Tenebrae

The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: Introduction and Great Litany, First Antiphon, Second Antiphon, Hymn to the Lord, The Third Antiphon: Beatitudes, Entrance Hymn, Trisagion Hymn, Litany of Fervent Supplication, Litany for the Catechumens, Cherubic Hymn, That We May Receive the King of All, Litany of Fervent Supplication, The Creed, Anaphora, We Hymn Thee, Hymn to the Virgin, Litany Before the Lord’s Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer and Elevation, The Communion, The Hymn of Praise, Thanksgiving and Dismissal, Blessed Be the Name of the Lord Tenebrae's latest disc on Signum sees their return to the repertoire of Russian composer Alexander Levine. 'The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom' is Levine’s most significant large-scale religious work to date. Inspired by the humility and humanity of the murdered Russian priest (and friend of Levine) Fr. Alexander Man and composed over a three-month period of spiritual immersion, research and contemplation (similar to that described by his great forebears Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov), the work traces a continuous spiritual growth towards the central point of the Liturgy – the Holy Communion.

Praise for Tenebrae's previous disc with Alexander Levine – Prayers for Mankind (SIGCD212): "This is a notable new choral work and it’s impossible to imagine that it could have been served better than by Tenebrae.

Both this composition and the performance it receives are significant achievements." Musicweb-International

2013 marks the 400th anniversary of Gesualdo’s death. One of the most visionary composers of his time, he wrote the Tenebrae Responsories for Easter Week, and his anniversary year offers the opportunity to further explore his music, and his fascinating story, with fresh eyes and ears.

The works for Holy Saturday, featured here, remain a cornerstone of his extraordinary oeuvre.

A game-changing, risk-taking approach to composition, combined with a tortured personal life, makes Gesualdo one of the most fascinating composers in history.

The companion work to the Responsories is a set of Lamentations by Tomás Luis de Victoria, a contemporary of Gesualdo.

Tenebrae is widely considered to be one of the finest choirs in the world, having garnered praise for their numerous award-winning recordings. Most recently, they won the BBC Music Magazine 2012 Award for “Best Choral Group”

LSO Live is delighted to renew its relationship with the magnificent Tenebrae choir, whose previous recordings on the label have included Berlioz’ 'L’enfance du Christ' and Handel’s 'Messiah'. As part of the 2011 City of London Festival, Tenebrae joined an ensemble from the LSO at St Paul’s Cathedral for a performance of the Fauré Requiem, preceded by a selection of Bach’s Chorales interspersed with Partitas performed by Gordan Nikolitch, leader of the LSO. The centrepiece of the programme was Helga Thoene’s remarkable arrangement of Bach’s choral themes with solo violin. The performance was restaged in May 2012 in the sublime acoustic of the Church of St Giles Cripplegate and recorded by LSO Live. The Fauré Requiem in D minor exists in three different versions, the John Rutter edition for chamber orchestra being performed here.

Following an Autumn tour of the USA, Tenebrae will perform a selection of Christmas concerts in December, followed by another tour of the USA in Spring 2013. Tenebrae sopranos will also feature in performances of 'Alice in Wonderland' at the Royal Opera House.

Celebrating the serene mysticism of the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, this 2CD collection brings together his best known works (such as the ever-popular Spiegel im Spiegel) , with lesser known masterpieces (such as the haunting Burns setting My Heart’s in the Highlands).

Largely drawn from the Decca and Deutsche Grammophon catalogues, this collection includes seven brand new recordings with Nigel Short conducting the award-winning Tenebrae in Cantate Domino and the English Chamber Orchestra in orchestral works including the famous Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten – an outstanding example of Pärt’s ‘tintinnabulation’ style.

Will Todd is one of the UK's most popular and performed modern choral composers. His output includes works for choir, stage works, and orchestral works, and his music has been featured on BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 and Classic FM, and performed all over the UK, Europe and the USA. On this disc, Nigel Short conducts superlative performances of his works by his BBC Music Magazine Award-winning choir Tenebrae and the English Chamber Orchestra.

