Notes and Editorial Reviews
ENGLISH CHORAL MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY
•
Stephen Darlington, cond; Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
•
REGIS RRC 1323 (71: 33)
W. H. HARRIS
Love of Love, Light of Light. Holy Is the True Light.
HOWELLS
My Eyes for Beauty Pine.
LEY
Prayer of King Henry VI.
LEIGHTON
Solus ad victimam.
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class="COMPOSER12">RUTTER
God Be in My Head.
STANFORD
Pray That Jerusalem.
TIPPETT
Dance, Clarion Air. The Weeping Babe. Plebs Angelica. Bonny at Morn. A Child of Our Time:
5 Negro Spirituals.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
O Clap Your Hands. 3 Shakespearean Songs. The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune.
WALTON
A Litany. Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart. Jubilate Deo.
C. WOOD
O Thou, the Central Orb
Here is yet another Regis sampler reissue of choral works from the Nimbus catalog. The nine Tippett selections stem from NI 5266; Vaughan Williams’s
O Clap Your Hands
and
The Old Hundreth Psalm Tune
from NI 5166, and the
Three Shakespearean Songs
from NI 5083; the Harris, Howells, Leighton, Rutter, Stanford, and Wood pieces from NI 5440; Ley’s
Prayer
and Walton’s
A Litany
from NI 5328; and the other Walton works from NI 5364. Most of the Tippett, Vaughan Williams, and Walton items later appeared in a five-CD compilation of British choral music, NI 5691. The works presented here are from the tonally conservative and melodious side of the 20th-century spectrum, the exceptions being the harmonically more adventurous Walton and the quirkily dissonant Tippett. The Leighton has an unaccredited recorder ensemble for accompaniment. All the selections are expertly sung; however, this compilation is perhaps slightly less attractive than others I have reviewed in this issue, since most collectors of British choral music are likely to have the Walton, Tippett, and Vaughan Williams items in their collections already. It would have been more useful to feature fewer works from this trio, and include instead pieces by other composers not represented here. Still, at the budget price this is a minor complaint. The booklet, as usual for Regis, provides brief notes on the composers but no texts; the sound is typical of the Nimbus label in its spaciousness, though noticeably less reverberant in some pieces than in others. Recommended for those seeking to dip their toes painlessly into the shallow end of the contemporary English choral pool.
FANFARE: James A. Altena
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Works on This Recording
1.
O thou the central orb, anthem for chorus & organ by Charles Wood
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: Modern
Written: circa 1914-1915; United Kingdom
Length: 4 Minutes 40 Secs.
2.
My eyes for beauty pine by Herbert Howells
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; England
Length: 2 Minutes 25 Secs.
3.
Holy is the true light by William Henry Harris
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; England
Length: 1 Minutes 51 Secs.
4.
Dance, clarion Air by Michael Tippett
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; England
Length: 3 Minutes 46 Secs.
5.
Weeping babe by Michael Tippett
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; England
Length: 4 Minutes 32 Secs.
6.
Plebs angelica by Michael Tippett
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; England
Length: 2 Minutes 56 Secs.
7.
Bonny at morn by Michael Tippett
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956; England
Length: 2 Minutes 19 Secs.
8.
Solus ad victimam by Kenneth Leighton
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Length: 4 Minutes 38 Secs.
9.
God be in my head by John Rutter
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Length: 1 Minutes 49 Secs.
10.
Hymns (6), Op. 113: no 4, Pray that Jerusalem may have by Charles Villiers Stanford
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1910
Length: 2 Minutes 37 Secs.
11.
Prayer of King Henry VI by Henry George Ley
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Length: 1 Minutes 51 Secs.
12.
Love of love, Light of light by William Henry Harris
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Length: 4 Minutes 24 Secs.
13.
A Litany by Sir William Walton
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1916/1930; England
Length: 3 Minutes 10 Secs.
14.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart by Sir William Walton
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; England
Length: 3 Minutes 27 Secs.
15.
Jubilate Deo by Sir William Walton
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1972; England
Length: 3 Minutes 39 Secs.
16.
A child of our time: Negro Spirituals (5) by Michael Tippett
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; England
Length: 9 Minutes 36 Secs.
17.
O clap your hands by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921; England
Length: 2 Minutes 45 Secs.
18.
Shakespeare Songs (3) for Chorus by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1951; England
Length: 6 Minutes 14 Secs.
19.
Old Hundredth Psalm Tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Stephen Farr (Organ)
Conductor:
Stephen Darlington
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; England
Length: 3 Minutes 49 Secs.
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