Notes and Editorial Reviews
AVE MARIA
•
Lee Ward, dir; David Terry (org); London Oratory School Schola
•
REGENT 292 (53:43
Text and Translation)
Music of
ELGAR, SCHUBERT, CLEMENS NON PAPA, JOSQUIN DES PREZ, BACH-GOUNOD, PARSOHNS, PALESTRINA, VICTORIA, BRUCKNER, M. MARTIN, BIEBL, R. PANUFNIK, BLAZECK, D. TERRY
All the composers have set the “Ave Maria,” and only Josquin des Prez and Franz Biebl have set embellished texts. The former is represented by his
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familiar “Ave Maria . . . virgo serena,” while the latter sets the text as a responsory to the familiar devotional Angelus prayer. The program is a mixture of the most familiar (Schubert, Bach-Gounod) and the most classic (Victoria, Bruckner) settings among pieces that span 500 years, including five contemporary composers. I almost wrote “20th-century” until I noticed that Terry, who is assistant director as well as organist, composed his setting for the choir in 2006. The boys of the schola are pupils at the school of the London Oratory, a famous Catholic church on Brompton Road in London, built as a half-scale replica of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome and currently the stronghold of traditional liturgy in London.
The schola, made up of pupils ages 7 to 18, both trebles and changed voices, was formed as recently as 1996. The changed voices are supplemented by a few adult lay clerks, including male altos. The schola sings Mass on Saturday evening, while the celebrated London Oratory Choir of adult mixed voices continues to furnish music for Sunday morning. (Their recordings under Patrick Russill, succeeding John Hoban, have not been widely available.) The boys sing with remarkably smooth tone, not as thin as English boys used to sound, not as hard as continental choirs nor as vibrant as Spanish boys. The solo boys, particularly in the Schubert, are excellent. The interpretations are straightforward except for Colin Mawby’s lush and impassioned arrangements of Schubert and Bach-Gounod (the adjectives are taken from the notes). The contemporary pieces are attractive, in particular the one by Roxanna Panufnik, the daughter of a famous composer, who has written a great deal of choral music, some of it recorded this year by the same schola. This choir makes a lovely sound and I look forward to more recordings.
FANFARE: J. F. Weber
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Works on This Recording
1.
Ave Maria, Op. 2 no 2 by Sir Edward Elgar
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Romantic
Written: 1887; England
2.
Ellens Gesang III, D 839/Op. 52 no 6 "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Romantic
Written: 1825; Vienna, Austria
3.
Ave Maria à 5 by Jacobus Clemens non Papa
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; Flanders, Belgium
4.
Ave Maria by Josquin Des Préz
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Renaissance
5.
Ave Maria by Charles Gounod
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Romantic
Written: 1859; France
Notes: This work is based on J.S. Bach's Prelude no 1 in C from 'The Well-Tempered Clavier.'
6.
Ave Maria by Robert Parsons
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1560s; England
7.
Ave Maria by Giovanni Palestrina
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; Italy
8.
Ave Maria à 4 by Tomás Luis de Victoria
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Renaissance
Written: Italy
9.
Ave Maria by Anton Bruckner
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: Romantic
Written: Austria
10.
Ave Maria by Matthew Martin
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: 20th Century
11.
Ave Maria by Franz Biebl
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1964; Germany
12.
Ave Maria by Roxanna Panufnik
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
13.
Ave Maria by Simon Biazec
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
14.
Ave Maria by David Terry
Performer:
David Terry (Organ)
Conductor:
Lee Ward
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Oratory School Schola
Period: 20th Century
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