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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Since the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, John Tavener's simple and powerful Song for Athene has been recorded umpteen times and has thus become an excellent standard by which to judge all the choirs who have attempted it. The version by the Choir of Kings College Cambridge is hyper-sophisticated with plenty of vibrato from the boys; the Choir of New College Oxford recording is smoothly buttery and breathy; and the version here from the Choir of St John's College Cambridge (while slightly less accurate than the other two) is urgent and driven. The acoustic of the St John's Chapel is a tad less resonant than some of the other collegiate chapels, and contributes to the harder edge of the choir's sound, but it also focuses attention on the choir as a collection of individual voices in a way which is thrillingly unique. Here they are on excellent form, and approach Tavener's blend of cathedral mysticism and Eastern chant with an English sense of drama. The mix is alluring and makes for an attractive Tavener compilation. --Warwick Thompson
Review
The Christmas Proclamation, God is with us, is the striking first item in this collection of John Tavener's shorter choral pieces. It was inspired, like so many of Tavener's works, by Greek Orthodox liturgy, rising in thrilling crescendo and punctuated at the end by fortissimo organ chords. The Song for Athene is here presented as an anthem rather than a processional. The longest work, Svyanti, with its cello solo magnetically played by Tim Hugh, echoes the example of Tavener's visionary cello work The Protecting Veil, while the shorter pieces include most of the favourite Taverner items. Superb singing throughout and vividly atmospheric sound. **** --Penguin Guide, January 2009
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent collection of John Tavener's work,
By Mick Gardner (Hoghton, Lancs, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Song for Athene - Svyati and other Choral Works (Audio CD)
All the Tavener "standards" are here (Song for Athene, The Lamb etc.) plus some less common pieces. The Funeral Ikos is the most wonderful thing I've ever heard, the Christmas Proclamation is simply spine-tingling and the Magnificat heart-stopping. The Svyati to finish it with - excellent.....
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
beautiful but repetitive music,
By
This review is from: Song for Athene - Svyati and other Choral Works (Audio CD)
On one level this is a great CD. Under the direction of Christopher Robinson the Choir of St John's College Cambridge have drunk deeply of the idiom of John Tavener's choral works, which combine Russian intensity with the classic British Choral tradition. They have transported themselves into his musical world and their performances are quite different than those on other CDs in this series of works by more conventionally British composers such as Stanford and Finzi: more urgent, more rapt, more other worldly.On the other hand the limitations of John Tavener's style are revealed. He talks a good talk about the wrong turning western music took at the beginning of the modern era and about returning to an earlier universal musical purity. But what does he give us? By the time I am half way through this disc I feel that I am being sentenced to an hour of stair walking as I hear yet another ascent and descent of the same scales. There is no doubt that taken one at a time these pieces are works of beauty. But taken together their repetitive nature is made obvious. There are also problems with the sound levels on the first few tracks. On God With Us the intrusions by the organ towards the end are too loud, and in Song for Athene there is too great a dynamic range. These tracks require the listener to have one hand on the volume control. After that things improve. There is one obvious piece of wrong information on the back cover of the CD. John Tavener is described as having a strong Greek Orthodox faith, when in fact he was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church for many years. The booklet notes are of a good standard and add to appreciation of the works
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Music of Great Depth, Beautifully Performed,
By
This review is from: Song for Athene - Svyati and other Choral Works (Audio CD)
This is a lovely collection of Tavener's choral music, perfect for introducing a newcomer to his style and leaving him or her wanting more. It includes the `Song for Athene', made famous by the Diana, Princess of Wales funeral, but it offers many more pieces, such as `The Lamb', and `Svyati', which show an even broader aspect of Tavener's soothing, peaceful style. This is music with great depth, suitable for accompanying meditation, for listening in the dark, or for reaching towards an understanding of life. The choir of St John's College, Cambridge and Christopher Robinson achieve a sound that perfectly suits the music.
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