Sometimes the simplest ideas are so obvious that everyone overlooks
them. In recent years there has been a good number of recordings
of music by James MacMillan and an encouragingly growing representation
of Kenneth Leighton’s music also. Yet, so far as I know, no
one has devoted a disc to music by both of them. Yet the link
is a strong one for MacMillan was a pupil – and an admiring
one at that – of Leighton at Edinburgh University between 1977
and 1981; indeed, MacMillan was partly drawn to study there
by the presence of Leighton, who was Professor of Music at the
university.
So this disc is a very welcome conjoining of their music and
it’s all the more welcome because Paul Spicer brings no less
than five works into the record catalogue for the first time.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard Spicer and his fine student
choir on disc. Back in 2008 I reviewed
a CD by them with great enthusiasm and this disc, though not
so wide-ranging in terms of repertoire, deserves no less warm
a welcome.
I’d not previously heard Leighton’s Missa Sancti Thomae,
one of the works receiving a première recording here. Despite
its Latin title the Mass is in English and it’s very good. There’s
a vivid and expressive setting of the Creed while the Sanctus,
though brief, is majestic. Paul Spicer singles out the “ravishingly
beautiful” Agnus Dei for special mention, quite rightly, while
the Gloria, which comes at the end, is energetic and exultant.
This is a most welcome addition to the Leighton discography.
The same can be said of Quam dilecta, another setting
in English, this time of verses from Psalm 84. The piece, which
is for unaccompanied choir, includes an important part for solo
soprano, sung here with great assurance and winningly pure tone
by Amy Secretan. This is an eloquent and expressive piece and
I’m delighted to have discovered it, especially in such a sympathetically
shaped performance.
There are several MacMillan recorded premières also. Indeed,
one work had not previously been heard by its composer until
he attended the recording sessions for this disc. This is The
Song of the Lamb, which was first performed in St Paul,
Minnesota by the choir for which it was written; MacMillan was
unable to attend. The piece sets words from the Book of Revelation,
a scriptural treasure trove for those seeking potent imagery.
The chosen text clearly fired MacMillan’s imagination for the
music is arresting. Particularly noteworthy is the huge climax
at the words “Great and wonderful are thy deeds” (2:22 – 2:59).
Here the sopranos are required to sustain a top A for eleven
bars over the rest of the choir. It’s an imposing moment. By
contrast Invocation is a much quieter and more reflective
offering; in fact, its tone is very gentle. It’s a setting of
a poem by Pope John Paul II, for whom MacMillan has a great
admiration. The directness and surface simplicity of MacMillan’s
music complements the depth of the late Pope’s thought and imagery
- sample, for example, the way MacMillan sets the words “Be
an eternal seismograph of the invisible real.”
Laudi alla Vergine Maria is a compositional tour de
force. It sets an Italian text by Dante and significant
use is made of solo voices – nine soloists are listed in the
booklet, all of whom make strong contributions. Paul Spicer
draws an apt comparison with the madrigals of Monteverdi. As
usual with MacMillan the music burns with conviction, grabbing
– and holding – the listener’s attention.
I know of at least one other recording of Cantos Sagrados
– there may be others – a 2003 version by The Elysian Singers.
That’s a fine performance, though Simon Smith rightly drew attention
in his review
to the somewhat distant organ sound. In fact on this new Regent
disc both the organ and the singers are more closely recorded
and there is a bit more impact as a result. In any event I don’t
feel that the Birmingham choir need fear comparison; their performance
is similarly excellent. This remarkable piece, cast in three
movements, is very strongly related to MacMillan’s great interest
in the so-called Liberation Theology which, with its challenging,
left-leaning interpretation of Christianity, has done so much
to influence the Catholic Church in Latin America in the last
few decades.
MacMillan sets English translations of three Latin American
poems, two of them by the Chilean, Ariel Dorfman (b. 1942).
In each of the three movements he also interleaves an apposite
Latin liturgical text. Though a good deal of the music in Cantos
Sagrados is quiet the entire work is highly charged and,
at times, even graphic. The searingly powerful opening of the
first movement, for example, must be very demanding to sing.
Paul Spicer’s expertly trained young singers deliver this Dorfman
setting with biting conviction. The second movement, a prayer
to the Virgin of Guadalupe, starts off innocently enough but
the cruel irony of the poem is gradually revealed and as this
happens MacMillan racks up the tension. The concluding poem,
also by Dorfman is about the last moments of a man facing the
firing squad and the murmured request for forgiveness that he
receives from one of his executioners. It’s a chilling and gripping
piece and the Birmingham singers perform it superbly. I gather
from the notes that MacMillan has recently orchestrated the
work. I’d like to hear that version but the superb realisation
of the organ part by David Saint surely conveys the composer’s
original intentions marvellously.
This is another outstanding disc from the Birmingham Conservatoire
Chamber Choir. That a choir of twenty-four students can give
such assured and communicative performances of such a musically
and emotionally demanding work as Cantos Sagrados
goes a long way to explaining, I think, why there are so many
top quality professional vocal ensembles in Britain today; they
can draw on talent such as this when they need to replenish
their ranks, But though my attention has been grabbed particularly
by the performance of that MacMillan work it’s important to
emphasise that the entire programme is executed to the same
very high standard.
Congratulations are due not just to the performers but also
to Regent for having the vision and commercial courage to release
a disc that contains some challenging repertoire. This release
showcases excellent young talent and introduces to the catalogue
much fine music that has not been recorded previously. Isn’t
this the sort of thing that CDs should be about?
Splendidly recorded and packaged with an excellent booklet,
this disc is another feather in the caps of Birmingham Conservatoire
and of Regent. More please!
John Quinn
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir/Paul Spicer 
