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Home , Herbert Murrill, Incidental music, Judith (oratorio), Ralph Vaughan Williams, Three Shakespeare Songs

Two Songs from Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ INTRODUCTION Two Songs from Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ Herbert Murrill INTRODUCTION 1 O Mistress Mine 1.24 1 O Mistress Mine 1.24 2 Come Away, Death 3.30 When I began looking into this particular fi eld of I Sing, a fun and energetic setting of three poems 2 Come Away, Death 3.30 When I began looking into this particular fi eld of I Sing, a fun and energetic setting of three poems 3 Autumn Frank Bridge 3.47 repertoire I was rather taken aback and delighted taken from ’s collection ‘Leaves of repertoire I was rather taken aback and delighted taken from Walt Whitman’s collection ‘Leaves of 3 Autumn Frank Bridge 3.47 by the sheer volume and range of material Grass’ (the only non-British texts on this disc). Also 4 , When Soft Voices Die Frank Bridge 2.54 by the sheer volume and range of material Grass’ (the only non-British texts on this disc). Also 4 Music, When Soft Voices Die Frank Bridge 2.54 that I’d never come across before! A seemingly recorded here is the heart wrenching The Drowned that I’d never come across before! A seemingly recorded here is the heart wrenching The Drowned 5 The Bee Frank Bridge 1.13 inexhaustible supply of beautiful part songs and Lovers by Judith Bingham that was conceived 5 The Bee Frank Bridge 1.13 inexhaustible supply of beautiful part songs and Lovers by Judith Bingham that was conceived settings meant that many of my personal favourites to segue into Stanford’s iconic setting of Mary Three Shakespeare Songs Ralph Vaughan Williams settings meant that many of my personal favourites to segue into Stanford’s iconic setting of Mary 6 Full Fathom Five 3.22 I’d originally earmarked for this recording had to be Elizabeth Coleridge’s poem The Blue Bird. If this 6 Full Fathom Five 3.22 I’d originally earmarked for this recording had to be Elizabeth Coleridge’s poem The Blue Bird. If this 7 The Cloud-Capp’d Towers 2.25 put to one side. As with other Tenebrae recordings doesn’t bring a tear to your eye then nothing will! 7 The Cloud-Capp’d Towers 2.25 put to one side. As with other Tenebrae recordings doesn’t bring a tear to your eye then nothing will! 8 Over Hill, Over Dale 0.57 on the Bene Arte label I’ve aimed to strike a balance 8 Over Hill, Over Dale 0.57 on the Bene Arte label I’ve aimed to strike a balance Four Part-Songs, Op. 54 between well-known works and some lesser-known Thank you as always go to our wonderful team Four Part-Songs, Op. 54 Edward Elgar between well-known works and some lesser-known Thank you as always go to our wonderful team 9 There is Sweet Music 4.24 gems, old and new, that deserve to be up in lights. of Tenebrae singers and to Richard Baker, whose 9 There is Sweet Music 4.24 gems, old and new, that deserve to be up in lights. of Tenebrae singers and to Richard Baker, whose 10 Deep in My Soul 4.51 generosity made this recording possible. 10 Deep in My Soul 4.51 generosity made this recording possible. 11 O Wild West Wind 3.58 I received a huge amount of help in my research 11 O Wild West Wind 3.58 I received a huge amount of help in my research 12 Owls (An Epitaph) 2.52 from our generous benefactor Richard Baker, 12 Owls (An Epitaph) 2.52 from our generous benefactor Richard Baker, 13 Soft Music 2.04 himself a former chorister and choral scholar from himself a former chorister and choral scholar from 13 Soft Music Ernest Walker 2.04 King’s College, Cambridge, who has vast personal 14 The Drowned Lovers Judith Bingham 5.43 King’s College, Cambridge, who has vast personal 14 The Drowned Lovers Judith Bingham 5.43 experience of performing many of the works soloist: Martha McLorinan mezzo- experience of performing many of the works 15 The Blue Bird, Op. 119 Charles Villiers Stanford 4.10 included here. It was Richard who introduced me 15 The Blue Bird, Op. 119 Charles Villiers Stanford 4.10 included here. It was Richard who introduced me 16 On Time, Op. 142 Charles Villiers Stanford 5.16 to the two Shakespeare settings by Herbert Murrill. 16 On Time, Op. 142 Charles Villiers Stanford 5.16 to the two Shakespeare settings by Herbert Murrill. Most choral singers will have come across Murrill’s Nigel Short 2016 17 Song of June Jonathan Harvey 4.36 Most choral singers will have come across Murrill’s Nigel Short 2016 17 Song of June Jonathan Harvey 4.36 setting of the Canticles in E major and, like me, The Modern Man I Sing Bob Chilcott setting of the Canticles in E major and, like me, The Modern Man I Sing Bob Chilcott may not be aware of any other output from him. 18 The Runner 2.33 may not be aware of any other output from him. 18 The Runner 2.33 These pieces are exquisite and Murrill’s skill in 19 The Last Invocation 2.50 These pieces are exquisite and Murrill’s skill in 19 The Last Invocation 2.50 balancing wide-spread chords so that every note 20 One’s-Self I Sing 2.14 balancing wide-spread chords so that every note 20 One’s-Self I Sing 2.14 adds to the richness can’t be applauded enough and adds to the richness can’t be applauded enough and deserve to be included in any programme of music Total Timing 65.04 deserve to be included in any programme of music Total Timing 65.04 from this era! There are works from more recent from this era! There are works from more recent times including Bob Chilcott’s The Modern Man www.tenebrae-.com times including Bob Chilcott’s The Modern Man www.tenebrae-choir.com

