ALEX

WOOLF ORGAN GRAY REQUIEM ANTHONY

|

VOX LUNA CELLO CELLO

NICKY SPENCE TENOR | IAIN BURNSIDE PIANO PHILIP HIGHAM ALEX WOOLF (b. 1995) REQUIEM Nicky Spence tenor (tracks 3, 6, 8) Iain Burnside piano (tracks 3, 6, 8) 1 Introit [4:26] Philip Higham cello (tracks 1–4, 6–8, 10) 2 Kyrie [7:33] Vox Luna (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10) 3 The Fall [7:34] Anthony Gray organ (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 8, 10) 4 Offertory [4:44] Alex Woolf conductor 5 Sanctus [4:20] Christopher Mitchell alto, Joseph Edwards bass

6 A Crowd of Cares [3:24]

7 Agnus Dei [5:45] Gwendolen Martin soprano, Sophie Timms alto, William Wright tenor, Joseph Edwards bass

8 The Year’s Midnight [6:33]

Production supported by the Gemma Classical Music Trust (Registered Charity No 1121090) 9 Pie Jesu [5:45] http://gemmatrust.com/ 10 In Paradisum [5:37] Production supported by The Finzi Trust (Registered Charity No 313047) Gwendolen Martin soprano https://www.geraldfinzi.org/ Total playing time [55:46] Alex Woolf is supported by the PRS Foundation’s Open Fund https://prsfoundation.com/ premiere recording

Recorded on 24-26 November 2019 at Cover image: Trygve Skogrand, St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood The Dance (2014), digital collage / private www.delphianrecords.com/join Producer: Paul Baxter collection; © Trygve Skogrand/Bridgeman Engineer: Matthew Swan Design: Drew Padrutt 24-bit digital editing: Matthew Swan Booklet editor: John Fallas 24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter Delphian Records Ltd – Edinburgh – UK Session photography © Delphian Records www.delphianrecords.com A note from the composer The requiem in history and today Grant them eternal rest, Lord, Sanctus sees both choir and organ at their What constitutes a requiem in the twenty- the fear and dread associated with the Last and let perpetual light shine upon them. most emphatic, with cello absent for the first first century? Our understanding of the genre Judgment and a potential descent to hell – time. The first half of this movement is full of is shaped by its canonical works – settings were removed from the liturgy. The use of The opening lines of a Requiem Mass contain ecstatic praise, while the second points toward by composers such as Mozart, Cherubini, the vernacular was also sanctioned as part of its most essential prayer. Perhaps nowhere the more introspective mood of the second Berlioz, Verdi or Fauré. We usually encounter these reforms. are our profoundest hopes for the departed Clarke setting, A Crowd of Cares. Here, organ them in concert performances rather than in more succinctly and beautifully expressed, joins with cello to act as a musical bridge their original context as part of a funeral mass, Yet the requiem genre had already moved in language rich with metaphor. ‘Eternal rest’ between sacred and secular texts – between where their functions included interceding on from the church to the concert hall much here is no mere slumber, but rather the full the collective sentiment of a choir and the behalf of the dead, providing consolation for earlier. Mozart’s (and Süssmayr’s) setting attainment of God’s inheritance after the solitary reflection of a soloist. The choir returns the bereaved and also (certainly in the cases may have been the first one to be performed toils of life; ‘perpetual light’ signifies all the a cappella in the Agnus Dei; when the cello of Cherubini, Berlioz and Verdi) celebrating the outside a church when it featured in a benefit good that flows from God. Yet at their core, rejoins, it is increasingly emboldened and memory of famous and important deceased. concert for the composer’s widow and these words convey a simple and universal expressive, pushing through the expanding As members of a concert audience we are children in 1793, while those by Cherubini message: rest in peace. choral texture and emerging above it. invited to consider the meaning of death in (his Requiem in C minor), Berlioz and Verdi more general ways, whether or not we are were premiered as part of a sacred ceremony Encapsulating all that follows, these are the The Year’s Midnight, in its textual ascent personally affected by the loss of a loved one yet then moved straight into the secular only lines of text I set in my own Requiem’s from earth to sky, from falling leaves to a at the time. Hence we can appreciate the sphere. Dvořák’s setting for the Birmingham Introit. This opening movement begins in rainbow, acts as a fitting prelude to the final aestheticisation and sublimation provided by Music Festival (premiered in 1891) may be darkness, gradually coming into focus through two movements, which appeal again for rest texts and music differently, not reacting on the first requiem by a ‘major’ composer the cello’s opening solo and in the choral and then for angels to lead the departed into the basis of an immediate emotional need but written for immediate use in the concert hall. entries which follow. The Kyrie’s appeal paradise. By invoking the language of The Fall to adopting a broader, more reflective viewpoint. With this secularisation of the genre came for mercy then runs the gamut of emotion, refer no longer to a ‘fall from grace’ but rather a greater freedom to ‘play’ with the text. beginning as an urgent plea and ending as to a natural cycle of renewal, this movement This broader perspective might be considered While leaving out certain sections had always solemn prayer. advances the despair-to-hope, sin-to-redemption part of the modern definition of a requiem: a been common (after all, whatever was not narrative which I hope permeates the work piece of music that engages with death while composed would still be represented by Where a ‘Dies irae’ might be expected, I as a whole. The entirely a cappella Pie Jesu retaining some – if sometimes rather distant Gregorian chant during the mass), composers instead offer the first of three settings of which follows sees the choir at both its most – link to the ‘traditional’ requiem genre. Of now started moving words around, adding poems by Gillian Clarke. The Fall describes a prayerful and – later – its most ecstatic, as the course, from the point of view of the Roman new texts (even to the point of replacing different ‘day of wrath’ – September 11, 2001. homophonic texture eventually shatters into Catholic liturgy any piece that does not the liturgical texts entirely) and also turning For Clarke’s combination of a very human intense, rhythmically free declamation. Finally, restrict itself to the liturgical text would not to languages other than Latin. Brahms’s immediacy with powerful religious allegory, we In Paradisum surveys much of the music that be regarded as suitable to feature in a funeral Ein deutsches Requiem (1868), with its enter the more intimate sound-world of solo has preceded it, until – recalling the very first mass. This is complicated further by the fact non-liturgical German text, probably marked tenor, cello and piano. The Offertorywhich choral entry of the Introit – it weaves its own that the traditional text was in fact altered a breakthrough for this approach. Despite follows becomes almost a response to Clarke’s course upwards, toward that perpetual light. in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, its title it would not have been regarded as words, its appeal that the departed ‘fall not into when several sections – particularly those a ‘genuine’ requiem by most listeners at the darkness’ acquiring new significance. © 2020 Alex Woolf (such as the ‘Dies irae’ sequence) highlighting time, whereas today, most of us have no The requiem in history and today problem accepting it as one. This is because aeternam’ excludes the psalm verses and the way. Woolf unites the two spheres by means Fauré’s Requiem (or that by Maurice Duruflé, the twentieth century has dissolved generic repeat of the antiphon; the Offertory omits of the solo cello that features in both worlds, who was in turn influenced by Fauré). Their norms; nowadays a piece of music can be both the ‘Sed signifer sanctus Michael’ and directly interacting with the vocal parts in an requiems are intended to be suitable for called symphony, string quartet or requiem the ‘Hostias’ sections; the ‘In Paradisum’ often responsorial or imitative way. liturgical use, avoiding the use of orchestras without having to display any of the structural dispenses with two lines of text; while in the and elaborate vocal solo parts that would or functional features hitherto associated with Agnus Dei there is no ‘sempiternam’ added to However, there are also significant differences restrict performances to professional these genres – except their title. Yet the latter the final repetition of the plea to the lamb of between the two works: Britten uses Owen’s concert situations. Woolf’s Requiem is crucial: it ensures that even if there is no God. Conversely, Woolf includes three recent poetry to critique the positions expressed in the expects professionals in both the solo and reference to the ‘original’ generic traditions, poems by Gillian Clarke; these counterpoint the liturgical texts, and the vivid depictions of the hell accompanimental parts, but his musical style a listener’s reception will be guided by his liturgical text with a more modern reflection on on earth that was trench warfare contrast often is accessible and engaging. In the omission or her knowledge of the norms represented dying and loss. brutally with the hope and consolation offered of the ‘Dies irae’ and the inclusion of the ‘In by most of the canonic requiems which – by many of the Latin words. Gillian Clarke’s Paradisum’ (which is part of the Office of the despite being centuries old – still dominate In its structure the work invites comparison poems also interact directly with the Latin texts Dead yet not the Mass for the Dead proper, the concert and recording scene. Hence when with Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Britten surrounding them, but in a less confrontational and therefore only included in some requiem encountering a work such as David Popper’s similarly juxtaposes the text of the Latin way – they are rather like commentaries that settings), Woolf’s selection of movements Requiem (1891; a purely instrumental piece requiem mass with modern-day poetry – in help make the age-old words of the Latin also mirrors the choices made by Fauré and for three cellos and orchestra) or Frederick his case, poems by Wilfred Owen reflecting requiem more applicable to our time. Duruflé. Placing the ‘Pie Jesu’ and particularly Delius’s ‘pagan’ Requiem (1922, with a very Owen’s experiences in the trenches of the the ‘In Paradisum’ at the end ensures the individual, Schopenhauer- and Nietzsche- First World War. Like Britten, Woolf creates Furthermore, Britten’s War Requiem is, of most consoling and reassuring conclusion inspired selection of English texts), the clearly contrasted sound-worlds for these course, much larger in scale than Woolf’s possible to this requiem for our times. title ‘Requiem’ is likely to frame audiences’ two spheres. Both composers set the Latin piece, using larger and more varied forces: approach to their reception as they will try to texts chorally (Britten uses a mixed choir as gathering and rehearsing its several choirs, © 2020 Wolfgang Marx interpret what they hear in relation to their well as a boys’ choir, with a soprano soloist orchestras and soloists is difficult and general knowledge of the older, better-known also being associated with this sphere) and expensive. Although, at 55 minutes, Woolf’s Wolfgang Marx is a lecturer at University representatives of the genre. assign the modern poetry to soloists. Woolf Requiem is substantial in its own right, its College Dublin. His research interests include places his choruses in a religious sphere smaller forces mean a performance can be the representation of death in music, with a Following this modern requiem tradition, Alex by accompanying them with organ (with organised much more easily; in that respect particular focus on requiem compositions. He Woolf’s use of the traditional text is a selective the notable exception of a few a cappella it is perhaps more closely related to Gabriel is editor of the series ‘Dublin Death Studies’. one. Engaging with those sections that sections), while pairing the solo voice particularly inspire him, he leaves out entire with piano (though the organ also remains movements like the ‘Dies irae’ or the ‘Lux intermittently present in two of the three aeterna’ (in the latter’s place stands the ‘Pie movements concerned). In both works the Jesu’, which expresses a similar sentiment yet choral sections often move in a comparatively is normally positioned between the Sanctus slow, serene style, while the music for the and the Agnus Dei), while shortening others poems tends to engage with their words in to varying degrees: the opening ‘Requiem a more individual, expressive and dramatic Texts and translations 1 Introit Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Grant them eternal rest, Lord, The slow evolution of the world is over. et lux perpetua luceat eis. and let perpetual light shine upon them. And never again will retina, or memory, or soul be free of our second fall from grace, or be washed clean of that stain. 2 Kyrie Gillian Clarke (b. 1937) Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy. Christe eleison. Christ have mercy. Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy. 4 Offertory Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, libera Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, set free the 3 The Fall animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de souls of all the faithful departed from the paenis inferni et de profundo lacu. Libera punishment of hell and from the deep pit. Set We watched them fall, eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, them free from the lion’s mouth, so that hell like leaves, rubble, dust, ne cadant in obscurum. Quam olim Abrahae does not swallow them, so that they fall not limbs akimbo on the air promisisti et semini eius. into darkness.

as if arms could be wings, Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, libera Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, set free the as if men and women could be angels, animas omnium fidelium defunctorum. souls of all the faithful departed. as if birds might spread their wings, slow their fall, lend them flight, as if God would extend a hand 5 Sanctus and set them down into safe hands. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Lord God of Sabaoth. Too far to hear their screams, Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua: Heaven and earth are full of your glory: or the screech of accelerating air Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. stuffing our mouth with ashes, filling the lungs of the falling, Benedictus qui venit Blessed is he that comes of the fallen, in nomine Domini: in the name of the Lord: of the fleeing … Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. Texts and translations

6 A Crowd of Cares When there comes over me and the ice melts, a crowd of cares, and the seas rise. I ponder my fears, Look at the trees! breathless as if I’d been running, Every leaf-scar is a bud and I weep. expecting a future. The earth speaks in parables. I grieve for the dear one, The burning bush. The rainbow. the dear one I loved, Promises. Promises. the glorious stag. Gillian Clarke I ponder my fears, and I weep.

Gillian Clarke 9 Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Loving Lord Jesus, grant them rest.

7 Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins 10 In Paradisum dona eis requiem. of the world, grant them rest. In paradisum deducant te angeli. May angels lead you into paradise.

Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum May the choir of angels receive you, and 8 The Year’s Midnight Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam with Lazarus, who was once a poor man, The flown, the fallen, habeas requiem. may you have eternal rest. the golden ones, the deciduous dead, all gone to ground, to dust, to sand, borne on the shoulders of the wind. Gillian Clarke’s poems are used by kind permission. Listen! They are whispering ‘The Fall’ appears in Making Beds for the Dead (Carcanet Press, 2004); ‘The Year’s Midnight’ in Selected Poems now while the world talks, (Picador, 2016). ‘A Crowd of Cares’ is unpublished. Biographies Nicky Spence is one of featured recitalist at Wigmore Hall, London Scotland’s proudest and on other stages across the world. sons. His unique skills His recent album of vocal works by Janáček, as a singing actor and including the song cycle The Diary of One the rare honesty of his Who Disappeared, was Vocal category winner musicianship have earned in the 2020 BBC Music Magazine Awards. him a place at the top of

© Bertie© Watson the classical music profession. He made his debut in New York before the age of thirty, and is now safely inhabiting the repertoire of Strauss, Janáček and Wagner. Pianist Iain Burnside Recently described by as ‘a tenor has appeared in recital who combines heroic tone with a poetic with many of the world’s sensibility that takes the breath away’, leading singers. His he is fulfilling his exciting potential as a recordings straddle an Heldentenor, having recently made his role exuberantly eclectic debut as Parsifal to great acclaim, with The repertoire, from Beethoven

Hallé under Sir Mark Elder. Media TallWall © and before to the to the Gramophone Award-winning NMC Songbook He made strong debuts at The Royal (2009 – ‘Contemporary’ category) and Opera (Covent Garden), English National beyond. Delphian outings include two Opera and Scottish Opera, and has volumes of Schubert songs, with Ailish gone on to appear regularly at L’Opéra Tynan (DCD34165) and Roderick Williams National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival (DCD34170) respectively, and multi-singer Opera, Deutsche Staatsoper, La Monnaie sets of Rachmaninov (DCD34127, 3 CDs) (Brussels), , The Metropolitan and Medtner (DCD34177, 2 CDs). ‘Seven Opera (New York), Opéra National de Lyon, phenomenal young singers … Burnside the Teatro Real (Madrid), Dutch National remains a firm, clear companion throughout,’ Opera and Oper Frankfurt. wrote BBC Music Magazine, naming the Rachmaninov box its ‘Choral and Song Nicky gives prolific recitals, and has recorded Choice’ for May 2014. ‘The results are over twenty recital discs. He is a regular electrifying,’ concurred . Biographies Vox Luna is a UK-based vocal ensemble Dreamcoat and his own co-authored A Very Away from the piano Burnside is active as Philip’s two solo recordings for Delphian directed by Alex Woolf. Described by Classic Brexit Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe. In a writer and broadcaster. As presenter of Records, of the Britten and Bach solo suites FM as ‘absolutely glorious’, the choir is 2019 he was shortlisted in the final of the BBC Radio 3’s Voices he won a Sony Radio (DCD34125 and DCD34150 respectively), fast establishing a reputation for its vibrant BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition with his Award. His play A Soldier and a Maker, have received considerable praise, including performances, eclectic programming and setting of ‘Go to the Child’. based on the life of Ivor Gurney and devised both Gramophone Editor’s Choice and BBC championing of works by living composers. at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Music Magazine ‘Instrumental Choice’ for Since its founding in 2018, the choir has was performed at the Barbican Centre and the Britten. He enjoys collaborations with enjoyed numerous performances throughout Cheltenham Festival and broadcast by Radio pianists Alasdair Beatson and Susan Tomes, the UK, collaborating with a wide range of 3 on Armistice Day. Iain is Artistic Director violinists Erich Höbarth and Alexander renowned soloists. Requiem is Vox Luna’s of the Ludlow English Song Weekend and Janiczek, the Navarra and Benyounes debut recording. Alex Woolf is an award-winning British Artistic Consultant to Grange Park Opera. string quartets, Hebrides Ensemble, and, as concerto soloist, with Royal Northern composer. His music has been performed Sinfonia, the Philharmonia, the Hallé, by artists and ensembles including Sir James Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Galway, Sir Bryn Terfel, the London Symphony Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Alice Coote, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Philip Higham enjoys a Born in Edinburgh, Philip studied at St Mary’s Anthony Gray is an organist, choral director under Sir Antonio Pappano. richly varied musical life. Music School with Ruth Beauchamp and and composer based in Yorkshire. He is A passionate chamber subsequently at the Royal Northern College Director of Music of St Wilfrid’s Church, Recent works include M1 Symphony for the musician, equally at of Music with Emma Ferrand and Ralph Harrogate, Director of The Fairfax Singers, BBC Philharmonic, Fairfield Fanfare for London home in concerto, duo Kirshbaum. He also enjoyed mentoring Organ Tutor for the Diocese of Leeds, Mozart Players, and the song cycle Quiet and unaccompanied from Steven Isserlis, and was represented Accompanist of Morley Music Society and London for Rowan Pierce, Elgan Llŷr Thomas repertoire, he especially by YCAT (Young Classical Artists Trust) Assistant Director of the Florence International and Iain Burnside. NHS Symphony (2018) – a relishes Classical and between 2009 and 2014. In 2008 he became Singing Programme. He graduated as Organ collaboration with BBC Radio Documentaries German Romantic music, in which he is the first British cellist to win First Prize at Scholar of Robinson College, Cambridge, – won awards at the Radio Academy ARIAS frequently and happily immersed as principal the International Johann Sebastian Bach where he co-founded and directed The and the Prix Europa, and was praised as cellist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Competition in Leipzig, and followed it with Robinson Consort, focusing on contemporary ‘groundbreaking’ (The Times) and ‘haunting’ He has appeared several times in recital at major prizes in the 2009 Witold Lutosławski repertoire, and toured to destinations including (Metro). 2021 sees the premiere of Alex’s first London’s Wigmore Hall – including a notable International Cello Competition and the East Asia, Switzerland, Portugal and the opera, Pandora’s Box. performance of the six Bach suites there in Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann 2010. Philip Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Opera Festival. 2017 – and at other prominent venues and plays a cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore, He has been musical director of acclaimed Alex’s choral music has received particular festivals both at home and abroad; and he is made in 1697. He is grateful for continued theatre productions including The Duchess acclaim, with recent performances by the regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3. support from Harriet’s Trust. of Malfi, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge Biographies Vox Luna

