2009 3 X CD 250th anniversary celebration release of Handel's oratorios. This Berlin Classics collection gives it a whole new look. The Belsazar (Belshazzar) Oratorium in Drei Akten HWV 61 performers include Peter Schreier, Renate Frank-Reinecke, Ute Trekel-Burckhardt, Gisela Pohl, Hermann Christian Polster & more.

This is a first rate collection of some of Vaughan Williams' best choral works, both a cappella and with organ accompaniment. Fans of this composer definitely will want to have this disc, whose main attraction is the rarely recorded Mass in G minor. Why this stark and very moving work has received such scant attention on disc is a mystery, but it remains a unique and timeless masterpiece whose bold, bare harmonies and unadorned, chant-like melodies invoke the atmosphere of ancient worship while serving as a kind of musical embodiment of the imposing cathedral structures and spaces in which that worship took place. A good performance of this piece for a cappella double choir and a quartet of soloists first demands excellent singers and an ensemble that's well-balanced and especially solid on the bass end. The nature of the writing, including modal melodies and harmony, parallel fifths, and wide-spaced voicings, gives even the best choirs "intonational" fits; pacing is extremely important in order to keep key, dense-textured sections from bogging down.


None of these challenges proves troublesome at all for the Elora Festival Singers, which during the past 20 years has become one of Canada's--and the world's--finest choirs. Director Noel Edison obviously cares about balances and clarity of line, and also shows concern for his singers (and listeners) by maintaining sensible, effective tempos. However, in one significant place, the crucial, final Agnus Dei movement, I found Edison's tempo just too fast to allow the layers of vocal lines to build sufficient tension and create the energy to achieve the intended, truly powerful climax. Nevertheless, you never get the sense that Edison gets any less than he asks for, especially since the other works on the program are performed with equal intensity and technical confidence. (In the mass, he's also got a terrific quartet of soloists, who not only deliver the notes and maintain the mood in their individual passages, but also make a well-matched ensemble.) It's a real treat to hear the motets sung so well (just listen to that lovely opening to Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, and to the shimmering, jazzy dissonances in the Prayer to the Father of Heaven), and the setting of the beautiful hymn Come down, O Love divine (Down Ampney) makes an appropriate close, a tribute to this composer's immeasurable contribution to the English hymn repertoire. Placing O vos omnes immediately before the mass allows us to easily hear the similarities between these two compositions, written around the same time.


Now, for the slightly bad news: the recording levels make trouble for full enjoyment of these inherently full-bodied, rich-textured works. True, the acoustics of Toronto's illustrious Church of St. Mary Magdalene are somewhat tricky to tame, but if you adjust the volume high enough to comfortably hear softer passages--the beginning of the motet Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, for instance--the louder sections (the entrance of the organ and the work's conclusion), are just too loud. This is true for the mass as well; it seems that the engineers decided that a more distant listening perspective was preferable to a closer one that would have posed its own balance problems. Nevertheless, I eventually was able to find a satisfying middle ground that my ears quickly adjusted to, allowing me to put aside my sonic concerns enough to devote several more hours to this one disc. And I will certainly return to it again, because the performances are that good.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

António Teixeira's extraordinary and grandly structured setting of the Te Deum was written for a New Year's Eve performance in 1734 in the Italian Church of his home city, Lisbon. Calling for eight soloists, five spaced choirs and a large orchestra, this lavish and ornate piece bubbles and sparkles through the text with an easy zest and breezy charm that is distinctively Portuguese, giving us a rare insight into musical life in Lisbon before the devastating earthquake of 1755.

BACH Mass in G , BWV 236. Gott der Herr ist Sonn’ und Schild , BWV 79. Mass in A , BWV 234 • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen • CORO 16120 (73:52 Text and Translation)


