Like the roughly contemporaneous Noche oscura and Quattro inni sacri, composed round 1950, the superb Coro di morti is one of the most extraordinary statements of the art of Petrassi at the beginning of the 1940s. It remains one of the most admired and frequently performed of his compositions. According to Cardinal Andrea Lanza, the work, composed and premiered during the Second World War, reveals a marked ‘opposition in discourse... between the solitude of man and the destruction surrounding him’, all of which is clearly relayed in the harrowing contrast between relaxed choral lines on the one hand and solid conglomeration of instruments on the other.

The Partita is one of the earliest works Petrassi composed, yet one of his most famous and still-performed. It achieves explosive brilliance and shows the composer’s precocious and accomplished control of orchestral technique. - Chandos

KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI: Polish Chamber Choir Schola CantorumGedenensis/Jan Lukaszewski. KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI - COMPLETE CHORAL WORKS.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 4, 5 & 9 June 1990 (The Cloud Messenger & The Hymn of Jesus) Recorded in: St Silas The Martyr, Kentish Town, London 25-26 March 1993 (Ave Maria, The Evening-watch, This I have done for my true love & Four Part-songs) Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 3 & 5 September 1994 (other works) Producer(s) Tim Oldham (The Cloud Messenger & The Hymn of Jesus) Chris Webster (Ave Maria, The Evening-watch, This have I done for my true love & Four Part-songs) Ralph Couzens (other works) Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens (The Cloud Messenger & The Hymn of Jesus) Richard Lee (Ave Maria, The Evening-watch, This have I done for my true love & Four Part-songs) Ben Connellan (other works) Peter Newble (Assistant) Richard Smoker (Assistant)

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On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

The Carus Classics series feature outstanding CD productions from Carus’ past library of recordings. Reger’s “Acht geistlichen Gesänge” (Eight Sacred Songs) are both a challenge and a joy for every choir who sings them. The Kammerchor Saarbrücken directed by Georg Grün has created a masterful interpretation of this cycle, setting it in the context of other late Romantic choral works by Hugo Wolf, Max Reger and Anton Webern.

Shakespeare's works contain some of the most memorable references to music in the English language and have inspired some of the finest music - instrumental, vocal, orchestral and operatic - ever written. On this new Chandos SACD the Phoenix Bach Choir has assembled a deeply satisfying anthology of songs on texts by Shakespeare, set by a variety of composers, to form a richly rewarding programme: a memorable marriage of literature and music.

Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the world's most famous living composers and her music has a tremendous worldwide following. This is currently the only available recording of Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva, and there is only one other recording of The Canticle of the Sun. Recorded in: Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen 7 & 8 May 1999 (The Canticle of the Sun) and 15 & 16 November 2002 (Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva) Producer(s) Claus Due (The Canticle of the Sun) Chris Hazell (Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva) Sound Engineer(s) Jørn Jacobsen

Carmina Burana: Officium lusorum

This Collegium double-disc set has been prepared to mark 30 years of the Cambridge Singers and to celebrate the 70th birthday of John Rutter.

The first disc highlights 30 years of the Cambridge Singers, through 30 selected tracks from classic Cambridge Singers recordings and features a variety of composers.

The second CD celebrates John Rutter as he approaches his 70th Birthday, with an host of music composed or arranged by the composer over the past 30 years, recorded on the Collegium label.

Classical Music

If you're a choral music fan and you somehow managed to miss this classic the first time around, well now's your chance to grab it--and you must--in its newly reissued version, now at mid-price. The program's opening track--Stanford's exquisite impressionistic masterpiece, The Blue Bird--alone is worth any price, and from there the program never falters, in musical quality or choral artistry. If there are other highlights, they might be the Vaughan Williams Shakespeare Songs, Elgar's My love dwelt in a Northern land, or the difficult and powerfully expressive Five Flower Songs of Benjamin Britten. And then there's the wonderful little encore piece, Stanford's setting of the Irish air Quick! we have but a second, which actually is 41 seconds of virtuoso vocal ensemble magic. John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers made many memorable, and in many cases inimitable recordings--and this is one that belongs in every collection, a bright and beautiful celebration of some of the world's finest choral music, sung the way it should be sung. [12/14/2002] --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

