- Conductor: Matthew Best
- Composer: Benjamin Britten
- Audio CD (1 Oct 2007)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: CD
- Label: Hyperion
- ASIN: B000VIFLO6
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 131,990 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Rejoice In God, O Ye Tongues |
| 2. For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry |
| 3. For the Mouse Is a Creature Of Great Personal Valour |
| 4. For the Flowers Are Great Blessings |
| 5. For I Am Under The Same Accusation With My Saviour |
| 6. For H Is a Spirit And Therefore He Is God |
| 7. For the Instruments Are By Their Rhimes |
| 8. Hallelujah From the Heart Of God |
| 9. A Wedding Anthem (Amo Ergo Sum) Op.46 |
| 10. Festival Te Deum Op.32 |
| 11. Theme: a Boy Was Born |
| 12. Variation 1: Lullay, Jesus 'Mine Own Dear Mother, Sing Lullay!' |
| 13. Variation 2: Herod |
| 14. Variation 3: Jesu, As Thou Art Our Saviour |
| 15. Variation 4: the Three Kings |
| 16. Variation 5: In the Bleak Mid-Winter / Lully, Lulley, Lully, Lulley |
| 17. Variation 6: Finale. Noel! |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
I really wanted to like this recording. I like Britten's music [especially his choral music] and I admire Matthew Best and the Corydon Singers having quite a few of their recordings in my collection.
However, in this case, I feel that this is not one of their more sucessful recordings. Rejoice in the Lamb gets a nice performance. The soloists aquit themselves well, especially Michael Chance and Thomas Trotter's organ accompaniment is always interesting to listen to. However, after listening to the recordings made by Kings College and St John's College Cambridge, it sounds just a bit polite. This observation seems to colour my impression of the rest of the recording. Its all very nicely performed but a bit lacking in umph.
I did not know A Boy was Born but I am familiar with The Corpus Christie Carol, which is used and worked on by Britten in this piece. I was very impressed with it as a piece of music and am sure that it can sound better than this.
I think the main problem is the recording quality. It sounds rather recessed and lacking in focus. I had to turn the volume up quite a way to hear the singing properly and then had to contend with increased ambient noise.
I would have thought that Britten's own mono recordings of these works would be better - I must look them out some time.
Finally, I love the cover with its photograph of a window from Coventry Cathedral. The light effects are quite magical.
However, in this case, I feel that this is not one of their more sucessful recordings. Rejoice in the Lamb gets a nice performance. The soloists aquit themselves well, especially Michael Chance and Thomas Trotter's organ accompaniment is always interesting to listen to. However, after listening to the recordings made by Kings College and St John's College Cambridge, it sounds just a bit polite. This observation seems to colour my impression of the rest of the recording. Its all very nicely performed but a bit lacking in umph.
I did not know A Boy was Born but I am familiar with The Corpus Christie Carol, which is used and worked on by Britten in this piece. I was very impressed with it as a piece of music and am sure that it can sound better than this.
I think the main problem is the recording quality. It sounds rather recessed and lacking in focus. I had to turn the volume up quite a way to hear the singing properly and then had to contend with increased ambient noise.
I would have thought that Britten's own mono recordings of these works would be better - I must look them out some time.
Finally, I love the cover with its photograph of a window from Coventry Cathedral. The light effects are quite magical.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
a voice teacher and early music fan
8 April 2010
'REJOICE IN THE LAMB' HAS WORDS MOST CONFUSING, BUT THE POET (CHRIS SMART) HAD A MIND HE WAS LOSING!
The four pieces here span the years from 1933-1949 of Benjamin Britten's working years. The accompaniment demands were modest, requiring at most an organ to support the choir and to add a touch of color to the music.
'A Boy was Born' is the earliest and most elaborate on this disc and is for unaccompanied four-part chorus. It is described as being Choral Variations for Men's, Women's and Boys' voices. This work was completed in 1933 when Britten was a student at the Royal College of Music in London, and it was first performed in a BBC broadcast in February, 1934. It is a challenge to singers, not least because the choir is divided into eight parts almost throughout, which makes possible both the creation of separate four-part groups of upper and lower voices, allowing variety of color, and also a building-up of complex layered eight-part textures. As in his 'Ceremony of Carols', the texts of 'A Boy is Born' are an anthology drawn from various sources. And in a formal plan of great originality, these texts are set not as free-standing numbers, but in a sequence consisting of a theme, five variations and an extended finale. And all of this from a nineteen year old Britten!