2 3 2 3 Two Shakespeare Songs Moments such as a somewhat stunning ‘Weep’ at this miniature inspiration for Britten’s Ballad of The Cloud-Capp’d Towers is a masterful test-piece Herbert Murrill (1909-1952) the close of Come Away, Death possess a Gallic Green Broom. for to prove their collective tuning skills, richesse and there is a hint of a Walton-esque blues but has also become a favourite for its ravishing Herbert Murrill (1909-1952) fi ts the quintessential fl avour in this example. Three Shakespeare Songs colour-changes reminiscent of progressions in his image of a British organist- with another Ralph Vaughan Williams (1875-1958) 6th Symphony. ‘proper job’ in education and broadcasting. Autumn Following his time at Oxford he held a succession Frank Bridge (1879-1941) Ralph Vaughan Williams composed these choral Over Hill, Over Dale is in essence a Scherzo, with some similarities to the choral-scherzo (third of organist posts, became a professor of Autumn, composed in 1903, sets words by Shelley essays, somewhat reluctantly, as test pieces for movement) of his Sea Symphony. The keen listener composition at the RAM in his early twenties and and is in essence a dirge for the passing of summer the 1951 National Competition Festival of the might recognise the same interval-span on ‘hill’ rose to head of music at the BBC in 1936. His and nature’s blossoming. British Federation of Music. Since then they have formation was conservative – but he strayed from become a fi rm favourite as they combine a world and ‘dale’ as was used in the tolling-bell-effect in a predictable course with commissions for Frank Bridge is remembered largely through of (from his experience with Ravel) the fi rst song. his most successful student, , incidental music for fi lm documentaries and for with a journey through enharmonic wonders, and Four Part-Songs Op. 53 although he did not have a great following as the Group Company. It is now known tongue-tying tricks of choral enunciation. Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) that he served in the war effort as a sergeant a teacher of composition. Certainly his style at Bletchley Park where his musical skills were was quintessentially English-retrospective and Full Fathom Five is a play on the sound of tolling The Four Part-Songs Opus 53, written mainly in additionally put to good use. an attempt at richer and later, more ambitious bells, in multi-divided upper voices while the Rome in 1907, are examples of the large output techniques appears to have gained little attention. basses sing an undulating melody beneath. There of solo and choral songs, over one hundred in The two settings: O Mistress Mine and Come is a little quirk though. If one takes the fi rst four number, which Elgar composed from 1889 to 1909. Music, when Soft Voices Die Away, Death are from Twelfth Night, the former notes of either ‘O taste and see’ or the tune: Frank Bridge There is Sweet Music (text by Tennyson) is an being words of Feste, the jester. The normality of ‘For all the saints’ by the same composer, and sings ambitious experiment in bi-tonality, the women’s O Mistress Mine echoes the conventions of Gerald Music, when Soft Voices Die begins in the sound- them simultaneously, the result is the cluster-chord voices singing in A-fl at while the lower voices Finzi. The fi nal cadence has a remarkable eyebrow- world of earlier English madrigals, yet there is the on ‘Ding’. The , on ‘Dong’, then provide answer in G major. Clearly intended to be a raiser for the upper , just when all seemed unmistakable homage in the writing to his own that clanging dissonance which employs the same demanding competition piece, in this case it was plain sailing, whereas the harmonic language of teacher, Stanford. interval inherent in bell overtones. A central, for Elgar’s friend, Canon Gorton and the 1909 Come Away, Death comes as quite a surprise. Whilst contrasting section is classic Vaughan Williams: The Bee Morecambe Festival. Murrill shares a free, homophonic word-setting parallel triads which transform, punning beautifully Frank Bridge with many of this era, where the speech-fl ow has with the text, into the strangest superimposition of Deep in My Soul (Byron), while restricting itself to an effortless precedence over the tyrannies of The Bee is a fanciful scherzo, complete with chords on ‘strange’. the same key for all the singers, travels far and wide conventional bar-groupings, the slightly tortuous buzzing effects. But the keen ear might detect in through keys. There is perhaps a love interest in chromatic lines tend towards the multi-tonal. the composer’s mind, the dedicatee having been an

