Vidi Speciosam - Sacred Choral Music / Bevan Family Consort
Signum Classics

Vidi Speciosam - Sacred Choral Music / Bevan Family Consort

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Details

Composer
Anonymous, David Bevan, Giovanni Croce, Gustav Holst, Fernando de las Infantas, Alonso Lobo, Giovann
Artist
Dominic Bevan, David Bevan, Edward Bevan, Mary Bevan, Harry Bevan, Bevan Family Consort
Format
CD
Label
Signum Classics
Released
May 19, 2023
Catalog #
SIGCD746
UPC
635212074626

About

Soprano Mary Bevan writes: In 1975, the original Bevan Family Choir released their debut album on vinyl, featuring an eclectic programme of sacred choral works, Welsh folk songs, and piano music. The Choir consisted of 11 of the 14 Bevan siblings and was conducted by their father, Roger. Later on the Choir was taken over by the second eldest son, David, who was to go on to become Assistant Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral. The musical tradition continued to flourish within the family until, in 2013, some of the second generation of cousins decided to create their own version of the family choir, naming themselves the Bevan Family Consort so as to distinguish them from their parents’ generation. The Consort has since ranged in size from 15-22 of the 53 first cousins. To honour David and the influence he had over us all as musicians, this disc consists of music that was introduced to us by him during his years at the Holy Redeemer Church and that have since become beloved by us as a choir.

REVIEW:

The Bevan Family Consort are particularly good at strongly textured works such as Croce’s In spirito humilitatis, tinged with Venetian monumentalism, or Holst’s Nunc dimittis with its ecstatic ending. This last piece was not discovered until 1979, some 45 years after Holst’s death. Other rarities include the Dignare me by Fernando de las Infantas, apparently a Spanish nobleman working in Rome – so obscure as to be practically confidential. The works with intricate polyphony are pleasingly performed, though in the Kyrie and Gloria of Victoria’s Missa Vidi speciosam the upper voices are a little sharp and the overall acoustic seems rather distant. Breath control and phrasing is always musical and is apparent even in the plainsongs (Ave Maria). The most beautiful work here is Alonso Lobo’s Versus est in luctum. The voices of the Bevan Consort are slightly too disparately coloured to match the magical poise of this work achieved by the group Tenebrae (also on Signum) which shares an album with Victoria’s Requiem.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 O Lux beata caelitum 03:39
    Track
    1
    Title
    O Lux beata caelitum
    Duration
    03:39
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  2. 2 Sicut cervus 05:34
    Track
    2
    Title
    Sicut cervus
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  3. 3 Kyrie 01:46
    Track
    3
    Title
    Kyrie
    Duration
    01:46
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  4. 4 Gloria 03:41
    Track
    4
    Title
    Gloria
    Duration
    03:41
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  5. 5 Credo 06:21
    Track
    5
    Title
    Credo
    Duration
    06:21
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  6. 6 Sanctus 03:24
    Track
    6
    Title
    Sanctus
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  7. 7 Agnus Dei 03:03
    Track
    7
    Title
    Agnus Dei
    Duration
    03:03
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  8. 8 Versa est in luctum 04:20
    Track
    8
    Title
    Versa est in luctum
    Duration
    04:20
    Composer
    Alonso Lobo
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  9. 9 O sacrum convivium 03:30
    Track
    9
    Title
    O sacrum convivium
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Thomas Tallis
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  10. 10 Responds for the Dead: Credo quod redemptor 02:46
    Track
    10
    Title
    Responds for the Dead: Credo quod redemptor
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    Robert Parsons
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  11. 11 In spiritu humilitatis 04:32
    Track
    11
    Title
    In spiritu humilitatis
    Duration
    04:32
    Composer
    Giovanni Croce
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  12. 12 Dignare me laudare te 03:10
    Track
    12
    Title
    Dignare me laudare te
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Fernando de las Infantas
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  13. 13 Ave Maria 04:20
    Track
    13
    Title
    Ave Maria
    Duration
    04:20
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  14. 14 Magnificat septimi toni 05:13
    Track
    14
    Title
    Magnificat septimi toni
    Duration
    05:13
    Composer
    David Bevan
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  15. 15 Nunc dimittis 03:08
    Track
    15
    Title
    Nunc dimittis
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Gustav Holst
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  16. 16 Ave Maria, Op. 9b 02:09
    Track
    16
    Title
    Ave Maria, Op. 9b
    Duration
    02:09
    Composer
    Gustav Holst
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross
  17. 17 Beati quorum via 03:23
    Track
    17
    Title
    Beati quorum via
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Charles Villiers Stanford
    Ensemble
    The Bevan Family Consort
    Conductor
    Graham Ross