Britten's 'A Ceremony of Carols' is a masterpiece composed on board ship as Britten returned to England from the U.S.A. in 1948, a touching evocation of boyhood lost but never forgotten. 'A Boy was Born' is a work that first made Britten famous, based on a theme and variations of astonishing ingenuity. The 'Missa Brevis', written for the boys of Westminster Cathedral, is a gem that is some ways looks forward to the 'War Requiem' which came two years later.

Fans of Benjamin Britten and of The Sixteen will rejoice at this reissue of material from the choir's acclaimed three-volume Britten series originally recorded for the now-defunct Collins label. (Presumably all of the music from the complete set eventually will appear under the Sixteen's new Coro emblem.) If you know the earlier recordings, you'll quickly notice that the program here is different from the original configurations: there are five selections from Collins' Vol. 3--Hymn to the Virgin, A Hymn of Saint Columba, Hymn to Saint Peter, Jubilate Deo, Festival Te Deum; three from Vol. 2--Rejoice in the Lamb; Antiphon; Te Deum in C; and the Hymn to Saint Cecilia from Vol. 1.

Recorded performances of Britten's choral music don't get any better than this. No one will argue that this choir was/is capable of singing anything, and singing it as well as or better than anyone--and these Britten pieces are made for exuberant, exultant, exacting singing that the Sixteen can do without a blip, a glitch, or the slightest faltering step. From the fawning, devotional A Hymn to the Virgin to the wild and glorious Rejoice in the Lamb, this is music most perfectly created and most grandly and emphatically presented. A first-class effort; a classic.

--David Vernier

Works:
Hymn to the Virgin
A Hymn of Saint Columba
Hymn to Saint Peter
Antiphon
Te Deum in C
Jubilate Deo
Hymn to Saint Cecilia
Festival Te Deum
Rejoice in the Lamb

Among Bach’s organ works none are more purely enjoyable to listen to or embody the spirit, the voice(s), the vitality inherent in the instrument more than the six Trio Sonatas. Although I prefer the somewhat brighter, “flutier” sound and generally quicker tempos of Lionel Rogg, who performs on the historic Silbermann organ at Arlesheim, Switzerland (Harmonia Mundi), Robert Quinney (currently the sub-organist at Westminster Abbey) gives solid and informed interpretations of these formidably difficult works. (Apparently Albert Schweitzer—who as an organist and Bach scholar certainly knew his Bach and his organ works—is said to have claimed that anyone who masters the trio sonatas has achieved the height of technical virtuosity. If you can find it, there’s a wonderful old EMI recording of Schweitzer playing Bach—no trio sonatas, however!)

Quinney performs on the Frobenius organ of Oxford’s Queen’s College, in Quinney’s words not a “historically accurate instrument for Bach”, but nevertheless possessing “exquisite voicing, superb mechanical action, and modest size.” Quinney employs these features mostly very effectively, especially in the last two sonatas, where both the playing and registration choices are freer and more imaginative. Quinney’s performance of the C major sonata most thrillingly captures those traits mentioned above—vitality, spirit, and pure enjoyment. In other places—the opening E-flat sonata, the first movement of the D minor, most of the slow movements—tempos just seem too slow, the registration choices too “plain”. The E-flat sonata is one of the most exuberant creations in the organ repertoire, but here that joyful edge is off. Overall, however, Quinney must be commended—and should be listened to—for his impressive technique and his mostly successful management of Bach's particular demands regarding time and space (Schweitzer--and Einstein--would have approved!), captured in excellent sound (never an easy thing with organs and organ venues).

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Featuring the mighty Prelude and Fugue in E minor – a work that disregarded all the trends of the time and displays Bach’s total individuality – and the unique Organ Concerto in D minor, this fourth volume of organ works from Robert Quinney demonstrates how the ritornello structure was central to Bach’s mature style. A selection of chorale-based pieces are also explored including the remarkable twelve-movement Partita on ‘Sei gegrusset, Jesu gutig’. Robert Quinney is Organist of New College, Oxford. In addition to the daily direction of New College’s world-famous choir, his work comprises teaching, lecturing, and examining, as a Tutorial Fellow of the college and an Associate Professor at the University Faculty of Music. He maintains a parallel career as a solo organist, and is a prolific recording artist and made debuts at the Royal Festival Hall and BBC Proms in 2017. “The disc a pure unfolding of pleasure.” (The Sunday Times)

Includes work(s) by various composers.

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

BACH Masses, in g, BWV 235; in F, BWV 233. Cantata No. 102 • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen Ch & O (period instruments) • CORO 16115 (74:07 Text and Translation)


It’s getting harder to lament the curious neglect of Bach’s short or “Lutheran” Masses. Within recent memory I’ve had the privilege of auditioning new sets by Ton Koopman, (Challenge), Konrad Junghänel (Harmonia Mundi), and Raphaël Pichon (Alpha). Philippe Herreweghe’s excellent set was reissued by Virgin, and Brilliant has even revived Hanns-Martin Schneidt’s 1974 version in its complete Bach Edition box. Helmuth Rilling on Hänssler is still around. Now comes the first installment of a new set by Harry Christophers. Nevertheless, the short Masses do get considerably less attention than the cantatas, which they resemble in every way except for the absence of recitatives and closing chorales. The cantatas, after all, tell stories; the Masses do not. In fact, most—probably all—of the music in the Masses is recycled from pre-existing cantatas.


