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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the most gifted composers of his generation, Herbert Howells (1892-1983) once observed how "all through my life I've had this strange feeling that I somehow belonged to the Tudor period"; you can hear something of this deep-rooted quality in his sublime Christmas anthem of 1940, Long, Long Ago. If the incredibly moving motet Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing (written in 1963 for JFK's memorial service) remains probably the best-known piece here, the most substantial is surely the intensely personal Requiem (composed in 1933, but only published 48 years later), material from which resurfaces in Howells's 1938 choral masterpiece Hymnus Paradisi. Christopher Robinson and his exemplary St. John's forces lend equally sympathetic advocacy to the thrillingly sumptuous Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis written for St. Paul's Cathedral and the 1956 Communion Service based on material from the unforgettable 1943 Collegium Regale service that Howells wrote for King's College, Cambridge. Throw in fine performances by Iain Farrington of the Rhapsody No. 3 and Paean for organ (an instrument of which Howells was an absolute master) and you have a winner of an anthology, extremely well recorded. --Andrew Achenbach
Product Description
CD Composer: Howells,Herbert
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Thomas Neal
Format:Audio CD
This is surely the finest recording of Howells' beautiful Requiem, which was originally written for Kings' College Cambridge, and not in memory of his son, Michael, as previously thought (Michael's memorial is that other great Howells work, "Hymnus Paridisi"). Like Brahms, Howells exchanged the text of the traditional Latin "Missa Defunctis" for a sequence of Psalms and other sacred texts, including the "Salvator Mundi" in English, the 23rd psalm, and the Introit from the Requiem Mass, amongst others.
Alongside the Requiem features the beautiful St Paul's Service, two glorious organ pieces (the pedal reeds make the speakers shake!), and the motet "Take him, earth, for cherishing" - one of the most moving and perfect of choral motets to have been written in the 20th century.
The recording is surely unsurpassed by the ever-excellent choir of St John's College, Cambridge (a choir which Howells directed during the war), and is under the skilled and assured baton of the great Christopher Robinson. Both the performance and the sound quality are superb, and the acoustics are perfect for the repertoire. Soloists also make a brief appearance in the Requiem are really quite something, and the tone of the trebles in the choir is soft and lilting whilst maintaining clarity and purity of tone - something which makes St John's stand out from other Cambridge Colleges.
A truly superb recording from the Naxos label once again, which enjoys pride of place amongst my Howells discs.
Alongside the Requiem features the beautiful St Paul's Service, two glorious organ pieces (the pedal reeds make the speakers shake!), and the motet "Take him, earth, for cherishing" - one of the most moving and perfect of choral motets to have been written in the 20th century.
The recording is surely unsurpassed by the ever-excellent choir of St John's College, Cambridge (a choir which Howells directed during the war), and is under the skilled and assured baton of the great Christopher Robinson. Both the performance and the sound quality are superb, and the acoustics are perfect for the repertoire. Soloists also make a brief appearance in the Requiem are really quite something, and the tone of the trebles in the choir is soft and lilting whilst maintaining clarity and purity of tone - something which makes St John's stand out from other Cambridge Colleges.
A truly superb recording from the Naxos label once again, which enjoys pride of place amongst my Howells discs.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
This recording is absolutely sublime - a must for anybody even remotely interested in English choral music. I bought it purely for the track "like as the hart," which has long been my favourite anthem, and I was not disappointed by the St. John's performance of it. However, the highlight of this CD for me is the singing of psalm 121; I have never heard it sung like this before. It is the most awe-inspiring piece and the voice of the baritone singing it is majestic. It would be worth ten times the price to hear this. I can honestly recommend this to you as an amazing buy.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Herbert Howells music is a must for all interested in choir church music. His quiet and complex harmonies hit those special nerves that make you shiver in delight!
I strongly recommend his music to all.
I strongly recommend his music to all.
His Requiem my favourite work on this disc. I am not overly pleased at the low tempo on this recording, but it is still immensely enjoyable.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
St John's choir is renowned amongst the cognoscenti as the better of Cambridge University's two choirs (although both are now faced with stiff competition in the shape of the increasingly competent St John's Singers). I believe this is the first of the choir's releases to be issued on the budget Naxos label, and a very welcome decision this is - this music, by a comparatively neglected English composer, deserves a very wide circulation. This disc opens with a warm and flowing rendition of the St Paul's Canticles, redolent of a fine Stilton; at once tangy and richly complex. It is difficult to choose highlights from among the 76 minutes of vibrancy and passion, but the final "Take him, Earth, for cherishing" - which surely is to John F. Kennedy what Tavener's "Song for Athene" is to the late Princess of Wales - is utterly bewitching, and the organ soli (Paean for Organ and Rhapsody No. 3, played with youthful verve by Farrington) is a dynamic roller-coaster ride. In summary, this is a thoroughly enjoyable incursion into the mass market by the hitherto cloistered and rarified voices of St John's.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Highly recommended CD in choice of music and in general execution: a wonderful bargain at only £4.99. May I correct a surprising error in the liner-notes. Famously, and for very many years, Howells was closely connected with London's Royal College of Music, not the Royal Academy, as stated more than once in the notes. This CD will no doubt achieve world-wide sales:it seems to me to be of some importance to be factually accurate concerning such a leading English composer. Enjoy the music! - at any price, a must-have CD.
By NorahT
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I always find Howells music intensely moving with the combination of melody and vague disharmony. This recording is rich and full with excellent balance between the choral sounds and organ playing.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Aquinas
Format:Audio CD
Much to my loss, I have come (relatively) late to English Choral music; it really is wonderful. Listen to the "glory be" after the magnificat and nunc dimittis, its ecstatic soaring music, as religious music should be. The music reminds me of the final trio in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. And yet the music could not be more different. Much of this music is very gentle and contemplative. A "must" for those interested in modern English choral music.
5 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Dickon Kelly
Format:Audio CD
I felt that this performance, whilst being highly accurate, lacked the subtle emotional quality and elasticity of the recording by the Vasari singers. It is still a very decent recording, but if you are looking for just the requiem, Vasari is the one to go for.
Dickon Kelly
Dickon Kelly
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