Notes and Editorial Reviews
Superb performances combining passion with ability … interesting and accessible music.
An impressive disc from Regent, this comprises the shorter choral works of the English composer, conductor and scholar, Paul Spicer. Spicer’s work, although audibly of the late twentieth/early twenty-first century, is nevertheless very much based in the English choral tradition. It contains hints of other composers ranging from Vaughan Williams to Howells and Britten. This tradition is particularly redolent in the first work on the disc,
Love is Beautiful Indeed. This passionate little piece was composed for the wedding of friends of the composer, and has lush, almost Delian chords, and a gorgeously tranquil ending. It is
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followed by
His Heart's Desire, a simple, gentle and beautiful anthem, and then the exuberant
Glory be to God for Dappled Things, a setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins's much-loved poem
Pied Beauty.
There is no Rose of such Virtue and the tender
In a field as I lay are both early works, carols written whilst the composer was still a student at the Royal College of Music. The former, a very beautiful unaccompanied setting of the 15th century anonymous poem lauding the Virgin Mary was composed for Herbert Howells’ 80th birthday.
This Child of God is another carol, with a lovely rocking accompaniment, and the
Prayer of St Cuthbert, which follows, has a tremendous sense of peace, calm and spirituality. The anthem
Come out, Lazar is the most substantial work on the disc - a dramatic, and almost apocalyptic piece setting more mediaeval poetry - an anonymous 14th century English text. The ensuing
A Grace: Inscription in a Monastic Refectory takes its text from Helen Waddell’s translations of mediaeval Latin poetry - as beloved by other composers, including Holst and Howells - and is a successful blend of past and present. In his sincere and intense version of
Drop, Drop Slow Tears, Spicer nods to Orlando Gibbons’ setting of this powerful poem. The disc concludes with
Michael, The Great Prince, shall Arise. The influence of Howells is very strong here, a stimulus gladly acknowledged by the composer, who notes that this is one of his most deeply-felt works.
All the works featured here are given superb performances by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge under Sarah MacDonald’s incisive direction. The performances combine passion with ability - the choir clearly responds well to these interesting and accessible pieces. An excellent example of how English composers can still write within that glorious tradition set by Parry, Stanford, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Finzi and yet have their own voice set within their own time.
-- Em Marshall, MusicWeb International
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Works on This Recording
1.
Love is Beautiful Indeed, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 3 Minutes 24 Secs.
2.
His Heart's Desire, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 2 Minutes 59 Secs.
3.
Glory be to God for Dappled Things (Pied Beauty), for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 5 Minutes 27 Secs.
4.
Stars, I have seen them fall, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 2 Minutes 6 Secs.
5.
There is no Rose of such Virtue by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Period: Contemporary
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 2 Minutes 46 Secs.
6.
In a field as I lay, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 2 Minutes 26 Secs.
7.
This Child of God, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 3 Minutes 14 Secs.
8.
Prayer of St. Cuthbert, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 5 Minutes 17 Secs.
9.
Come out, Lazar, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 7 Minutes 23 Secs.
10.
A Grace: Inscription in a Monastic Refectory, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 3 Minutes 17 Secs.
11.
Let the Mount Sion Rejoice, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 4 Minutes 27 Secs.
12.
How Love Bleeds, for chorus & organ ("Four Carols for Dark Times") by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 7 Minutes 54 Secs.
13.
Alive, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 5 Minutes 49 Secs.
14.
Drop, Drop Slow Tears, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 3 Minutes 23 Secs.
15.
Michael, The Great Prince, shall Arise, for chorus & organ by Paul Spicer
Performer:
Claire Innes-Hopkins (Organ)
Conductor:
Sarah MacDonald
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Selwyn College Choir
Venue: Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Eng
Length: 3 Minutes 57 Secs.
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