Cantabile (www.cantabile.com)
is an ensemble of four male voices,
who, I believe, came together as a group
while studying at Cambridge University
in the 1980s. In the booklet note they
say that this CD is "a project
close to our hearts" on which they
have worked for some time. In particular,
they say, it offers them "the opportunity
to do what we love most: to arrange
and to sing repertoire from as wide
a range of sources as possible."
Certainly, as a glance at the track-listing
readily shows, their programme is a
very eclectic mix. Nearly all the music
is arranged by them and they clearly
excel at this aspect of their work just
as much as they do at performing.
Some things are particularly
enjoyable. For example, the melody that
Donald Swann provides for Bilbo’s
Last Song is quite lovely in its
gentle nostalgia. I like John Dankworth’s
setting of the same text too but it’s
Swann’s that lodges more insidiously
in the memory. I also think it perhaps
catches the mood of the Hobbits in The
Lord of the Rings more successfully.
I also found Stay Awake to be
a most engaging and soothing lullaby;
I certainly wouldn’t want to drop off
before I’d heard it through to the end!
There’s much that is
beautiful here. The arrangement of My
Lagan Love, for instance, is most
affecting and it’s a lovely tune. Whether
the arrangements of items that were
originally composed for solo voice by
the likes of Brahms, Wolf and Schubert,
or the Humperdinck piece work quite
so well I’m not entirely sure. I definitely
wish they’d left the sublime Nacht
und Träume alone, even though
they sing it extremely well. Schubert’s
miniature masterpiece is so perfect
that it should just be left to speak
for itself. I liked the gently lilting
piece by Montsalvatge and also Haere
Rä - better known in English
as ‘Now is the Hour’ - complete with
the sound of gently breaking waves in
the background.
Perhaps it’s inevitable
that most of the items are slow in tempo
but the George Shearing piece is a lively
toe-tapper. And the concluding David
Cullen item is fun – I can take its
degree of deliberate "twee-ness".
As to the singing itself
well that’s all first class. The four
voices blend beautifully and there isn’t
a sour note to be heard. Diction is
consistently crystal clear although
texts and English translations, where
appropriate, are provided. As you’d
expect, the contribution of Malcolm
Martineau is first rate.
Some may find the contents
of this CD a little too heavily coated
in sugar for their taste. However, I’d
urge readers not to dismiss it out of
hand on that account. There’s a great
deal to enjoy here and I can imagine
this being particularly restful and
enjoyable late evening listening, perhaps
with the fire burning gently and a glass
of something warming at your elbow.
Try this for something a bit different!
John Quinn