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ID: SIGCD249
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Choral Collection
Subcollection: ChoirViolin: Persephone Gibbs (leader; PG), Oliver Sändig (OS),
Holly Harman (HH), Benjamin Sansom (BS),
Colin Coleman, Richard Wade
Viola: Rachel Stott, Joanne Miller
Viola da gamba: Ibi Aziz (IA)
Violoncello: Jennifer Bullock
Doublebass: Elizabeth Harré
Oboe: Geoffrey Coates
Bassoon: Michael Brain
Cornett: Jamie Savan
Natural trumpet: Simon Desbruslais
Harpsichord & chamber organ: Kah-Ming Ng
SOURCES
Baldassari: Vienna, National Bibliothek E.M.97a (not
the Kunsthistorisches Museum as stated in New Grove
II), performing edition prepared by Jamie Savan from
original source
Berlin: Trondheim, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers
Selkab, Biblioteket XM 23, performing edition
prepared by Jamie Savan from original source
Pepusch: Bodleian Library, Oxford University, MS
Tenbury 1131, performing edition prepared by Kah-Ming
Ng from original manuscript
Reichenauer: performing edition prepared by Kah-Ming Ng
SOLO INSTRUMENTS
Harpsichord by Andrew Garlick after Joannes Ruckers
(1638), ravalé.
Oboe by Marcel Ponseele (Belgium) after Thomas Stanesby
Jr (London, early 18th century).
Straight cornett in three sections by Henri Gohin (Boissy
l’Aillerie, France, 2010) after 18th-century originals, pitch
in Chorton (ie. A=466Hz).
Violin by Jacob Stainer (attrib., c.1650); bow by René
Groppe after anon. French model (c.1720).
Natural trumpet by Stephen Keavy after Johann Wilhelm
Haas (Nuremberg, c.1710-1720). |
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ID: QTZ2046
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: ChoirMusic by Richard Blackford Texts by St Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection
Mirror of Perfection was commissioned by the Royal Ballet School and first performed at the Royal College of Music in March 1996. The words are settings of hitherto unknown poems by St Francis of Assisi and cover a wide expressive and emotional range: from hope to despair, longing to serene acceptance, love to bitterness, delight in Creation to an impassioned plea for peace amongst mankind. In the sixth of the seven parts the word "amore" appears no less than forty-eight times in a passacaglia setting of immense power and vocal dynamism. The cantata is no pious word-setting of an ancient saint; rather it is a passionate and vibrant evocation of a man who remains a symbol of hope in an age of spiritual emptiness and cultural decline.
It is paradoxical that the tiny chapel of the Porziuncula in which St Francis found solitude for much of his life was, four centuries later, overlayed in marble and gilt and enclosed within the massive superstructure of the church of Santa Maria delle Angeli. That the simplicity and goodness for which he stood should have survived the pomp of his canonization, the commercialization of Assisi and what in our world passes for glorification is nothing short of a miracle. Yet Francis remains a beacon of spiritual light in our technological, ego-based, psychologically-oriented twentieth century, and suggests that perhaps it is only poetry and the celebration of life in all its beauty and horror that offers any possibility of redemption as we face the new millennium.
During the composition I returned again and again to the image of Francis' little chapel, stripping away everything inessential, rhetorical, searching within for music that was a mirror of the saint's simple and profound delight in Creation. |
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ID: NMCD055
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Vocal Collection
Subcollection: ChoirPeter Paul Nash's complex, multi-layered Symphony No.1 was inspired by newspaper reports of atrocities carried out during the Gulf War; the expressive, technically innovative Apollinaire Choruses combine the sensual with the intellectual. |
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ID: NMCD063M
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Sacred Music
Subcollection: ChoirFrancis Burt's heartfelt and uncompromising oratorio sets Old Testament texts, in Luther's German translation, tracing the life of man from the creation story through love, marriage, family and finally the acceptance of mortality. |
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ID: NMCD106
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Vocal Collection
Subcollection: ChoirBlond Eckbert, Judith Weir's first opera, is based on Ludwig Tieck's folk-like tale of a quiet elderly couple whose secluded life eerily unravels as their fantastical past catches up with them. The music's apparent simplicity, with echoes of Weber's Freischütz - belies its underlying darkness.
