Joyful Company of Singers, Peter Broadbent
Release Date: 22 December 2008
Label: Albion Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5061058190063
Description
This Albion Records album of songs for mixed chorus by Vaughan Williams, recorded at St. Paul's Church, New Southgate, London in 2008 by Joyful Company of Singers, includes nine world première tracks, including the late (1950) song cycle Sun, Moon, Stars and Man.
That the vocal works on this recording were composed between 1895 and 1954 shows Vaughan Williams' lifelong affection for the human voice. As he put it in 1902: 'The voice can be made the medium of the best and deepest human emotion'.
Vaughan Williams was conscious of his place in a long and significant tradition of writing for the voice and viewed choral singing as a great art form. Through his compositions for voice, he could indulge his love for English poetry, especially the work of the Elizabethan writers. He was always looking out for suitable poems to set to music and he was fortunate in this task in his relationship with Ursula Wood, a poet in her own right, who he met in 1938 and married in 1953. It is her poetry which forms the basis of Sun, Moon, Stars and Man, the cycle of four songs that concludes this recording.
One of Europe's most prominent chamber choirs, Joyful Company of Singers is known for its virtuosity and intensity of spirit, as well as for an astoundingly wide repertoire, ranging from the 16th Century to the present day. Formed in 1988, by conductor Peter Broadbent, the choir has a discography of over 25 CDs.
Albion Recordings featuring Joyful Company of Singers: ALBCD012 Vaughan Williams: The Garden of Proserpine ALBCD025 Vaughan Williams: Fair Child of Beauty ALBCD033 Vaughan Williams: Beyond my Dream
Reviews
An eminently appealing hour's worth of off-the-beaten track Vaughan Williams. --Gramophone, April 2009
Technically secure and tonally rounded, the Joyful Company of Singers live up to their name, but without ever sliding into over-characterisation.--BBC Music Magazine, February 2009
The Joyful Company of Singers is a first-rate ensemble that performs these 23 pieces with utmost respect and artistic authority. … there are many very touchingly beautiful moments – No longer mourn for me; Sweet Day; Willow Song; Rest; Mannin Veen; The New Commonwealth – that seal this program as an essential addition to any serious choral music collection. --David Vernier, Classics Today
This selection spans a life-time of creativity. … things of cool lunar delight. … sweetly done … smoothly idiomatic and touchingly reserved effect. … a cooler calorific radiance … an overwhelming and sanguine swing. --Rob Barnett, Musicweb International
Tracklisting
Tredegar Town Band, Ross Knight, Ian Porthouse, Martyn Brabbins
Alessandro Fisher, William Vann, The Navarra Quartet
Adrian Sims & Alan Rowlands
David Briggs
Chapel Choir Of The Royal Hospital, Joshua Ryan & William Vann
Timothy West, Samuel West, Mary Bevan, Sophie Bevan, Choir Of Clare College, Cambridge, Britten Sinfonia, William Vann
Various
John Gielgud, Adrian Boult
BachWerkVokal, Gordon Safari
Dionysos Now!
Soloists; Les Traversees Baroques; Meyer
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park
La Compagnia del Madrigale
Cappella Pratensis, Stratton Bull, Sollazzo Ensemble
Frieder Bernius, Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart, Barockorchester Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart
Collegium Cantorum Choir, Janusz Siadlak
