Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

Biber - Requiem
Gabrieli Consort & Players;
Paul McCreesh
Archiv Produktion 00289 474
7142
Poer natus in Bethlehem.
Alleluia!
Elmer lseler Singers;
LvdiaAdams
c·BC Records MVCO 1165
Concert
ote: The Elmt:r lseler
Singers perform Handel's Messiah
on December 3 at Metropolitan
Uni1ed. They will also perform a
frt:e noon hourconcen 1ha1 is bound
10 include seasonal fare at Roy
Thomson I lall on December 7.
realm of spiri1.) e1 have wi1h very
uifferenl focuses. One represems
1ht: olu tradilions sung by young
'oic.:t:s. 1he 01her offers a mixiure
of modern and anciem m) siicl\m.
The 11rt. "Heaven! \'oices .. lea·
ture Choral Amhems sung w11h
purit) and grace by The Boys of
King' Collctge Choir. Cambridge.
let.I by Su:phen Cleobury. Selections
on offer an: by Mendelsohn.
Franck. Faure and 01hers reprcst:nt·
ing fairl) \landard repenoirt:. 20th·
centur r1ece\ b) Pairick Hat.lie)
and John lrdanu. Tht: lx.i) s !P' e a
\IUlllllng [lCrlorma11ce.
Our other disc features works by
John T;l\ener sung by Polyphony
directed b) S1ephtn Lay1on. In his
offering. Tavemr has departed
somewhat Imm Grtek Orthodoxinspircu
'' ork.ure
u that 1he comfort or 1radition
live on, on lht: 01ht:r hand wi1h
Tavencr'i. work, ii is i?ood 10 sec
sp1rilual demems of mny regions
no1 uni> finding common ground,
but melding imo a multi-faceted
glimpse ot tht: ht:avt:nly realms.
76
Dia1111e Wells
When young people l>lUd} music
hiswry. 1he) learn 1ha1 the Renais·
''ctra ·• startt:d 111 1600. as if some·
one !lipped as .. itch and 1he whole
in1rica1e s1yle ot writing and per·
forming mu"c \ . \as changt:t.I overnight.
For 1he paM 10 years the
)Oung Engli'>h comlucwr and cdhst
Paul Mc:Crce\h ha\ been rein·
'1gora1ing the early music "sct:ne"
wi1h perl'ormanci: tha1 examine
what is acM1lly a long transition
period in lhc laic 16th and early 171h
cemuries, involving radicals and
conserva1ives. nt:w and old performing
traditwns and musical
forms. This nc\\ recording b) hi
Gabrieli Consort leaiurt:' 1wo mass
St:llings by 1he highl) imagin . a1ivc
and inventive compocr Heinrich
Biber, one of which '>ClS lht: 1radltional
Requiem or Mass of the
Dead. Though wrillcn in the la1e
I 71h cemur) in Salzburg. this is
music remimscclll of lht: master
polyphonis1s of 1he late 16th centu·
ry as well as hringing 10 mind 1he
grand choral music of cnmempornries
such as Schull ant.I Buxtehuue.
McCreesh mal.e performance
decisions baed on extensive research.
acwmpanying the vocal
parts with combina1ions of strings,
organ and 'ackbul'>. In addi1ion 10
Biber's worki., !here art: instru·
mental pieces by his collt:agues
Georg Muffa1 and fohann Ht:inrich
Schmelzer includeu. as well as two
profound mott:ls by the grea1 Orlanuo
Lasso. It's all performed
with breathiaking passion, precision
and skill.
One of 1hc main solo participants
on the CD is the young Canadian
high 1enor Daniel Auchincloss.
who was 1rained al the University
of Toronto and has lived and
worked in and around London,
England for the pa t several years.
/,,arry Beckwith
Does the world need ano1her
Chrisimas CD'? If the CD is the
sance -t:ra •· t:nt.led and the Baroque Elmer lseler Singers' . . Put:r Na-
1us in Bethlehem, Alleluia!" my
answer is a resounding Yes! On it
the lseler Singers perform carols
by Canadian compost:rs commissionl.'d
for 1he recording - four orig·
inal compositions . an arrangt:ment
of the Huron Carol and eleven new
arrangemt:ms of carols from the
..
1582 collection . Piae Camiones'"
by lht: Swedish monk, Thcodoricus
Peirus of Nyland. Published in
England in 1853, its timeless mel·
odies have permeated tlle church
music ol the English-speaking
world. According 10 Ken Winters'
informa1ive lint:r notes lhc only
work on 1he program no1 commissioned
by 1he Singers is I lealey
Willan ' s miniaiure mastt:rpiecc,
Resonet in laudibus, also from
..
. Piae Cantiones ..
Each carol is a highly individual
exploration of musical beauty.
Exquisi1e dissonanct:s propel
Eleanor Daley's harmonizaiion or
Ave Maris Stella: Eric Robertson
asionishes with his symphonic vision
of Puer Nntus in Bethlehem;
Derek Holman's modal counlt:r·
poi111 10 1he syncopaiions of Gaudete
bursts with energy; Donald
Patriquin's folk song 1rea1mt:111 of
Puer Nobis Nasci111r is fresh and
unexpected; Peter Togni's arrange·
mt:nt of Corde Nat us - Of the Fa·
tiler's love begotten moves wi1h
deft assurance from 1wo-pan simplicity
to a grand multiphonic con·
eluding Amen.
The Elmer lseler Singers con·
ducied by Lydia Adams. and 1he
instrumentalists who join them in
several pieces, are as good as 1he
music: their tlawless intonation,
rhythmic vitality and grea1 sensi·
tivity to the expressive power of
phrasing, communicate sublime
religious feeling much needed in
1his distressed lime.
WWW. rtHWHOLENOH.COM
Allan Pulker
A Hanukka Celebration:
Traditional Songs and Original
Settings
Cantors Moshe Haschcl and
Simon Spiro; Carolina Chamber
Chorale; University of
Cincinnati Wind SymphOn);
New London Children's Choir,
Ronald Corp, conductor;
Schola Hebraeica and Coro
Hebraeico, Neil Levin,
Director; Southern Chorale,
Timothy Koch, director
Naxos/Milken Archive 8.559-'10
Jewish Voices in the New World
Hazzan Ira Rohde, Schola
Hebraeica, The New London
Children's Choir,
Neil Levin, conductor
Naxos/Milken Archive 8.559411
Hanukka is ont: of the annual Jewish
festivals that celebra1e key his·
torical/liturgical events or the
earth's cycles. II marks a viciorious
guerilla movement against 1he
Grt:co-Syrian Empire's desecraiion
of 1ht: Tt:mple and violent supprt:s·
sion of the Jewish religion. Jewish
musicians have had 2139 years 10
get the celebralion right. and indeed
1hey have.
Naxos/Milkcn 's Hanukka disk is
a gem among the 29 Jewish music
gems issued 10 date. Twelvt:
Hanukkah composi1ions. da1ing
from the Rt:naissance to lhe present,
are performt:d impeccably. Dr. Neil
Levin, Milken's Artistic director .
provides 18 pages of real liner
noies. Standout tracks involve his
Schola Hebraeica, and Zavcl Zil·
DECEMBER t 2004 • FEBRUARY 7 2005