A Lutheran Mass consists of just the Kyrie and Gloria, which were still sung in Latin more than a century after the Reformation began. (The Credo was sung in German and the last two movements were optional parts of the service.) Bach wrote five settings, but the Missa 1733 eventually gained the rest of its movements to become the Mass in B Minor. The other four have now been recorded by The Sixteen, though I have not received the other disc containing BWV 233, 235, and another cantata (BWV 102). Cantata 79 was chosen for inclusion because each of these Masses includes one movement that is a parody of the cantata, the “Gloria” of BWV 236 and the “Quoniam” of BWV 234. In fact, 20 of the 24 movements of the four Masses have been drawn from cantatas, reworked in various degrees. In each case the Gloria is divided into five movements with choruses framing the three inner movements. The Masses have not been regarded favorably by commentators, who seem to prefer the music in its original form as cantata movements, and Christophers calls them “seldom heard.” Perhaps they are not often heard in concert, but the “Qui tollis” from BWV 234 was recorded (twice) in the shellac era, and Hans Grischkat recorded an integral set of the four Masses in the earliest days of LP (he added the four settings of the Sanctus, BWV 237 to 240). Beginning around 1970 more sets began to arrive from Helmuth Rilling, Michel Corboz, Martin Flämig, Richard Hickox, and Hans-Martin Linde. After that I lost track, but sets have been more common than recordings of single Masses.


The performances are up to the ensemble’s expected high level. The group, always flexible in makeup, consists here of eight singers and an ensemble of 22 players. The cantata, written for Reformation Sunday of 1725 (the composer’s third cycle of cantatas), is especially well done. It is nice to hear the Mass movement that was singled out in the shellac era, a soprano solo with flute obbligato. The long lines require a voice capable of a sustained legato line, elegantly realized here by Julia Doyle. This is characteristic of the high level that Christophers has brought to this endeavor. I cannot compare this with the competition, but it can stand on its own for a favorable recommendation.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

The turbulent years of Reformation and religious change in England presented composers working for the church with the continual challenge of having to adapt to rapidly changing musical requirements. Although little is known about the personal religious affiliation of composers such as Christopher Tye, Robert Parsons and Robert White, their Latin music represents by far the most interesting and significant musical thought of its time.

This is an, err… enchanting disc of Grieg’s choral music – both original and arranged for choir. The opening, resonant, full bodied choral arrangement of the popular “At Rondane”, op.33, No.2 (originally for voice and piano) is plain gorgeous in its moody way. Two religious songs were prepared for mixed choir by Grieg himself of which “Withered, Fallen – At the Bier of a Young Wife” sounds a bit predictable, but touching in its cathedral-like piety. In this song, as in “Ave, Maris Stella” or indeed most of the other works on this glorious sounding (multi-channel/stereo) hybrid SACD, the non-Norwegian ear will always pick up a certain preciousness, that silver-voiced, Christmas-choir touch with scents and touches of mulled wine, snow boots, and blond locks under a woolen hat.

“Margaret’s Cradle Song” op.15, No.1, a short gem some 90 seconds long, was written in appreciation of the birth of his daughter Alexandra in 1868. It is set to the Ibsen poem of the same name and hauntingly beautiful. Alexandra, however, never got to appreciate her song; she died shortly after it was written. (Which is tragic and yet, given that it was set to something by Ibsen, also so terribly appropriate.)

Grete Pedersen, who conducts the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir also sets the first of the Lyric Pieces op.71 “Det var engang” for mixed choir. It might be the only miscalculation in that the result sounds nice and pleasant but also — in its dum-de-dum new-agey way — cheap.

Norway was already an independent nation when Grieg composed the 1907 Four Psalms op.74, his last work. It’s a somber end to his musical output – with “Jesus Christ is Risen” being an especially austere, if moving, setting of this Hans Adolf Brorson text. The four psalm settings are based on a collection of Norwegian “newer and older mountain tunes” that Grieg wanted to help preserve with his musical adoption. He has achieved that all over again by having them included in this very fine reminder that Grieg is so much more than the Grieg of a certain mountain king’s hall, or of lyric pieces, or a piano concerto.

-- Jens F. Laurson, WETA 90.9

The recordings are bright, clear and well played by clearly committed musicians who have taken to this wonderfully harmonious and melodic music. ...

Herman Berlinski is one of those musical personalities whose Jewish heritage played as vitally important a role in the creation of his music as Messiaen’s Catholicism played in his. Berlinski said that he doubted that there was any music he wrote which did not embody his Jewish existence. This is certainly immediately obvious as soon as you listen to it. His music has the same sense of suffering and the ability to overcome it that is found in some black music. It makes for a powerfully emotional experience. One reviewer said of another of his works on Naxos (Avodat Shabbat) that “There are passages in Berlinski’s work of such aching beauty that if you are not moved to tears you are made of sterner stuff than I am.”