(Andrew Nethsingha), ORA Singers (Suzi Soprano Gabriel Jackson: The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ Digby), The Bach Choir (David Hill), the Elizabeth Adams Emma Tring soprano, Guy Cutting tenor, Choir of Merton College, Oxford combined choirs of Ely, Peterborough and Carys Brown & Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia / Benjamin Nicholas Norwich cathedrals (Ashley Grote), and The Isabella Gibber DCD34222 Tallis Scholars (Peter Phillips). Gwendolen Martin Strikingly coloured and richly imaginative, Gabriel Jackson’s re-telling of the age-old story of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion – commissioned by Merton Alex is also active as a conductor and Alto College, Oxford – interweaves biblical narrative, Latin hymns and English poetry broadcaster. In 2018 he founded chamber Amy Blythe by Merton alumni, culminating in a rare setting of lines from T.S. Eliot’s ‘Little choir Vox Luna, and in 2019 he created and Clare Cavenagh Gidding’. Under the direction of longtime Jackson collaborator Benjamin Nicholas, led the national Sing for Shelter project, Christopher Mitchell and with soloists and instrumentalists handpicked by the composer for this bringing together 2,500 amateur singers Sophie Timms world premiere recording, The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ receives here a Editor’s choice from around the country to record his performance to match the work’s own harrowing drama and dark ecstasy. charity single ‘A Place to Call Home’ for Tenor ‘majestic and deeply moving’ homelessness charity Shelter; this project Jack Bazalgette — Choir & Organ, March/April 2019, ***** has raised more than £8,000 to date. Alex Oscar Golden-Lee is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 3, William Wright BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE AWARDS 2020 – Choral winner and in April 2020 presented his own edition of Inside Music. Bass Gavin Cranmer-Moralee When Love Speaks: Choral music by Owain Park Alex studied St John’s College, Cambridge, Robin Davis The Epiphoni Consort / Tim Reader and at the Royal Academy of Music with Joseph Edwards DCD34239 David Sawer, Huw Watkins and Oliver Tom Herring The Epiphoni Consort follow up their acclaimed Delphian debut, of music by Knussen. He was BBC Young Composer of David Bednall, with a portrait album of another young choral composer on the Year in 2012, and in 2018 received the the ascendant. Still in his late twenties, Park’s innate understanding of the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition choral medium is shown in the skilfully contrasted weights and colours of Prize. Shakespeare Songs of Night-Time, one of two Shakespeare cycles included here, and the Epiphoni singers make the most of the luxuriant chordal www.alex-woolf.com writing that characterises Park’s style as a whole – what his former teacher John Rutter has described as ‘towers of sound’. The choir is joined by a solo violin for the call-and-response patterns of Antiphon for the Angels, while Sing to me, windchimes movingly sets loss and yearning alongside poetic images of spring and rebirth.

New in June 2020

Desenclos/Poulenc/Villette: Requiem; Litanies à la Vierge noire; Motets Buxton Orr: Songs The Choir of King’s College London / David Trendell Nicky Spence, Iain Burnside, Jordan Black clarinet, Nikita Naumov double bass, DCD34136 Edinburgh Quartet DCD34175 Winner of the coveted Prix de Rome, Alfred Desenclos remains an almost unknown figure in twentieth-century music. His contribution to the When Nicky Spence was first shown the score to Buxton Orr’s Songs of a distinguished French tradition of Requiem Mass settings dates from 1963; Childhood, he was transported to the late 1980s – his own childhood in Scotland. incorporating influences from Gregorian chant as well as rich harmonies ‘Something about Buxton’s sense of humour, excitement and honesty resonated based on added-note chords, this piece with its passionate outpourings is a with me,’ Spence says, ‘and fed my desire to discover more about his work. revelation. David Trendell’s programme also features music by Villette – who On contacting his widow, I was led to a treasure trove of unrecorded works for shared Desenclos’ interest in jazz – and Poulenc, whose return to Catholicism voice.’ Sometimes thrillingly complex and always beautiful, and given character in 1936 yielded some of the most significant religious choral music of the and verve by Orr’s delightful setting of the Scots language, this rich body of work century. Trendell’s choir is on ravishing form, and the organ at his alma mater, has found a worthy modern-day advocate. Exeter College, Oxford, fits this music like a velvet glove. ‘a revelation. Imagine a gentler, quirkier Britten with dabblings in 12-tone ‘spaciously dignified and meditative ... [The choir] has a formidable musical unity ’ technique and old Scots poems set to generous vocal lines and off-piste — Sunday Times, March 2014 instrumentation … Burnside and his colleagues bring out all the care and wit in the instrumental writing’ — , March 2017

In Memoriam Britten: Suites for Solo Cello The Choir of King’s College London / Gareth Wilson Philip Higham DCD34146 DCD34125 The choir which David Trendell directed for twenty-two years pays tribute in a Britten’s meeting with Mstislav Rostropovich in 1960 was a watershed, the collection of specially chosen pieces by David’s colleagues, friends and former great Russian cellist becoming the primary collaborator of his later years and students, interspersed with the Renaissance polyphony which was Trendell’s inspiring a whole series of masterworks – including these three suites for solo area of scholarly expertise. His deep love for the Song of Songs has inspired cello, written as a conscious homage to those of Bach (there were originally many of the inclusions, and its nature imagery threads through the disc, adding to have been six). In a lucid and perceptive booklet essay, Britten scholar Paul a suggestion of renewal and rebirth to the memorial tone of works written Kildea sees the first as a coda to the War Requiem, the second as a snapshot in the difficult months after his untimely death. The composers’ affection for of a lifetime of musical obsessions, and the third as both reaching back to much David and gratitude for his life and musical achievements is matched by the earlier works and suffused with Russian melody. Young virtuoso Philip Higham Editor’s choice intelligence and deep musicality of the choir which he raised to an international Editor’s choice is one of the only British cellists in generations to have won top prizes at three reputation, and which here takes on a sophisticated and challenging major international competitions. programme in his memory. ‘There’s nowhere to hide in these three solo suites – but why hide a technique ‘The choir sings with assured intonation and a controlled vibrancy … For quality as assured, a musical imagination as finely attuned to Britten’s expression, or a of performance and diversity of repertoire, this is an outstanding disc’ Tecchler cello sound as burnished and wonderfully textured as this?’ — Choir & Organ, March/April 2016, ***** — BBC Music Magazine, May 2013, INSTRUMENTAL CHOICE DCD34240