Release Date: 01 January 2007
Label: Hyperion Records Ltd
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 034571176154
Release Date: 01 January 2007
Label: Hyperion Records Ltd
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 034571176154
Description
Nicholas Maw is a dominant force in contemporary British music. His Violin Concerto won for Joshua Bell the Mercury Music Prize for Classical Album of the Year in 2000, while his latest opera, Sophie’s Choice—a Covent Garden commission setting William Styron’s harrowing tale of Auschwitz and its aftermath—is currently receiving its American premieres.
Throughout his long career Maw has periodically found time amidst his predominantly orchestral and operatic output to craft some inimitable choral works. This new recording by Schola Cantorum of Oxford present many first recordings and gives a broad overview of Maw’s choral achievements.
Swelling organ accompaniment opens the programme with the Three Hymns; Maw’s reponses to these metaphysical texts are innovative and effective. Two cycles of five miniatures, Epigrams and Irish Songs, show a very different complexion. From the ribald humour of On a noisy polemic to the intense lyricism of Ringleted youth of my love Maw puts his singers to the test, with results that are at once entertaining and moving.
The programme is completed by five carol settings and One foot in Eden, commissioned by King’s College Cambridge as part of their 500th anniversary celebrations in 1990. It demonstrates a composer in total command of his medium and is impressive in its varied choral writing and striking use of harmony and melody.
Performances by Oxford University’s crack chamber choir, Schola Cantorum, under their director Mark Shepherd, are taut and responsive, the perfect vehicle for this music which deserves the opportunity to reach a wider public.
All works except for One foot in Eden still, I stand and Balulalow are here recorded for the first time.
Tracklisting
Roberto Prosseda, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Nir Kabaretti
The Brabant Ensemble / Stephen Rice
Steven Isserlis
The Nash Ensemble
MultiPiano Ensemble, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Ivor Bolton
Marc-Andre Hamelin
Marc-Andre Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Gothic Voices / Christopher Page
Polina Pastirchak, Anke Vondung, Sungmin Song, Milan Siljanov, Chorwerk Ruhr, Bochumer Symphoniker,
Kammerchor Stuttgart; Barockorchester Stuttgart; Frieder Bernius; Hannah Morrison; Franziska Bobe;
Choralchor der St. Johannis-Kantorei Rostock
Capella Daleminzia, Capella Vocale Waldheim, Rene Michael Roder
Gewandhaus Children's Choir, Frank-Steffen Elster, Gewandhaus Youth Choir, Gewandhaus Choir, Gregor
Aukso - Chamber Orchestra Of The City Of Tychy, Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers' Ensemble, Marek Mos
Herbert von Karajan; The Philharmonia Orchestra; Berliner Philharmoniker
Soloists, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen