Notes and Editorial Reviews
Although they’re available singly, the slipcase edition contains
all three CDs. None is new, and the most recent, which is the
Tallis disc, dates from 2004. The Grier was recorded in 1994
and the Arrangement album at various times over half
a decade.
It’s that one with which we’ll begin as it serves up variety
and unexpected things in good measure. You’ll find choral arrangements
of such as Chopin Etudes, Peer Gynt, the Nutcracker Suite, and
the Toccata finale from Widor’s Symphony No.5 for organ, rendered
as ‘Sing!’ by
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David Willcocks. The arrangers are a wide-ranging
group – Ralph Allwood, one of The Rodolfus Choir’s directors
is prominent. Inevitably perhaps there is one of Clytus Gottwald’s
Mahler refashionings, but we also find the (authentic) Barber
in one of its composer-sanctioned guises. I took to the Grieg,
which works nicely, whilst the Ave verum corpus is, in
a sense, half way there. The Schubert has piano accompaniment,
but inflating An die Musik in this way is not especially
worthwhile, I have to say. The dance from the Nutcracker is
arranged by Leo Hussain and is good fun, though Robert Quinney
turns the same composer’s Quartet movement into an Ave Maria.
That said Jonathan Rathbone turns the ‘Air on a G string’ into
a Requiem aeternam. I suppose that’s the problem with
this sort of thing in the end; an excess of piety.
The Tallis disc is reflective and intimately shaped. Suscipe
quaeso Domine is a very beautiful piece of music and I happen
to prefer this interpretation to that of the Tallis Scholars
on Gimell [GIM006], by virtue of its greater sense of reflective
intimacy. Another difference between them is tonal. The Tallis
group prefers a more ringing top line, less blended, and in
this sense more angular in phrasing, with voices occasionally
emerging piping out of the texture. They generally too prefer
faster tempi, and more abrupt accenting, as can be heard in
their respective performances; Loquebantur variis linguis
is a case in point. The Rodolphus is a touch more measured,
more obviously blended. The English motet If ye love me,
though very brief, generates great tonal warmth and is an
example of this group at its very best.
The disc devoted to Francis Grier is an exceptionally fine one.
It helps that the writing is so clever and sympathetic; also
that Grier has a nice line in declamation. The passionate co-exists
with introspective reflection – a real mulling over of the material
in single or mass lines – in Let us invoke Christ. The
Three Short Anthems might suggest the influence of Rachmaninoff,
with the last one almost exultant in its affirmation. Day
after Day was written for the soloist, here, James Bowman
and The Rodolfus Choir. It’s a setting of Tagore and is a haunting
piece, maybe influenced by Vaughan Williams. What is so impressive
about Grier’s settings is the sense of devotional athleticism;
there’s nothing slumbering here. The pirouetting element throughout
Thou, O God, art praised in Sion attests to the vitality
of the writing, and to the surety of the design.
The performances are generally excellent, so too the recordings.
I suggest picking and choosing rather than going for the box,
unless you’re a real fan of the choir, since the repertoire
is so divergent.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International Read less
Works on This Recording
4.
Ave verum corpus in D major, K 618 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Classical
Written: 1791; Austria
Notes: arr. Ben Parry
5.
An die Musik, D 547 by Franz Schubert
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1817; Vienna, Austria
Notes: arr. Lydia Smallwood
13.
Agnus Dei, Op. 11 by Samuel Barber
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1967; USA
16.
Let us invoke Christ by Francis Grier
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1993; England
Length: 7 Minutes 18 Secs.
Language: English
17.
Day after day, O Lord of my Life by Francis Grier
Performer:
James Bowman (Countertenor)
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; England
Length: 7 Minutes 7 Secs.
Language: English
18.
Salve Regina by Francis Grier
Performer:
Christopher Hughes (Organ)
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1993; England
Length: 13 Minutes 19 Secs.
Language: English
19.
Dilectus meus mihi by Francis Grier
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1987; England
Length: 7 Minutes 10 Secs.
Language: Latin
20.
Thou, O God, art praised in Sion by Francis Grier
Performer:
Christopher Hughes (Organ)
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1993; England
Length: 7 Minutes 49 Secs.
Language: English
27.
The Voice of my Beloved by Francis Grier
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1991; England
Length: 3 Minutes 38 Secs.
Language: English
28.
Sancte Deus, sancte fortis by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
29.
Suscipe quaeso by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: after 1559; England
30.
Salvator mundi, salva nos I by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1575; England
31.
Miserere nostri by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: after 1559; England
32.
In jejunio et fletu by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: after 1559; England
33.
If ye love me by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
34.
Loquebantur variis linguis by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
35.
Candidi facti sunt Nazarei by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
36.
O Lord, give thy holy spirit by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
37.
O nata lux de lumine by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: after 1559; England
38.
Videte miraculum by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
39.
Verily, verily I say unto you by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
41.
O sacrum convivium by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
42.
Jesu salvator saeculi by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
43.
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
44.
Te lucis ante terminum by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Ralph Allwood
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rodolfus Choir
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
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