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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Britten: A Ceremony of Carols & St Nicolas
2013 sees the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth and Hyperion starts celebrating early with this disc of two of the composer’s most popular choral works, both with a Christmas relevance. The cantata Saint Nicolas tells the story of the original ‘Santa Claus’, a fourth-century saint whose acts—revitalizing three boys who had been pickled by an unscrupulous landlord being among the more dramatic—led to his canonization as patron saint of children and sailors. Britten’s lively setting is distinctly operatic, full of incident and colour—with the story brought ‘home’ through the use of congregational hymns. The part of Nicolas (here sung magnificently by Allan Clayton, already acclaimed as the heir to Peter Pears and Anthony Rolfe Johnson) is one of Britten’s great heroic tenor roles. A Ceremony of Carols is a setting for treble voices and harp of some of the medieval texts which Britten loved so much, and is heard every Christmas in cathedrals, churches and concert halls throughout the land. This fresh, sparkling performance completes a thoroughly festive release. “Layton’s soprano and mezzos affect a purity that sounds “boyish”...Clayton’s Nicolas is more youthful-sounding than his predecessors (Pears, Tear, Langridge), but Layton captures the mystery-play-like drama of the saint’s life story.” Sunday Times, 30th September 2012 “A Christmas disc to savour.” Financial Times, 10th November 2012 “Layton’s singers do project beautifully, and their sheer security makes this Ceremony a gorgeous, invigorating experience...The moment when the adult Nicolas (beautifully sung by tenor Allan Clayton) suddenly reveals himself in The Birth of Nicolas will induce goose pimples of delight in sceptical listeners.” The Arts Desk, 17th November 2012 “The young ladies of Trinity College Cambridge Choir here are pleasantly smooth without becoming unctuously so. Yet neither do they lack ruggedness...Clayton is magnificent” MusicWeb International, November 2012 “Layton's flowing speeds underline the dramatic sequence of the carols...All the solo performances are impeccably shaped and harpist Sally Pryce makes light work of the fiendish accompaniments...Allan Clayton makes the role of Nicolas entirely his own. What a glorious voice!...The hearty sailors, Pickled Boys and St Trinian's-like piano duettists are all on top form. This is a beautiful and deeply affecting recording.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “The clear-toned adult voices of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, highlight qualities in the work often missed when performed by the more usual boys' choir...Perhaps Trinity sound too well-behaved to match the boisterous enthusiasm boys typically bring...[though] the gains in terms of technical assurance and expression make this a welcome recording of a well-loved work.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Ikon Volume 2
Balakirev: | Da molchit vsyakaya plot 'Let all mortal flesh keep silence' | Chesnokov: | Salvation is Created, Op. 25 No. 5 Da ispravitsya molitva moya 'Let my prayer arise' Dukh Tvoy blagiy 'Let thy good spirit', Op. 25, No. 10 Bless the Lord, O my soul, Op. 40 No. 1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, Op. 25 No. 6 Ne imamï inïya pomoshchi 'We have no other help', Op. 25, No. 8 O Tebe raduetsya 'All of creation rejoices in you', Op, 15, No. 11 | Cui: | Pesn' Presvyatïya Bogoroditsï 'Song of the Most Holy Theotokos' 'Magnificat', Op. 93 | Golovanov: | Otche nash 'Our Father', Op. 9, No. 3 | Grechaninov: | Vecheri Tvoeya taynïya 'Of thy mystical supper', Op. 58, No. 7 | Kalinnikov, Viktor: | Priidite, poklonimsya 'Come, let us worship', Op. 11 Tebe poem 'We hymn thee', Op. 7 Bogoroditse Devo 'Rejoice, O Virgin', Op. 17 Tebe poem 'We hymn thee', Op. 2 | Kastalsky: | Svete tikhiy 'Radiant Light', Op. 73 | Rachmaninov: | Bogorodice Devo | Rimsky Korsakov: | Otche nash 'Our Father', Op. 22, No. 7 | Shvedov: | Kheruvimskaya pesn 'The Cherubic Hymn', Op. 13 Trisviatoye 'The Thrice-Holy', Op. 7 | Tchaikovsky: | Priidite, poklonimsya 'Come, let us worship' | Tolstiakov: | Blagoslovi dushe moya, Ghospoda (Bless the Lord, O My Soul) |
In 1997, The Holst Singers and Stephen Layton produced a disc that immediately became a cult classic and a best-seller. ‘Ikon’, a selection of great Russian choral music from the 19th century, dazzled with its grand, opulent beauty. Now the same forces return with Ikon II. Many of the works recorded here are by composers whose names will not be familiar – but the extraordinary quality of the music is unmistakable and immediately enthralling. “Performing with insight and commendable Russian sonority, the Holst Singers have cast their net wide in this survey of Orthodox Church music.” The Telegraph, 5th October 2010 **** “Those wary of an English choir's sensibilities in music almost from another planet should head stright to Tolstiakov's Blagoslovi and Rimsky-Korsakov's Our Father for blissful reassurance of authenticity” Classic FM Magazine, December 2010 ***** “for those not drawn to this disc by their own Orthodox faith there is still plenty to value in documentary terms...the programme is scrupulously prepared, with excellent pronunciation, idiomatic timbres and a fine fusion of ardent communication and sensitive shaping.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010 “Layton's preparation of his singers has obviously been extraordinarily thorough: the intonation is faultless across all the registers here, diction is clear and the choral sound is beautifully homogenized - there doesn't seem to be a weak voice anywhere. Nor is there a weak piece: all 22 items blaze with devout passion.” International Record Review, November 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Veljo Tormis - Choral music
