with the step-wise phrase sung immediately by all: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.

from notes by William McVicker © 1997

Other albums featuring this work

Advent at St Paul's
CDH55463
Advent Live, Vol. 1
SIGCD535Download only
Christmas at St George's Windsor
Studio Master: CDA68281Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Evensong Live 2016
Studio Master: KGS0015Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Gibbons: In chains of gold - The English pre-Restoration verse anthem, Vol. 1
Studio Master: SIGCD511Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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