I found myself drawn to the composition 'Rejoice in the Lamb' because of its unusual text which was written by a mystical poet, Christopher Smart, the words from his poem "For I shall consider my cat, Jeoffrey". Most of the words, in fact, are heavily concerned with animals and nature and music or instruments. For example, Michael Chance (countertenor) sings about a mouse who has personal valour and a hospitable nature; he does it with his usual dramatic skill!. The work is unique being rather odd, but Smart's intriguing text (written while confined to an asylum) holds the interest of the listener. Britten took Smart's religious symbolism and matched it with music designed to underline that symbolism.
Mary Seers (soprano) possesses a clear, somewhat boy-like voice, with almost no vibrato which works perfectly for this kind of music. The soloists: Michael Chance (countertenor), Philip Salmon(tenor), Quentin Hayes (bass) are also well-suited to their roles and perform with clarity and beauty. The Corydon Singers respond well to this at times very delicate music while being able to also invest it with spirit when necessary. The soprano section especailly had a lovely ethereal sound.
In the 'The Wedding Cantata', Janet Coxwell, soprano gives us a clear-voiced interpretation that goes along with the joyful performance. It is a choral anthem with organ-accompaniment to words written by Ronald Duncan. Published as op.40, it is the least performed of all Britten's occasional pieces, perhaps because it was written for a particular wedding of two of his friends, but the reason doesn't hold when one examines the words which are quite universal.
The 'Festival Te Deum' was also treated to a really excellent interpretation and a skillful rendition. This work was written for the centenary of St.Mark's Church, Swindon, and employs the English text; its most unusual feature is the contrast between the choir's constantly varying tempi and the steady dotted half-note accompaniment.
Considering the performing difficulty of these works, one has to marvel at the skill of the choirs that are able to render them in such a grand style! Indeed this is a very fine recording and displays all of the works in an 'a la Britten' style. The album comes with pertinent information and the text of all the music.
The four pieces here span the years from 1933-1949 of Benjamin Britten's working years. The accompaniment demands were modest, requiring at most an organ to support the choir and to add a touch of color to the music.
'A Boy was Born' is the earliest and most elaborate on this disc and is for unaccompanied four-part chorus. It is described as being Choral Variations for Men's, Women's and Boys' voices. This work was completed in 1933 when Britten was a student at the Royal College of Music in London, and it was first performed in a BBC broadcast in February, 1934. It is a challenge to singers, not least because the choir is divided into eight parts almost throughout, which makes possible both the creation of separate four-part groups of upper and lower voices, allowing variety of color, and also a building-up of complex layered eight-part textures. As in his 'Ceremony of Carols', the texts of 'A Boy is Born' are an anthology drawn from various sources. And in a formal plan of great originality, these texts are set not as free-standing numbers, but in a sequence consisting of a theme, five variations and an extended finale. And all of this from a nineteen year old Britten!
I found myself drawn to the composition 'Rejoice in the Lamb' because of its unusual text which was written by a mystical poet, Christopher Smart, the words from his poem "For I shall consider my cat, Jeoffrey". Most of the words, in fact, are heavily concerned with animals and nature and music or instruments. For example, Michael Chance (countertenor) sings about a mouse who has personal valour and a hospitable nature; he does it with his usual dramatic skill!. The work is unique being rather odd, but Smart's intriguing text (written while confined to an asylum) holds the interest of the listener. Britten took Smart's religious symbolism and matched it with music designed to underline that symbolism.
Mary Seers (soprano) possesses a clear, somewhat boy-like voice, with almost no vibrato which works perfectly for this kind of music. The soloists: Michael Chance (countertenor), Philip Salmon(tenor), Quentin Hayes (bass) are also well-suited to their roles and perform with clarity and beauty. The Corydon Singers respond well to this at times very delicate music while being able to also invest it with spirit when necessary. The soprano section especailly had a lovely ethereal sound.
In the 'The Wedding Cantata', Janet Coxwell, soprano gives us a clear-voiced interpretation that goes along with the joyful performance. It is a choral anthem with organ-accompaniment to words written by Ronald Duncan. Published as op.40, it is the least performed of all Britten's occasional pieces, perhaps because it was written for a particular wedding of two of his friends, but the reason doesn't hold when one examines the words which are quite universal.
The 'Festival Te Deum' was also treated to a really excellent interpretation and a skillful rendition. This work was written for the centenary of St.Mark's Church, Swindon, and employs the English text; its most unusual feature is the contrast between the choir's constantly varying tempi and the steady dotted half-note accompaniment.
Considering the performing difficulty of these works, one has to marvel at the skill of the choirs that are able to render them in such a grand style! Indeed this is a very fine recording and displays all of the works in an 'a la Britten' style. The album comes with pertinent information and the text of all the music.
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