Veljo Tormis is—along with Arvo Pärt—Estonia’s most famous living composer, holding an almost mystic status in his home country. He is also the passionate and practical torch-bearer for folk-singing revival, and the integration of an ancient cultural inheritance into thoroughly modern, post-Soviet lives. Interestingly, he trained at the Moscow conservatoire and was steeped in Soviet instruction during his early musical life. His music is almost all written for choirs; few composers have ever been so committed to one genre. Tormis’s choral specialism marks him out from Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams and Grainger, whose pioneering interest in folksong was ultimately less purist given their use of the tunes alone in instrumental or orchestral works: for Tormis, the words and the music are inseparable. “These splendid performances highlight the music's elemental aspects (not just evocations of forces of nature but the spirit of the country, long suppressed by occupiers), the Holst Singers' commitment bringing out the ferocity of some passages with a quite scary intensity.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 **** “By comparison with the crack Nordic teams, the English voices are admittedly a degree softer-focused in tone and not quite so high-pressure in expression. The composer's compatriots bring even more electricity to the five marvellous songs that make up Livonian Heritage, for example, though the Holst singers find a subtlety and affection that certainly compensates. ” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008 “Here the Holst Singers under the indefatigable Stephen Layton explore this fascinating legacy, a mixture of arrangements of folk songs and original music inspired by the honesty and freshness of their idiom, in performances of characteristic spirit, atmosphere and incisiveness.” The Telegraph, 12th April 2008 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Villette - Choral Music
‘The Holst Singers—Stephen Layton’s ‘other’ great choir—is every bit as skilled, sonorous and sensitive as his better-known group, Polyphony. Very few conductors manage this sort of exquisite phrasing, subtle nuance, gleaming sound, and absolute control that you hear from any of Layton’s choirs. Hyperion records them beautifully and offers its usual complete and classy booklet’ (American Record Guide) “Pierre Villette (1926-98) follows on the stylistic heels of Poulenc and Duruflé, with an added twist of sensuality… it's ravishing stuff when performed as well as this. The Holst Singers create great clouds of texture, which surge, form, and melt before your ears. The airborne quality each phrase achieves is testament both to Stephen Layton's irrepressible sense of shaping and to the rapport between choir and conductor.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Holst - Evening Watch and other choral music
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‘One of the most imposing of all Schnittke’s later works … superbly performed’ (The Guardian) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Britten: Christ's Nativity
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| |  | Ralph Vaughan Williams - Over hill, over dalePartsongs, folksongs and Shakespeare settings
'The Holst Singers ... sing with a spellbinding sense of atmosphere and crystal-clear textures. Strongly recommended for all admirers of Vaughan Williams and fine choral work' (BBC Music Magazine) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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'With glowing sound and very attractive works for coupling, this is an outstanding bargain issue' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Grechaninov: Vespers
Grechaninov was initially taught by Anton Arensky in Moscow, and then later, in 1890, he went to St Petersburg to study with Rimsky-Korsakov. It was he who influenced his style and helped him launch his professional career. After the Revolution, Grechaninov became increasingly uneasy in Soviet Russia, and in 1925 left for ever. In 1946 he took American citizenship. An unusually versatile and prolific composer, he wrote operas, symphonies, chamber music, over 250 songs, and a great deal of music for children. He has been described as the most representative composer of his generation writing for the Orthodox service. Vespers is part of the All-Night Vigil service, and Grechaninov’s setting was composed, premiered, and published in 1912. This precedes Rachmaninov’s setting by three years. It appears to have lain dormant for some eighty years until it was revived in America for its first performance of modern times in 1995. “Numerous delights. The performance by the Holst Singers is stunningly good. This serene, delectable music is irresistible and so is its performance” Choir & Organ “Highly attractive and unstuffy Russian liturgical works in attractive performances” Classic CD “Really something of a triumph” Penguin Guide “Great blocks of beautifully constructed sound are stunning in their apparent simplicity” The Scotsman | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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