Each of the works on this disc is a good introduction to the breadth of expression that Berlinski brings to his music and makes the listener want to explore further. It is interesting to note that though he was born in Leipzig of Polish parents his musical roots draw on that eastern European Jewish legacy that begins east of Germany’s borders. Anyone who is familiar with klezmer will hear its influence in this music; try track 2 to hear what I mean. This was due to the insistence of his father that though he wanted his children to be “modern German Jews” he also wanted them to be acquainted with their eastern European heritage. He also engaged a tutor to teach them Yiddish. There is no indication in the liner notes, which are extremely comprehensive and well written, that Berlinski ever wrote any music for film. I this found surprising because he would have produced some superb music for that medium. He has that facility for producing powerful sweeping themes that would fit neatly into so many movies.

‘From the World of my Father’ is a suite that Berlinski reconstructed from his recollections of music he had written in Paris just before the war when he was forced to leave. His parents had emigrated from Lodz in Poland to Germany. He had been writing and arranging music in Paris for an émigré Yiddish art theatre known as PIAT. This music is a portrayal of the world of his parents and their parents before them. It aimed to encompass traditions, hopes, fears, joys, persecutions – in short to present in music as a microcosm of the Jewish world of eastern Europe. It achieves these aims wonderfully and is never banal but full of typical Jewish melodies woven into a brilliantly evocative piece.

‘Shofar Service’ is a liturgical work using a shofar, usually made of ram’s horn. This may be the oldest surviving wind instrument to have been in continuous use. It is the only musical instrument of any kind mentioned in the Bible that can be positively identified. It was used for summoning people, warning them of approaching danger, announcing the beginning of a period of celebration, of fasting and many other events. This piece was written to be performed during Rosh Hashana or the Jewish New Year - a time with which the shofar is most associated. It is a powerful work in which the shofar is set against the voice of a baritone who entreats the people to harken to the sound of the shofar and to worship the Lord at the holy mountain. Liturgical though it may be it would be extremely effective performed in the concert hall as part of a programme of Berlinski’s work.

‘The Burning Bush’ was commissioned from Berlinski by the distinguished organist of the Emanu-El temple in New York. Berlinski had been encouraged to learn the organ as late as 1951 by Josef Yasser, synagogue organist and musicologist, who offered to teach him. The organ has always fascinated Berlinski but it had not figured on his course in Leipzig where it was principally associated with the church. Taking the Hebrew words eh’ye asher eh’ye (I am that I am) that God spoke when asked by Moses who he should say had appointed him to carry out his mission, Berlinski constructed a reflective cell from those words. This rhythmic cell pervades the piece. It was first performed in 1956 by Robert Baker - who commissioned it - to great acclaim. It helped establish Berlinski’s reputation in Great Britain, Europe and America as one of the most gifted contemporary composers for the organ.

The final work on the disc is ‘Symphonic Visions for Orchestra’ a semi-programmatic tone-poem inspired by various biblical images, passages and sentiments. Once again it shows the power of expression that Berlinski has. It makes a fitting end to a disc of music that will hopefully gain a new wave of admirers - of whom I am certainly one - for a truly original musical voice. The disc is a great start for those wishing to explore this composer’s music. The recordings are bright, clear and well played by clearly committed musicians who have taken to this wonderfully harmonious and melodic music.

-- Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

•Continuing its exploration of Tudor Latin sacred music, ‘The Tudors At Prayer’ sees Magnificat perform music by Taverner, Tallis, Mundy, White and Byrd. Magnificat is one of the world’s premier vocal ensembles whose recordings have met with huge critical acclaim: Spem in alium was hailed as ‘quite the best performance of Tallis's 40-part Spem in alium that I have heard' by Gramophone and was ‘First Choice’ in Building A Library on BBC Radio 3's CD Review.

Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Musica Ficta Vocal Ensemble Copenhagen. Conductor: Bo Holten.
Includes work(s) by Carl Nielsen (Composer), Niels Gade, Christoph Ernst F. Weyse, Johan Peter E. Hartmann, Peter E. Lange-Müller. Ensemble: Musica Ficta Vocal Ensemble Copenhagen. Conductor: Bo Holten.

Heavenly voices raise in honor of the Christmas season. Inspirational choral music for Christmas comes from one of England's finest choirs in a program of the greatest church music of the past. This diverse program melds the clarity and precision of medieval carols and the emotional intensity of Russian Orthodox music to elucidate the season for "we who wait."

An atmospheric medieval mass recorded by men's voices. A sumptuous sound bringing the inner peace of this timeless music - Gregorian chant - which formed the bedrock of the liturgy of the early church and whose calm intensity still speaks to US with equal clarity today.