In these performances Christophers has reduced The Sixteen by a half, to eight singers only: Grace Davidson and Julia Doyle, sopranos; Robin Blaze and William Purefoy, countertenors; Jeremy Budd and Mark Dobell, tenors; Ben Davies and Eamonn Dougan, basses. The voices are accompanied by a slightly larger instrumental ensemble: 3, 3, 2 (or 3), 2, and 1 of strings, plus the necessary winds and continuo. All of the singers take solo turns, except Doyle. The only soprano aria on the disc, in the F-Major Mass, went to Davidson.


One lesson we might take from this release is that Bach rocks, although we already knew that. The Kyrie of the G-Minor Mass, a real toe-tapper, gets the ball rolling, and Christophers takes it from there, injecting the choral movements, especially, with abundant energy. The double quartet is very effective throughout. I was a little less enthralled by some of the arias, but not enough to discourage me from giving the whole enterprise a thumbs up. Because the combined Masses run just over 52 minutes, Coro has generously added a Cantata, No. 102, between the Masses, a welcome bonus. I’m looking forward to Volume II.


FANFARE: George Chien

It's no secret that if you're looking for a well-filled, thoughtfully programmed disc of Christmas choral music, you won't go wrong with any of The Sixteen's recordings. In 2006 this oft-lauded group led by founder Harry Christophers released a Volume 1 program of traditional carols, and this year (2010) decided to augment that release with a collection of 20 more favorites (including a few lesser-known pieces). Performed with the knowing style of a seasoned, professional British choir, these songs, hymns, and carols (all very loosely categorized here as "carols")--such gems as Holst's Masters in this hall, Poston's Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, and Darke's beloved In the bleak mid-winter--ring in the season intensified and made more meaningful by the choir's authority and respect for the music, its revered tradition, and with an obvious true love for its sound and inherent spirit.

Although Christophers mentions in the notes that selections were drawn from the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols, and certainly such pieces as the Gloucester Wassail, the Wexford Carol, and In dulci jubilo were at least partially lifted from that source, the provenance of many others is not so clearly evident (Of the Father's heart begotten, for example, isn't included in the 1928 OBC), although in some cases the popular "green" and "orange" carol books may have been consulted.

At any rate, these arrangements are all artful and refreshingly unadorned--in the best "traditional" realizations; where there is organ, its contributions are always tasteful, imaginative, and appropriate to support and/or enhance the singers. And as for the singers, well, this is one of the great, world-class choirs, its uniquely rich, vibrant sound characterized by pure-voiced sopranos and its contingent of male altos. The production and sound, from London's St. Giles Church, Cripplegate, presided over by the first-rate team of Mark Brown and Mike Hatch, is excellent. A solid and satisfying addition to any Christmas music library.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

HANDEL Coronation Anthems . Organ Concerto, op. 4/4. Salve Regina 1. Semele 1 : Endless Pleasure, Endless Love; My Racking Thoughts; O Ecstasy of Happiness! … Myself I Shall Adore. Solomon: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen Ch and O (period instruments); 1 Carolyn Sampson (sop) • CORO 16083 (DVD: 120:00) Live, London 8/12/2009


This BBC Proms concert, titled A Handel Celebration , commemorates the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death and the 30th anniversary of the founding of The Sixteen, which got its name from the fact that the original chorus had 16 members. The forces used here are a bit larger than those Harry Christophers usually employs. The mixed-voice chorus numbers 30, and the orchestra is listed at 42 members, although it does not appear that they are all onstage at the same time.


The Sixteen has been one of the best period-instrument groups since its founding, and one can see and hear here that both chorus and orchestra remain at the top of their form. Christophers leads performances that are respectful of Handel’s scores, with well-chosen tempos. The orchestra plays with precision (with the occasional slightly sour note to be expected of a live performance), and the chorus projects the words of the four Coronation Anthems vividly. Carolyn Sampson is outstanding in the Salve Regina and the three excerpts from Semele . In the Semele selections, she more than sings the notes; she uses her body and face to create the character she is portraying.


I have stated before that I do not see much use for a DVD preserving a concert because of the limited variety of visual images available in such a setting. Sampson’s portrayal of Semele does, however, provide some justification for seeing as well as hearing her performance, especially in the case of “Myself I Shall Adore.” Christophers hands Sampson a mirror before she begins the aria, and she uses it in giving an engaging performance that draws laughter from the audience, followed by a well-deserved ovation.


The version of the organ concerto featured here is the original version. Although Handel’s organ concertos were written to be performed between the acts of his oratorios, in the first performances in London of Athalia , the concerto was written to be performed before the final (“Hallelujah”) chorus and integrated into it. That is the version we get here, with the chorus.