4 5 American acquaintance, Julia Worthington, known The Drowned Lovers On Time Op. 142 contrapuntal techniques, in a vocally wispy in Elgar’s circles as ‘Pippa’. Written at the behest of Judith Bingham (b.1952) Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) treatment, using tintinnabulation, drones and Dr W G McNaught, with whom Elgar acted as an repeated speech-effects. adjudicator at the Morecambe Festival. Both words and music were written by Judith Written in 1914 to celebrate the jubilee of the Bingham inspired by a swim in a Bavarian lake and conductor of the Bristol Madrigal Society, Daniel The Modern Man I Sing O Wild, West Wind was given its premier there was intended to be a partner work for The Blue Wilberforce Rootham, this opus 142 setting is an Bob Chilcott (b.1955) in 1909. Written in the same period as the First Bird by Stanford. Judith has spent much of her exhortation by Milton (c.1563-1647) for Time itself This is one of Chilcott’s earliest choral successes Symphony, it reveals its origins in the complexity of musical life with feet in two camps, as singer and to fl y on its way. Milton himself was no stranger to after his time in the Kings Singers and as an its writing, replete with ambitious key-modulations. composer. Many of her infl uences are not simply thinking on higher things and, while on the face orchestrator, written for the leading Lutheran from the abstract but are enriched from nature and of it this text makes no reference to the Divine, it Owls has some hint of the inner mysteries of the Gustavus Choir (Minnesota). from the realm of ideas and from other art forms. clearly implies that Man has the promise of eternal Enigma Variations. There is an emptiness and lack The Drowned Lovers is scored for mezzo solo and life and should be joyful about it. The choral format The Runner employs ‘cross-handed’ rhythmic of any resolution which Elgar refused to explain, eight-part chorus. seems perfect for stereo recording, long before its vocalization and canonic ‘chasing’ to suggest the even to his friend, Jaeger. birth, and the fi nely crafted writing throws in some pumping limbs of the runner, use of panting effects The Blue Bird Op. 119 Soft Music surprises such as some sudden modulations and a and even the fugal technique of stretto, where Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) Ernest Walker (1870-1949) striking fl attened-ninth chord on ‘consum’d’. thematic material is superimposed closer in time to give an accelerating effect. Ernest Walker had a lifelong association with This tender and exquisite setting of words by Mary Song of June The Last Invocation is a tender song which, in a Oxford where he studied and later became Director Coleridge is in no sense the typical Stanford of Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) similar vein to Vaughan Williams, uses a bell-like of Music of Balliol College and whose pupils routine, choral fare. The serenity of the picture , but in this case upwards from the included , and painted owes something to the unorthodox use of Jonathan Harvey was described by fellow- bass, matched to a wide-open-space melody on top - Herbert Murrill. unresolved, secondary seventh chords - the piece composer, Michael Berkeley as wearing two hats: tapers away on one - and a judicious and apparently the predictable type of English, establishment consciously American? His Soft Music, for six-part choir SSATBB refl ects timeless technique of hanging, lengthy notes which composer, whose face fi tted with, for example, One’s-Self I Sing is a paean of , starting his apparent leaning towards the mystical in nature, allow no ripples on the surface of this particular that world in which his own son entered as a gruffl y in the basses but becoming increasingly and the brief text by the poet, Robert Herrick (1591- lake. It might just be deliberate on the composer’s chorister at Winchester Cathedral, and also a rather rhythmically complex. The tenors own the melody 1674) suits his own simple, syllabic style, featuring part, but as often as not the top line and the bass unconventional world of the experimental sounds and the women’s voices provide little fanfares seemingly elementary scales in thirds, unexpectedly part move in contrary motion. Is this perhaps the of electronics-plus-speech. on top, the whole effect reminiscent of William thrown off course by chromatic and enharmonic bluebird’s refl ected view from above the still water? Song of June is a setting of Wilfred Owen’s 1914 Walton’s Cantico del Sole, in an athletic, Choral- shifts in a vivid illumination of the words. poem about youth and freedom and it exudes mode. spiritual dimensions of light and love, using © 2016 Greg Murray

