David YARDLEY (b. 1978)
The Lost Codex of Avalon
David Yardley (alto)
Chloe Lankshear (soprano)
Cristina Alís Raurich (portative organ)
The Song Company
Sydney Chamber Choir/ Sam Allchurch
Pastance
rec. 301 Studios, Sydney, Australia; Illkirch, Strasbourg, France
Notes and text in English
TALISMAN [57:30]
This CD is the creation of Australian counter-tenor David Yardley in combination with input from the various performing groups listed on the cover. The title is a rather fanciful summation of the contents. Mr Yardley has collected a group of ancient song texts from various sources in which the music had not survived the centuries. He has brought his compositional skills to the table and created new music to give them life anew. A few of the tracks involve more recent poems which reach into to the worlds of fantasy and medievalism, providing an even more colourful framework for his songs.
Many of the song texts are in Middle English, which can be a challenge for modern performers to negotiate. The CD begins with a mournful hymn written in Toulouse during the plague ravages of 1348. This track and the succeeding cycle of hymns, shows off the composer’s skills to advantage. In O Exultet Mundus Gaudio he exults in the peasant-like dance rhythms, although the performance is let down a bit by some weak singers among the male section of the Sydney Chamber Singers. The following A Child is Boren gives a better impression, showcasing splendid attack and some beautiful tonal blending from the women of the same group. Whisperings is one of the songs composed to a contemporary poem, which is a gentle and at times incandescent paean to the natural world sung effectively by the composer.
In Tears of Lilith we find ourselves in a similar world to the witches’ scene in Macbeth. The beautiful polyphony that Yardley has provided for this song rests somewhat incongruously against the text. However, Yardley and The Song Company performers make it into the loveliest track on the CD. In A Carol of St George a 15thC text tells a vivid tale of the Saint appearing to the English at the battle of Agincourt. Yardley’s music is equal to the story. But again, the male choir members need a little tightening up to fulfill the demands of the music. No such issues plague A Vision of Julian of Norwich, here Yardley was inspired the mystic music of Abbess Hildegard von Bingen. The pure soprano sound of Chloe Lankshear lifts the music to an ethereal level.
While occasionally the level of performance on this CD could be improved on, it is on the whole an interesting experiment. Yardley’s music must be classified as pastiche. However, it is pastiche of the highest quality; no doubt there will be some interesting things come from this multi-talented artist in the future.
Mike Parr
Contents
A Troubadour Laments the Plague of 1348 [6:47]
O, O, O, O! Exultet Mundus Gaudio [3:50]
A Child Is Boren [5:09]
Eya! Jhesus Hodie [4:04]
Whipserings [3:08]
Tears of Lilith [2:24]
O Gentlest Love [3:27]
Gathere Ladies, Blithe and Bold [3:24]
A Carol of St George [3:14]
A Vision of Julian of Norwich [9:48]
Whan Jhesus Cryste Baptyzed Was [2:30]
Time-Forged Copper [6:24] Instrumental, Cristina Alís Raurich
Asterion [2:56]
Twilight on the Snow
Lay of the Ash Tree [2:56]
Pastance: Alex Cronin (multi-instrumentalist); Megan Cronin (recorder); Myfawny Dibben (recorder);
Jess Ciampa (percussion)