The DVD has a short interview with Christophers during the intermission of the concert and a slightly longer one as a bonus feature. For some unknown reason, one of the anthems and the Salve Regina are removed from their places in the concert and put into the bonus features section. The anthem My Heart Is Indicting originally concluded the first half of the concert, and Christophers refers to it in his intermission interview, a reference that is puzzling unless one knows that he had just performed the anthem. The Salve Regina was originally the second item in the second part of the concert. Their placement as bonus tracks is nonsensical. The only other bonus feature is written biographies of the principals.


Christophers has recorded most of this material on CD, all available on Coro. His Coronation Anthems is one of my two preferred versions. The organ concerto and the sinfonia from Solomon can be found as additional tracks on that CD. The Salve Regina and selections from Semele are not otherwise available from these forces.


For those who enjoy concert performances, this DVD is an easy recommendation. For the rest of us, the previously unrecorded selections, especially Sampson’s items from Semele , make this a tempting purchase.


FANFARE: Ron Salemi

It often takes one man to encourage excellence in the arts and in the flourishing Portugal of the 1600s, at the forefront of world exploration; Dom Joao IV was very much that man. In his court, his favoured composers developed a unique style within the European heritage of sacred music, distinctly and devotionally Portuguese. Resplendent ... The Sixteen bring a wonderfully intense sense to this music. "All the music is of a high quality, and it is excellently performed... The singers are quite superb... one of the best and most interesting discs by The Sixteen in recent years, and the sound is excellent." Gramophone

The five new choral works on this album – by James MacMillan, Will Todd, Anna Semple, Eoghan Desmond and Lisa Robertson – all grew from a meditation by St John Henry Newman. Newman was a theologian of towering stature and broad influence and his meditation resonates with great clarity in our present age of the re-evaluation of what we can and cannot do without, and of the profound human need for a sense of meaning and purpose. Canonized in October 2019, Newman's writings represent a rich and thought-provoking legacy and, alongside the new works presented, are immortalized in three well-known hymns and Sir Edward Elgar’s exquisite elegy 'They are at rest'. Also included are two of Elgar’s psalm settings – Great is the Lord and Give unto the Lord. These are monumental works for choir and organ, full of grandeur and drama, but also inherently simple. The album ends with a ’Bonus’ track by Bob Chilcott - also a Genesis Foundation commission - based on Psalm 139.

Winner of a 2022 German Record Critics’ Award!

To welcome the spring, British ensemble I Fagiolini puts aside its beloved Monteverdi to uncover its own national heritage: the best of John Wilbye's classic Golden Age madrigals. Whilst his oeuvre may have been small (just 75 works that we know of and most just a couple of minutes long), time and again, in these exquisite cameos, Wilbye delivers what might be reckoned the ultimate madrigal experience. The plangent dissonance of ‘Draw on, sweet night’ and ‘Weep, weep, mine eyes’ perfectly evoke English melancholy, while ‘Sweet honey-sucking bees’ and ‘Adieu, sweet Amaryllis’ are such sheer pleasure to sing that many listeners will scrabble to unearth old scores. This album is, in a nutshell, 75 minutes of madrigalian bliss! Rediscover or enjoy anew this central part of English choral culture, strangely out of fashion for so long, sung by a group that has matured into the repertoire like a good wine.

This spectacular collection comprises The Sixteen’s five acclaimed Polish recordings with the group’s Associate Conductor, Eamonn Dougan. Masters of the Polish Baroque such as Bartlomiej Pekiel, Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki and Marcin Mielczewski are celebrated alongside Italian maestri Giovanni Francesco Anerio, Vincenzo Bertolusi, Luca Marenzio and Asprilio Pacelli. These composers flourished at the court of King Sigismund III marking a new dawn for sacred music in Poland. “The Sixteen luxuriate in textures and sonorities, offsetting serene, arching lines with more urgent declamatory passages...basses plummet while sopranos soar into the stratosphere in a swirl of all-embracing sound.” (BBC Music Magazine)

Imagine a vision too wondrous for eyes alone – ‘the lady more brilliant than the sun’. ‘The lady’ is the Virgin Mary, and The Sun Danced is an ecstatic choral celebration of the Miracle of Fatima commissioned by the Shrine of Fatima for the celebration of the Centennial of the Apparitions in Portugal. Celebrated British soprano, Mary Bevan, features on this, the premiere recording. It’s no secret that James MacMillan’s profound religious belief drives his creativity, but music this powerful conveys a universal message, and the title of his new symphony Le grand Inconnu suggests many possible interpretations. Harry Christophers writes: ‘By calling his new Symphony ‘Le grand Inconnu’ James has given himself that freedom to explore the mystery of the subject matter and, with repeated listening, we, the listener, discover more and more within the music… From the barely audible breathing at the start of the symphony to the first forte that is so sudden and ecstatic that it produces one of those heart pounding moments. Everything is drawn together by James into a cornucopia of sheer virtuosity and brilliance.’

dup