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Track(s) taken from CDA67576

A tender shoot

composer
author of text
translator of text

St John's College Choir Cambridge, David Hill (conductor)
Recording details: January 2006
St John's College Chapel, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2006
Total duration: 2 minutes 8 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

St George's Chapel Choir Windsor, James Vivian (conductor)
St John's College Choir Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha (conductor)
King's College Choir Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
King's College Choir Cambridge, Daniel Hyde (conductor)

Reviews

‘David Hill's Advent programme imaginatively mingles antiphons, carols, hymns and motets. Favourites alternate with relative rarities such as Edward Naylor's Vox dicentis: Clama, whose sumptuous sonorities unfold gloriously in the chapel's acoustic … the John's choir, fielding what sounds like a vintage crop of trebles, sings throughout with its trademark mixture of refinement and gutsy energy’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘This recording holds some of the most exquisite choral singing I have ever heard. They must be one of the finest choirs in England. Not only is the technical standard dazzlingly high, but the readings are engaging, animated and sensitively shaped’ (American Record Guide)

‘Blend, balance, intonation and diction are all unfailingly top-drawer, and the choir's unanimity of phrasing and dynamic shading come across as something quite special … both engineering and annotation are well up to the same standard’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘This is a very fine disc indeed … the overall impression with which I’m left is one of great satisfaction and pleasure. The programme has been assembled with great imagination and the execution is well nigh flawless. When one adds in excellent and very atmospheric sound, first rate notes and texts and translations, it all adds up to a very distinguished package indeed. I shall be surprised if I encounter a finer CD of Christmas music this year’ (MusicWeb International)
A tender shoot was written by the German pianist, conductor and composer Otto Goldschmidt (1829–1907), who settled in England in 1858 with his wife, the famous Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, nicknamed ‘The Swedish Nightingale’. He made important contributions to English musical life, and founded The Bach Choir with whom he gave the first complete performance in Britain of Bach’s B minor Mass. (By an apposite coincidence, The Bach Choir’s current Music Director is David Hill.) This carol became popular through the recording made in the early 1960s by St John’s Choir under George Guest, Music Director from 1951 to 1991. Its text describes Christ as the ‘tender shoot’ that sprang from the root of Jesse.

from notes by Andrew Burn © 2006

A tender shoot est une œuvre du pianiste, chef d’orchestre et compositeur allemand Otto Goldschmidt (1829–1907) qui, en 1858, s’installa en Angleterre avec sa femme, la fameuse soprano Jenny Lind, surnommée «le rossignol suédois». Il contribua significativement à la vie musicale anglaise et fonda The Bach Choir, avec lequel il donna, pour la première fois en Grande-Bretagne, une exécution complète de la Messe en si mineur de Bach. (Heureuse coïncidence, l’actuel directeur musical de ce chœur n’est autre que David Hill.) Sa popularité, ce carol la dut surtout à l’enregistrement que le St John’s Choir réalisa au début des années 1960 sous la direction de George Guest—qui demeura à la tête de ce chœur de 1951 à 1991. Ici, Jésus est la «tendre pousse» («tender shoot») issue de la racine de Jessé.

extrait des notes rédigées par Andrew Burn © 2006
Français: Hypérion

A tender shoot („Ein zarter Spross“) ist das Werk des deutschen Pianisten, Dirigenten und Komponisten Otto Goldschmidt (1829–1907), der sich 1858 mit seiner Frau, der berühmten schwedischen Sopranistin Jenny Lind (mit Spitznamen „die schwedische Nachtigall“), in England niederließ. Er lieferte wichtige Beiträge zum englischen Musikleben und gründete den Bach-Chor, mit dem er die erste vollständige Aufführung von Bachs h-Moll-Messe in Großbritannien bestritt. (Wie der Zufall manchmal so will, ist der derzeitige Leiter des Bach-Chors David Hill.) Dieses Adventslied wurde durch eine Aufnahme aus den frühen 1960er Jahren mit dem Chor des St John’s College unter George Guest, dem Chorleiter von 1951 bis 1991, bekannt. Der Text beschreibt Jesus Christus als einen „zarten Spross“, der aus der Wurzel Isias hervorkam.

aus dem Begleittext von Andrew Burn © 2006
Deutsch: Elke Hockings

Other albums featuring this work

Advent Live, Vol. 2
Studio Master: SIGCD661Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Christmas at St George's Windsor
Studio Master: CDA68281Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
In the bleak midwinter
Studio Master: KGS0060-DDownload onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Nine Lessons & Carols
Studio Master: KGS00012CDs Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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