6 7 1. O Mistress Mine My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown. To his dwelling. So, come, come! A thousand thousand sighs to save, Come, Months, come away; “Hum!” O Mistress mine where are you roaming? Lay me, O, where Put on white, black and gray; And the bee buzzed down from the heat. O stay and hear, your true love’s coming, Sad true lover never fi nd my grave, Let your light sisters play – That can sing both high and low. To weep there! Ye, follow the bier And the bee buzzed up in the cold. Trip no further pretty sweeting. Of the dead cold Year, When the fl ower was withered and old. Text: Journeys end in lovers’ meeting, “Have you still any honey, my dear?” Every wise man’s son doth know. And make her grave green with tear on tear. She said, “It’s the fall of the year, 3. Autumn But come, come!” What is love, ‘tis not hereafter, Text: “Hum!” Present mirth, hath present laughter: The warm sun is falling, the bleak wind is wailing, And the bee buzzed off in the cold. What’s to come, is still unsure. The bare boughs are sighing, the pale fl owers are 4. Music, When Soft Voices Die In delay there lies no plenty, dying, Text: Alfred Lord Tennyson Then come kiss me sweet and twenty: And the Year Music, when soft voices die, Youth’s a stuff will not endure. Vibrates in the memory; 6. Full Fathom Five Is lying. Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Come, Months, come away, Live within the sense they quicken. Full fathom fi ve thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made; 2. Come Away, Death From November to May, In your saddest array; Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Those are pearls that were his eyes: Come away, come away, death, Follow the bier Are heap’d for the belovèd’s bed; Nothing of him that doth fade, And in sad cypress let me be laid. Of the dead cold Year, And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich Fly away, fl y away, breath; Love itself shall slumber on. and strange. I am slain by a fair cruel maid. And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Text: Alfred Lord Tennyson My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, Ding-dong. O, prepare it! The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is Hark! now I hear them, – ding-dong bell. 5. The Bee My part of death, no one so true crawling, Text: William Shakespeare Did share it. The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knelling The bee buzzed up in the heat. For the Year; Not a fl ower, not a fl ower sweet, “I am faint for your honey, my sweet.” The fl ower said, “Take it, my dear; On my black coffi n let there be strown. The blithe swallows are fl own, and the lizards For now is the spring of the year. Not a friend, not a friend greet each gone

