This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
Direct comparison of the recent Westminster Cathedral Choir Stravinsky recordings for Hyperion with the reissued Christ Church, Oxford performances is now possible, but collectors hoping for radical differences will, I fear, be disappointed. The Hyperion digital recording offers greater all-round clarity than the remastered Decca Enterprise disc. The actual acoustics are not so greatly disparate, however, and Simon Preston, whose recordings were made in Merton College Chapel and All Saints, Tooting, achieves more incisive articulation of the texts. Preston's singers sound less genteel than the Westminster forces in the Mass. On the other hand, the greater smoothness of James O'Donnell's team in the final stages of the Symphony of Psalms,
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coupled with a slightly broader tempo, is telling in its expressive poise.
There is little to choose between the two excellent versions of the Canticum sacrum. Ultimately, then, price and repertoire are the best guide. In addition to the three major works, Hyperion offer Stravinsky's three short a cappella pieces (Paternoster, Credo and Ave Maria), Decca Enterprise the more substantial but much-recorded Poulenc Motets. Either way these recordings make a persuasive case for all-male-voice choral Stravinsky.'
-- Arnold Whittall, Gramophone [12/1991]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor:
Simon Preston
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Christ Church Cathedral Choir,
Philip Jones Wind Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1930/1948; France
Date of Recording: 12/1974
Venue: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London
Length: 21 Minutes 26 Secs.
Language: Latin
2.
Canticum sacrum ad honorem Sancti Marci nominis by Igor Stravinsky
Performer:
Richard Morton (Tenor),
Marcus Creed (Baritone)
Conductor:
Simon Preston
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Christ Church Cathedral Choir,
Philip Jones Wind Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955; USA
Date of Recording: 12/1974
Venue: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London
Length: 19 Minutes 10 Secs.
Language: Latin
3.
Mass by Igor Stravinsky
Performer:
Andrew Giles (Countertenor),
Philip Cave (Tenor),
Peter Herron (Bass),
Nicolas Jones (Boy Soprano),
Arthur Lindley (Tenor)
Conductor:
Simon Preston
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Sinfonietta,
Christ Church Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944-1948; USA
Date of Recording: 04/1973
Venue: Merton College Chapel, Oxford, England
Length: 15 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: Latin
4.
Motets (4) pour un temps de pénitence by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Simon Preston
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Christ Church Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938-1939; France
Date of Recording: 04/1973
Venue: Merton College Chapel, Oxford, England
Length: 14 Minutes 24 Secs.
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