John Rutter has an unmistakable style whose identifying characteristics include some favorite rhythmic and melodic elements, devices that tell us immediately that this is the composer of both For the beauty of the earth (one of Rutter's more popular, enduring anthems) and Look at the world, written in 1996 for The Council for the Protection of rural England, and one of eight pieces included on this disc (besides the title work), all of which were composed for various occasions during the past 10 years. Many of the familiar and well-loved staples of Rutter's music are here--the flowing melodies, catchy rhythms, and pop-tinged harmonies; but there also is much evidence of a composer both as inspired as in his classic What sweeter music and more complex than usual in both thematic ideas and expressive technique.


The opening of the outstanding Mass of the Children (a work completed in early 2003 and first performed at a Carnegie Hall concert) is full of promise, its exciting, engaging, Britten-esque tune for children's chorus capturing our attention and setting the stage for a fresh, new experience. I only wish that Rutter had continued with this idea and developed it--or at least played off its dancing, jaunty style. But instead the children's song melds (albeit very nicely and easily) into a Kyrie that's more comfortably in the traditional Rutter character--a perfectly effective transition and comprised of very fine, well-fashioned music, but leaving us to imagine what greater adventures might have been.


There are many more marvelous passages for the children's voices, including the lovely Benedictus, a lilting, Siciliana-like section whose initial gentleness expands into a full-bodied expression, joined by the adult choir and soloists. One of the more affecting passages--and most impressive in terms of text setting, mood, and orchestration--is the Agnus Dei, whose opening minutes capture the profound seriousness and eternal consequences of our plea for mercy. Just as suddenly, the children take over with a tender, beguiling setting of William Blake's The Lamb, returning our thoughts to the innocent one who "became a little child", the one to whom we pray. Then, not unsurprisingly for this optimistic composer, we're left with a Dona nobis pacem benediction that's as strongly reassuring as we can imagine. In addition to the standard Latin Missa brevis texts, Rutter also characteristically organizes his material by inserting texts from other sources, "giving the whole work the framework of a complete day, from waking to sleeping", beginning and ending with settings of a morning and evening hymn by Bishop Thomas Ken.


The remaining works are highlighted by A Clare Benediction (which Rutter wrote for his alma mater), the a cappella Musica Dei donum (widely known for its inclusion in the tribute to Linda McCartney, A Garland for Linda), and an unusual and quite demanding setting of Come down, O Love divine for unaccompanied double choir. The Cambridge Singers (whose roster shows a major turnover of singers from its last incarnation) is as vocally well-matched, technically polished, and musically involving as always. The Cantate Youth Choir is a delight, and the two soloists are ideal. The sound grants both spaciousness and warmth to the singers and orchestra, so that in all it's hard to imagine a session with this recording that would be anything less than satisfying, especially for Rutter fans, who will have to have this--and who will be thrilled to have a new release from this revered composer and his choir, whose recordings during the past few years have been all too few and far between. [9/8/2003]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

All the usual virtues of Rutter's music and recordings are here. He is an extremely adept selector of texts, with The Gift of Life moving from the Book of Common Prayer to New England hymnody to Rutter's own poetry, and making it seem effortlessly of a piece. His handling of his handpicked Cambridge Singers is exemplary. The music is warm and well-shaped, with great sensitivity toward text intelligibility and an even greater level of general accessibility than usual. The album is rounded out by a group of shorter pieces, all recent, and the limpid trio of Christmas works at the end goes nicely with everything else and makes the entire album a good seasonal choice.

­– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

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ORBAN: Book of Lockets / Mass No. 5

" This brilliant new recording of Orff's Carmina Burana is a tragic memento of conductor Richard Hickox, who died in Novemeber at the age of sixty. This is a vibrant, dynamic performance of Orff's masterpiece recorded live in London's Barbican Centre. As usual with Chandos, engineering is first-rate, with perfect balances and wide dynamic range." -- Bob Benson, Classical CD Review

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Recorded live at the Barbican Centre in November 2007, Richard Hickox conducts Carl Orff's immensely popular dramatic cantata Carmina Burana with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soloists, Barry Banks, Laura Claycomb and Christopher Maltman.

MusicOMH.com wrote of the performance, "The London Symphony Orchestra performed the work with all the commitment and exuberance that one expects from them... The three soloists were outstanding, singing with a unified dynamic power and depth of expression that is rare to find today...Christopher Maltman's baritone is large, and he dramatically projected every emotion and quirk in the text." Classical Source said "Hickox and his forces certainly conveyed an appropriate sense of the dramatic...Maltman had the sense of the music and histrionic demands down to a tee... Banks provided strong characterization in the high tenor writing... Claycomb conveyed the vulnerability of the soprano's music."

Orff is reputed to have declared around the time of Carmina's first performance, 'Everything I have written to date, and which you have printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.' He had a strong interest in theatrical presentations and conceived the work as a pageant. The idea came to Orff in 1935 when he encountered an edition of medieval songs edited by the poet Johann Schmeller. The vivid and colourful songs were those sung by the goliards - hedonistic students and traveling monks who celebrated their riotous pursuits in bawdy and profane poetry. The 24 'cantiones profanae' chosen by Orff were translated and the composer set them to music for three vocal soloists, three choirs and a large orchestra featuring triple woodwind, two pianos and no fewer than five percussionists. The score's combination of gloriously infectious vulgarity interspersed with moments of genuine beauty has assured it an unquestionable position as one of the most popular of all twentieth century choral works.

Neeme Jarvi conducts Christopher Palmer's version, preserving the film music to Ivan the Terrible. This re-issue offers this praised recording at Classics price. 'Christopher Palmer strikes again! It is undoubtedly one of the great film scores, and Jarvi more than does it justice with the help of impassioned singing and playing from all concerned.' CD Review

Chandos has been a major player in the long overdue rehabilitation of Parry's music. Here his most important large scale choral works are available as a 2-CD set for the first time at the price of one full price disc. Parry's two finest and most popular anthems, Blest Pair of Sirens and I was glad, make an attractive coupling to his famous choral works. The 45-minute work The Soul's Ransom, with its sequence of solos and choruses, forms a broadly symphonic four-movement structure and The Lotos eaters; a setting for soprano, chorus and orchestra is performed by Della Jones, a characterful soloist. This is a full and atmospheric recording to match the incandescent performances. On its original release these works received 3 stars in the Penguin Guide, and consequently make a welcome return to the Chandos catalogue. 'The choral singing and the playing of the LPO under Matthias Bamert is magnificent, ably championing these deserved revivals.' - Classic CD Other releases: Parry: Complete Symphonies with LPO and Matthias Bamert - CHAN9120 (3 CD set) Symphonic Variations with LPO and Matthias Bamert - CHAN6610

Christmas in Medieval England allows listeners to share the beauty, excitement, intensity and variety found in a Blue Heron concert performance. It includes plainchant, carols, and other music for Advent and Christmas from 15th c. England. It is comprised entirely of tracks recorded live at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational in December 2013. The disc should find favor with fans of Blue Heron’s first CD release (BHCD1001), which contained music of 15th c. France. “… one of the Boston music community’s indispensables.” (Boston Globe)

Classical Music

Classical Music

FRANCIS POULENC. TENEBRAE; NIGEL SHORT, CONDUCTOR. MASS IN G; LITANIES A LA VIERGE NOIR; SALVE REGINA; UN SOIR DE NEIGE; FIGURE HUMAINE; QUATRE PETITES PRIERES DE SAINT FRANCOIS D'ASSISE.