Notes and Editorial Reviews
John Rutter's own recording of his beloved Requiem--with his Cambridge Singers on Collegium--already has been reissued on a CD that includes the Magnificat. That performance, in its setting for choir and orchestra, remains the Requiem of choice, although this new version--with Rutter as recording producer--offers a first-rate rendition of the composer's alternative chamber arrangement of the Requiem along with several rarely-heard--or never-before-recorded--choral and organ works. The Clare College Choir, with whom Rutter has a history both during his days as a music student and later as the choir's director, gives the kind of technically solid and interpretively meaningful performance that we would
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expect, considering the composer's hands-on involvement and well-known concern for accuracy, both musical and sonic. Like Caroline Ashton on Rutter's Collegium disc, Clare's Elin Manahan Thomas delivers the soprano solos with a clear, ringing, effortlessly natural quality, and the choir is a model of responsiveness and sensitivity in phrasing and dynamics, preserving ideal balance across registers and among vocal sections.
The reason Rutter fans will have to have this is for the premieres and for the handful of rarely-heard organ works--and any listeners who believe this composer to be rather predictable and one-sided in style will find numerous surprises to jar their impressions. Two of the premieres--the anthems Arise, shine and Come down, O Love divine--show a more complex Rutter, whose harmonic style and concept of textual development takes us into richer and far more intellectually/musically challenging territory than we're used to, a nod both to Howells and to Britten. The organ pieces--both for solo (Toccata in seven) and duet (Variations on an Easter theme)--show a thorough command of the idiom and are laced with Rutter's usual catchy rhythms and inventive melodic twists. One of the highlights is the anthem for choir and flute, Musica Dei domum, with its beautiful instrumental solo and organlike choral utterances. The sound, from Berkshire, England's Douai Abbey, provides ideal space and resonance for these eminently singable--and listenable--pieces, works that belong in the collection of every true lover of choral music. [4/26/2003]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Requiem by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1985; England
2.
Arise, shine by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
3.
Come down, O Love divine by John Rutter
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
4.
Musica Dei donum by John Rutter
Performer:
Karen Jones (Flute)
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
5.
A Clare Benediction by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
6.
Go Forth into the World in Peace by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Clare College Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
7.
Variations on an Easter Theme by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Rimmer (Organ),
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1983; England
8.
Toccata in Seven by John Rutter
Performer:
Nicholas Collon (Organ)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1974; England
Sound Samples
Requiem: The Lord is my shepherd
Arise, shine: Advent Anthem for choir and organ:
Come down, O Love divine: Anthem for double choir:
Musica Dei donum: Anthem for choir and flute:
2 Blessings: A Clare Benediction
2 Blessings: Go forth into the world in peace
2 Organ Pieces: Toccata in 7
2 Organ Pieces: Variations on an Easter theme
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