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Track(s) taken from CDA67016

Tempi

First line:
Adagio mesto, Espressivo, Crescendo, Calmato, Adagio tranquillo …
composer
1988
author of text
A selection of Italian terms whose meanings are reflected in the music

Corydon Singers, Matthew Best (conductor)
Recording details: October 1997
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Arthur Johnson
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: November 1998
Total duration: 17 minutes 40 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Iain Quinn joins the long line of dedicated performers who have made Hyperion's Simpson series such a consistent triumph’ (Gramophone)

‘Music of a deep and searching mind. An important release. Dedicated performances and state-of-the-art sound’ (Classic CD)

‘All the performers do the music proud. Simpson aficiados will need no persuasion to buy this marvellous disc, but enthusiasts for the organ and choral music of our century have every reason to make its acquaintance too’ (Hi-Fi News)
Tempi was commissioned for the 25th Seminar on Contemporary Choral Music, University College, Cork, Ireland, in April 1988. The piece consists entirely of Italian terms whose meanings are reflected in the music.

The work is in two parts. The first embraces a familiar Simpson fingerprint, first encountered in the Third Symphony: a gradual acceleration over a long span. Hence the music moves effortlessly from ‘Adagio mesto’ to ‘Andante cantabile’, from ‘Allegretto grazioso’ to ‘Allegro con brio’, eventually unleashing a sparkling ‘Prestissimo’ which forms the culmination of the first part. There is an abundance of striking word-painting during this section; take the ‘Subito forte’ eruptions, the stampeding ‘Impatientemente’, the scampering repetitions of ‘Prestissimo’, the ominous sounds of low basses singing ‘Susurrando minaccioso’.

Part Two is shorter. It is heralded by a return of the slow tempo, ‘Lento molto intensivo’, begun by tenors and basses and later taken up by female voices. Soon the intensity eases, and the music relaxes into one of Simpson’s most magical stretches of reflective polyphony.

Adagio mesto, Espressivo, Crescendo, Calmato, Adagio tranquillo, Andante cantabile, Dolce, Allegretto grazioso, Con grazia, Allegro con brio, Allegro brioso, Accelerando, Diminuendo, Prestissimo, Molto vivo, Subito piano, Subito forte, Prestissimo molto vivace, Subito forte, Subito pianissimo, Subito fortissimo, Prestissimo, Vivo, Volante, Vivace, Adirato, Impatientemente, Irato, Con furia, Susurrando minaccioso, Feroce, Furioso, Con rabbia, Adagio molto intensivo, Lento molto intensivo, Calmato, Tranquillo, Calmo, Pochettino crescendo, Morendo al niente.

from notes by Matthew Taylor © 1998

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