BLESSED SPIRIT
Music of the Soul's Journey
The Choir of Clare College,
Cambridge
Timothy Brown
Recorded March 2000
Collegium Records
COLCD127 [71:10]
Crotchet
£12.50
Amazon
UK £11.99
AmazonUS
$15.17
CDNow
$14.99
Requiem aeternam (plainsong)
Kontakion of the departed (Kiev chant)
Schütz Selig sind die Toten
Tchaikovsky Blessed are they
Tavener Funeral Ikos
Victoria O quam gloriosum
Domine Jesu Christe (plainsong)
H Walford Davies Psalm 121 & Requiem aeternam
Holst The Evening-watch
arr Brown Steal away
Parry There is an old belief
O quanta qualia (from the Rheinau Hymnal)
Byrd Justorum animae
arr Luboff Deep river
In paradisum (plainsong)
Hildegard of Bingen O felix anima
Sheppard Audivi vocem de caelo
Harris Faire is the heaven
Few discs have ever afforded me more pleasure than that which I have derived
from this splendidly conceived anthology of sacred music. In his introduction
to the accompanying booklet (itself a model which others would be hard-pressed
to emulate, never mind excel), producer John Rutter describes the album's
theme as being 'the music of heaven and our journey to heaven'. Divided into
three sections, it embraces an exceptionally wide-ranging selection from
the Christian music of remembrance, hope and fulfilment which accompanies
the rites of passage from mortal to eternal life.
Each of the three sections - At our departing, Towards the gate of
heaven and The heavenly kingdom - begins with an extract from
the plainsong Missa pro Defunctis. The Clare College choir (numbering
26 singers) is equally at home with the spare textures of these extracts
(and the other medieval pieces) as it is with the lusher pastures of Harris's
Faire is the heaven and Holst's extraordinarily visionary The
evening-watch. No less memorable is its handling of the two spirituals
(Brown's own arrangement of Steal Away is particularly striking).
Security of pitch (every item is unaccompanied), precision of ensemble, purity
of tone and perfect balance are merely some of the choir's outstanding qualities.
The performance is much enhanced by the resonant acoustic of the Lady Chapel
of Ely Cathedral (where the disc was made last March). High praise must also
be given to John Rutter, not only for his production skills but also for
inspiring the concept of this unique disc. Indeed, I can fault it in only
two small details: I disagree with Brown's interpretation of the plainsong
note-grouping known as the quilisma; and there is slight distortion
in some climaxes.
A disc to treasure.
Adrian Smith
Performance
Sound