Originally released on Collins Classics in 1994. |
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ID: SIGCD205
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: OrchestreThe conclusion to a three part-series of Igor Stravinsky‘s ballets from Sergei Diaghilev,s Ballet Russes, performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Thierry Fischer. These recordings capture the excitement and vibrancy of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in live performance at their home of BBC Hoddinott Hall, Wales.
Almost no musical work has had such a powerful influence or evoked as much controversy as Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring. The work's premiere on May 29, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, was scandalous. In addition to the outrageous costumes, unusual choreography and bizarre story of pagan sacrifice, Stravinsky's musical innovations tested the patience of the audience to the fullest.
This disc also features Francis Poulenc‘s ballet Les Biches, premiered at the Ballet Russes in 1924. Originally commissioned by Diaghilev to write a piece based on Glazunov‘s Les Sylphides, Poulenc instead chose to base his piece on the paintings of Watteau that depicted Louis XV and various women in his "Parc aux biches" |
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ID: SIGCD267
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Choral Collection
Subcollection: ChoirFollowing a string of five-star reviews for their previous discs of 20th-century French choral music (Poulenc’s Figure Humaine - SIGCD197) and Renaissance polyphony (Victoria’s Requiem Mass - SIGCD248), the professional chamber-choir Tenebrae go from strength to strength with this new recording of British partsongs and choral music - centered on Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell.
Composed towards the end of Parry’s life, the Songs of Farewell have taken on something of an epithetical interpretation; they are almost a musical summation of his compositional life, reflecting Parry’s love of English renaissance madrigals and partsongs as much as the influence on his work from German composers like Brahms - made more complicated as these works were composed as the country (and its music) fell out of favour at the start of the Great War. This disc also includes works by Tavener, Sullivan, Holst, Rodney Bennett, Howells, Elgar and Vaughan Williams. |
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ID: 5060192780055
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Choral Collection
Apsara, Ronald Corp. The world première of Corp's buddhist choral setting.
This powerful and inspiring new vocal work is a wonderfully contemplative new chill-out classic. It is a unique collaboration between composer Anglican priest Ronald Corp and Buddhist writer Francis Booth and this is a world premiere recording. Dhammapada means “path to the truth”. The uplifting a cappella choral music is interspersed with bells from important religious Buddhist sites. |
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ID: SIGCD262
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
World Premiere Recording
Includes the world premiere recordings of Alone by Eric Whitacre, and High Flight, anyone lived in a pretty how town and Days by Bob Chilcott
A must-have for choral-aficionados everywhere that sees perhaps the world’s finest a cappella ensemble The King’s Singers join forces with The Concordia Choir - one of the USA’s best collegiate groups - to perform works by choral composers Eric Whitacre, Bob Chilcott and Morten Lauridsen.
One of the world’s most celebrated ensembles, The King’s Singers have a packed schedule of concerts, recordings, media and education work that spans the globe. Championing the work of young and established composers, they remain consummate entertainers; a class-act with a delightfully British wit. From Gesualdo and György Ligeti to Michael Bublé, The King’s Singers are instantly recognisable for their spot-on intonation, their impeccable vocal blend, the flawless articulation of the text and incisive timing.
The Concordia Choir of Moorhead, Minnesota is one of America’s finest a cappella choirs. Since 1920, the 72-voice choir has performed in nearly every major hall including Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center and has taken numerous international tours. The Choir is broadcast throughout the United States on public radio stations and on television via its Emmy-award winning Concordia Christmas Concert. |
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ID: SIGCD254
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: Voices and OrchestraBeethoven’s euphoric Symphony No.9, like his symphony No.5, is one of those pieces of classical music which transcends the barrier between musical genres - one of the few pieces of the classical canon in the popular consciousness. Few can fail to be uplifted and caught up in the joyous Ode to Joy finale. For this performance, recorded live at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1994, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment were joined by the renowned conductor and long-time collaborator, Sir Charles Mackerras, a partnership between him and the OAE that lasted almost a quarter of a century.
This is Signum’s second release with the OAE, following a release of Monteverdi’s Vespers (SIGCD237) earlier this year. The next release, planned for December, will feature Sarah Connolly performing Mahler’s Totenfier and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the OAE under Vladimir Jurowski. |
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