8 9 7. The Cloud-Capp’d Towers 9. There is Sweet Music 11. O Wild West Wind What is it? ... Nothing . What is that? ... Nothing; The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, There is sweet music here that softer falls O wild West Wind! A wild thing hurt but mourns in the night, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Than petals from blown roses on the grass, Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: And it cries Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, Or night-dews on still waters between walls What if my leaves are falling like its own! In its dread, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass; The tumult of thy mighty Till it lies Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff Music that gentlier on the spirit lies, Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Dead at the foot of the tree; As dreams are made on, and our little life Than tir’d eyelids upon tir’d eyes; Sweet tho’ in sadness. All that can be is said. Is rounded with a sleep. Music that brings sweet sleep Be thou, Spirit fi erce, Text: William Shakespeare Down from the blissful skies. My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! What is it? ... Nothing. Here are cool mosses deep, Drive my dead thoughts over the universe, What is that? ... Ah! 8. Over Hill, Over Dale And thro’ the moss the ivies creep, Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! A marching slow of unseen feet, And in the stream the long-leaved fl owers weep, And, by the incantation of this verse, That is all: Over hill, over dale, And from the craggy ledgethe poppy hangs in sleep. Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth But a bier, spread Thorough bush, thorough briar, Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! With a pall, Text: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92) Over park, over pale, Be through my lips to unawakened earth Is now at the foot of the tree; The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, All that could be is said; Thorough fl ood, thorough fi re 10. Deep in My Soul I do wander everywhere. If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? Is it – what? ... Nothing. Swifter than the moonè’s sphere; Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells, Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Text: Edward Elgar And I serve the fairy queen, Lonely and lost to light for evermore, To dew her orbs upon the green. Save when to thine my heart responsive swells, 12. Owls, an Epitaph 13. Soft Music The cowslips tall her pensioners be; Then trembles into silence as before. In their gold coats spots you see; There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp What is that? ... Nothing; The mellow touch of music most doth wound Those be rubies, fairy favours, Burns the slow fl ame, eternal – but unseen; The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle; The soul, when it doth rather sigh, than sound. In those freckles live their savours: Which not the darkness of Despair can damp, That is all; Text: Robert Herrick (1591-1674) I must go seek some dew-drops here, Though vain its ray as it had never been. They are dead And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear. As they fall, – Text: Lord Byron (1788-1824) Text: William Shakespeare Dead at the foot of the tree; All that can be is said.

10 11 14. The Drowned Lovers 15. The Blue Bird With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine Flashes About the supreme Throne Of swimmers carving through the sparkling cold. Solo: The lake lay blue below the hill, Of him, t’whose happy-making sight alone, In the deepest reaches of the lake, O’er it, as I looked, there fl ew When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime, Fleshes I and my love do lie. Across the waters, cold and still, Then all this Earthy grosnes quit, Gleaming with wetness to the morning gold. I clung to him, and pulled him down A bird whose wings were palest blue. Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit, And so we both did die. Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee A mead Th’uncaring clear blue waters The sky above was blue at last, O Time. Bordered about with warbling waterbrooks. Over our heads did close, The sky beneath me blue in blue, Text: (1608-1674) And shoals of fi shes, sightlessly, A moment, ere the bird had passed, A maid In clouds around us rose. It caught his image as he fl ew. Laughing the love-laugh with me; proud of looks. 17. Song of June His pale green eyes were cold in death, Text: Mary Coleridge (1861-1907) His love had been a lie, Leaves The heat But now we share a watery death, Throbbing between the upland and the peak. 16. On Time Murmuring by myriads in the shimmering trees. Forever intertwined. Lives Her heart Text: Judith Bingham (b.1952) Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race, Wakening with wonder in the Pyrenees. Quivering with passion to my pressed cheek. Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours, Chorus: Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace; Birds Braiding Blue below And glut thy self with what thy womb devours, Cheerily chirping in the early day. Of fl oating fl ames across the mountain brow. Cold and still Which is no more then what is false and vain, Beneath me And meerly mortal dross; Bards Brooding Cold and still So little is our loss, Singing of summer, scything through the hay. Of stillness; and a sighing of the bough. Blue in blue So little is thy gain. His image For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d, Bees Stirs Cold and still And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d, Shaking the heavy dews from bloom and frond. Of leafl ets in the glooml soft peal-showers Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss Text: Verse stolen from Coleridge by the composer (see track 12) With an individual kiss; Boys Stars And Joy shall overtake us as a fl ood, Bursting the surface of the ebony pond. Expanding with the starr’d nocturnal fl owers When every thing that is sincerely good

