Each summer, in a most
imaginative scheme, the major English
public school, Eton College, hosts a
series of summer schools for pupils
of other schools - usually those attending
state rather than public schools - who
are about to apply for university places.
The basic premise is that the pupils
concerned will already be highly accomplished
academically and will benefit from a
couple of weeks of intensive tuition
in their preferred subject. The courses
offered encompass a wide range of subjects
and one of them is the Eton Choral Course,
which is directed by Ralph Allwood,
an outstanding choral trainer, who is
Precentor and Director of Music at Eton
College.
The Rodolfus Choir
is a handpicked group drawn from past
and present members of the Eton Choral
Course so I suppose it’s the crème
de la crème. This choir of
some forty young singers give concerts,
broadcast and make recordings. I’ve
already heard several of their discs,
all of which have impressed me greatly,
as does this latest one.
The pieces by Brahms
and Bruckner that are included in this
fascinating programme were already familiar
to me. They are done extremely well.
Bruckner’s demanding Christus factus
est is delivered with superb control
while Ave Maria is no less impressive.
Brahms’ strong and deeply felt motet,
Warum ist das Licht gegben, is
very well handled. The repeated interjections
of the word ‘Warum’ punctuate the piece
arrestingly, as they should, and Allwood
shapes the performance with great understanding.
The Strauss setting,
with which the programme concludes,
is another piece that I’ve heard several
times. The composer’s huge and rich
Deutsche Motette (1913) is, perhaps,
the apotheosis of the tradition that
is celebrated by this CD. Der Abend
(1897), which is offered here, is a
shorter and less expansive piece but
it still presents fearsome difficulties
to choir and conductor alike, not the
least of which is the division into
no less than 16 separate vocal parts.
The music is founded in glorious autumnal
textures. Once again, the Rodolfus Choir
displays first-rate control and discipline
and the purity of the top sopranos and
the strength of the basses are noteworthy,
the more so since this is a choir of
young singers.
The rest of the programme
is uncharted territory as far as I’m
concerned and here I must mention my
one quibble about this release. There
is a fascinating essay about the music
by David Goode - though I had to look
hard to find out who was the author
- but sadly Herald has joined the ranks
of the record companies that make texts
and translations available only as a
download from their website.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t think this
is acceptable, especially not for full-priced
CDs. In the first place it’s not as
convenient and secondly not everyone
can access the Internet. One simply
cannot appreciate vocal music properly
without access to the words and it’s
particularly galling not to have the
words when one is dealing with music
that is unfamiliar, as I imagine much
of this programme will be for many listeners.
In my view Herald have compromised the
enterprise of this programme through
this omission.
The item by Wagner
is a curiosity. It was written (for
four-part male voice choir) on the occasion
of the re-interment of the ashes of
Weber at Dresden in 1844. Frankly, it’s
of little intrinsic musical interest
but I’m glad to have heard it. The Mendelssohn
pieces, six little motets written to
be sung at services on specific feast
days after the reading of the Epistle
are also fairly slight compositions.
However, they’re all finely crafted
and they make very pleasant listening.
The fresh singing of the Rodolfus Choir
makes the best possible case for them.
Of much greater substance
are the three pieces for six-part choir,
written by Reger in 1899. These are
chromatic and rich in texture. Under
Ralph Allwood’s discerning control the
singers keep the textures light and
their singing is committed and full
of light and shade. They do well also
in the six Eichendorff settings by Hugo
Wolf, which date from 1881. I particularly
enjoyed ‘Resignation’, the third of
the set, which is quite lovely, and
also the simple and direct ‘Letzte Bitte’
(‘Last Prayer’), which follows it.
This is a lovely disc.
The singing of the choir gives consistent
pleasure. Their dynamic control is very
impressive and they keep the textures
clear, something that must be far from
easy in some of these pieces. Their
enthusiasm and commitment are evident
throughout and that, as much as their
technical accomplishment, is in itself
the best possible tribute to the training
they have received from Ralph Allwood.
They are clearly and sympathetically
recorded.
Despite the issue of
the texts - about which other listeners
may not get as hot under the collar
as I do! - this is a highly recommendable
recital, which I enjoyed very much.
John Quinn
Rodolfus Choir/Ralph Allwood and *Ben Parry