And perfectly divine, Text: Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

12 13 18. The Runner 20. One’s-Self I sing

On a fl at road runs the well-train’d runner; One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person, He is lean and sinewy, with muscular legs; Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. He is thinly clothed—he leans forward as he runs, With lightly closed fi sts, and arms partially rais’d. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy Text: Walt Whitman (1819-1892) for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, 19. The Last Invocation The Female equally with the Male I sing. At the last, tenderly, Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, From the walls of the powerful, fortress’d house, Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws From the clasp of the knitted locks—from the keep divine, of the well-closed doors, The Modern Man I sing. Let me be wafted. Text: Walt Whitman Let me glide noiselessly forth; With the key of softness unlock the locks - with a whisper, Set ope the doors, O Soul!

Tenderly! be not impatient! (Strong is your hold, O mortal fl esh! Strong is your hold, O love)

Text: Walt Whitman

14 0 Tenebrae Tenebrae is a dedicated advocate for contemporary Soprano * Elgar – There is Sweet Music and Vaughan Williams – Three Shakespeare Songs only. , having worked with Judith Bingham, Zoë Brookshaw * Ben Alden † † † † Described as “phenomenal” () and Alexander Levine, Paul Mealor, Joby Talbot, Hilary Natalie Clifton Griffi th * Jeremy Budd † † † ** Stanford – On Time and Murrill – O Mistress Mine only. “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), Tann, Sir John Tavener and Will Todd, in addition Grace Davidson* Joshua Cooter *** award-winning choir Tenebrae, under the direction to recent releases featuring music by Ola Gjeilo and Elizabeth Drury † David de Winter † *** Elgar – Deep in my soul, Elgar – O Wild West Wing and Elgar – Owls only. of Nigel Short, is one of the world’s leading vocal Alexander L’Estrange. The choir is renowned for its Joanna Forbes L’Estrange Ben Hymas * ensembles renowned for its passion and precision. highly-acclaimed interpretations of choral music Emilia Morton † † † Nicholas Madden † † † **** All works except those denoted by three crosses. with repertoire ranging from hauntingly passionate Bethany Partridge † Tom Robson † ** In 2012 Tenebrae were the fi rst-ever ensemble to works of the Renaissance through to contemporary Josephine Stephenson † All works except those denoted by a single be multi-nominated in the same category for the choral masterpieces. Katie Trethewey *** Bass asterisk. BBC Music Magazine Awards, securing the accolade Geoff Clapham **** Tenebrae is regularly engaged with the world’s fi nest † † Chilcott – The Modern Man I Sing (mvmt.1), of Best Choral Performance for their recording of Alto Gabriel Crouch * and has appeared at major national and Bingham – The Drowned Lovers, Stanford Victoria’s Requiem Mass, 1605. The following year David Allsopp * Joseph Cullen * – The Bluebird and works denoted by three international festivals and venues including the crosses only. the choir’s recording of Fauré’s Requiem with the Mark Chambers * Nicholas Garrett † † † BBC Proms, City of London Festival, Edinburgh London Symphony was nominated for Hannah Cooke † William Gaunt * † † † International Festival, , Leipzig Elgar – Four Part Songs and Vaughan the Gramophone Awards, having been described Susanna Fairbairn * Simon Grant * Williams – Three Shakespeare Songs only. Gewandhaus (Germany) and Montreux Choral as “the very best Fauré Requiem on disc”. Tenebrae’s Harriet Hougham Slade † Jimmy Holliday † † Festival (Switzerland). Its inspirational workshop † † † † – All works except those denoted by ever-increasing discography has brought about Martha McLorinan Stephen Kennedy method, ‘The Tenebrae Effect’, designed to challenge three asterisks. collaborations with Signum, Decca Classics, Eleanor Minney *** Andrew Mahon † and advance every participant by instilling skills Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, LSO Live, Adrian Peacock * essential to a Tenebrae performance. and Warner Classics. In 2014 the choir’s recording Gregory Skidmore † † † † of Russian Orthodox music was launched on its Tenebrae’s vision is to deliver dramatic Simon Whiteley † † † own label, Bene Arte, receiving glowing reviews programming, fl awless performances and and reaching number 1 in the UK Specialist unforgettable experiences. Through Tenebrae’s core Classical Chart. In 2016 Tenebrae’s Brahms and values of ‘Passion and Precision’, and continued Bruckner Motets recording, in benefi t of dedication to performance of the highest quality, Macmillan Cancer Support, gained the choir audiences around the world experience the power another BBC Music Magazine Choral Award. and intimacy of the

16 17 Nigel Short Tracks 6-9 recorded in All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, on 5th November 2010. Producer: Nicholas Parker Award-winning conductor Nigel Short has built Sound Engineer: Mike Hatch up an enviable reputation for his recording and live performance work with leading orchestras and Tracks 10-11 recorded in All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, on 15th July 2015. ensembles across the world. Producer: Adrian Peacock Sound Engineer: Andrew Mellor A singer of great acclaim, Nigel was a member Tracks 1-2, 12-13, 16 & 19-20 recorded in All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, on 24th November 2015. of the renowned vocal ensemble The King’s Producer: Adrian Peacock Singers from 1994–2000. Upon leaving the Sound Engineer: Andrew Mellor group, he formed Tenebrae, a virtuosic choir that embraced his dedication for passion and precision. Tracks 3-5, 14-15 & 17-18 recorded in All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, on 25th November 2015. Under his direction, Tenebrae has collaborated Producer: Nicholas Parker with internationally acclaimed orchestras and Sound Engineer: Andrew Mellor instrumentalists and now enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s fi nest vocal ensembles. Edited: Claire Hay & Andrew Mellor Mixed and Mastered: Andrew Mellor

To date, Nigel has conducted the Aurora Orchestra, Ave Verum Corpus with the Chamber Orchestra of Cover Image : Shutterstock Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Chamber Europe and two discs of music by Will Todd with Design and Artwork: Woven Design Orchestra, English Concert, London Symphony the English Chamber Orchestra. www.wovendesign.co.uk Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Photography: Chris O’Donovan Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble Nigel has vast recording experience having www.chrisodonovan.com and, for Baroque repertoire, The English conducted for many of the world’s major record P 2016 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Tenebrae Records Ltd. Concert. He has directed the London Symphony labels including Decca Classics, Deutsche © 2016 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Tenebrae Records Ltd. Orchestra alongside Tenebrae in a live recording Grammophon, EMI Classics, LSO Live, Signum and Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and of Fauré’s Requiem, which was nominated for the Warner Classics. As a Gramophone award-winning will render the infringer liable to an action by law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Gramophone Awards (2013) and since then, he producer, Nigel works with many of the UK’s Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, , photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. has conducted the orchestra at St. Paul’s Cathedral leading professional choirs and vocal ensembles as part of the City of London Festival. Other including Alamire, Ex Cathedra, Gallicantus and SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middx UB6 7JD, UK. orchestral recordings include Mozart’s Requiem and The King’s Singers. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] www.signumrecords.com

18 19 Brahms & Bruckner: Motets A Very English Christmas Tenebrae, Nigel Short Tenebrae, Nigel Short SIGCD430 SIGCD902

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