This compilation of his works includes the premiere recording of a new comission 'The Call of Wisdom', which on June 5th 2012 will be presented on the occasion of a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Following a string of five-star reviews for their previous discs of 20th-century French choral music (Poulenc’s Figure Humaine ) and Renaissance polyphony (Victoria’s Requiem), the professional chamber-choir Tenebrae go from strength to strength with this new recording of British partsongs and choral music – centred on Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell.

Composed towards the end of Parry’s life, the Songs of Farewell have taken on something of an epithetical interpretation; they are almost a musical summation of his compositional life, reflecting Parry’s love of English renaissance madrigals and partsongs as much as the influence on his work from German composers like Brahms – made more complicated as these works were composed as the country (and its music) fell out of favour at the start of the Great War.

Tomás Luis de Victoria’s requiem mass for six voices, written in 1603 and published in 1605, is a masterpiece. It is one of a handful of large-scale works which enjoys mainstream appeal in the 21st century. For many, it represents what Renaissance polyphony is, what it sounds and feels like, and how expressive it can be. The disc also features two well-known works by Victoria’s contemporary Alonso Lobo.

The performance comes from the renowned professional chamber choir Tenebrae, led by Nigel Short, following their recent BBC Music Magazine nominated recording of Francis Poulenc’s Figure Humaine.

Prayers for Mankind celebrates the life and writings of Father Alexander Men, a Russian Orthodox Christian priest who, whilst being little known outside of his home country during his lifetime, has come to be hailed as a saint and martyr by thousands all over the world. 2010 marks the anniversary of what would have been his 85th Birthday, as well as 20 years since his brutal assassination on the way to a Sunday morning service.

Following years of religious suppression under the communist regime, Father Alexander Men emerged as a leading Christian and humanitarian figure in Russia, through radio and TV broadcasts and his prolific written works. During Gorbachev's perestroika reforms, Fr

Alexander became almost overnight the public authority on the Christian faith. He was constantly on the radio and TV. Most significantly, perhaps, he breached a physical barrier, becoming a frequent lecturer on official Soviet premises. As well as serving in his parish, during the last year of his life he gave over two hundred lectures. On the morning of 9 September 1990 he was on his way to Novaya Derevnya when a blow from behind struck him down. The police hinted that the culprit was a fanatical Jew; another rumour claimed it was a fanatical Christian. There is no shred of evidence for either but it seems more likely to have been an act of revenge by a fanatic from the Communist Party. After all, the victim had helped put Christianity back centre stage following over 70 years of anti-religious activity by the state.

These prayers, set by Russian composer Alexander Levine, capture the beauty and humanity of Men’s view of the world and are brought vividly to life by Nigel Short’s professional chamber choir Tenebrae.

Francis Poulenc is now considered to be among the most important composers of choral music of the 20th Century. Yet his early career reveals no trace of the dazzling and idiosyncratic unaccompanied choral textures so abundantly produced in the second half of his life. This new collection of Poulenc’s choral works, virtually a ‘best of’, is centered on his masterwork, Figure Humaine. Even though it is only 20 minutes in length, the work is a supreme test of stamina, technical agility, range, aural skill and musicianship. The professional chamber choir Tenebrae (directed by former King’s Singer Nigel Short) are more than capable of tackling this repertoire and this disc promises to provide a new benchmark in interpretations of the work.

"As a composer, he recognises no boundaries - musical, commercial, geographical or cultural. His is a way of thinking and composing that is perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times." Classic FM Magazine

Karl Jenkins, the classically trained master of global ‘crossover,’ has composed a new work for choir and orchestra, Stella natalis, as a gift to music lovers of all stylistic and spiritual backgrounds for the 2009 holiday season. Its coupling, Joy to the world, features arrangements by Jenkins of carols from around the globe in keeping with the composer’s inclusive and universal approach to the message of music.

The performers represent a mixture of classical and popular artistry. “It has been a privilege,” said Karl Jenkins recently, “to feature the astounding talents of fellow EMI artists Kate Royal [soprano] and Alison Balsom [trumpet] and to introduce BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the year 2008, Alice Halstead. The choir is Tenebrae, whilst as a counterpoint to their ‘classical’ sound, I have revisited my past and re-introduced the ethnic sound of Adiemus, featuring Mary Carewe, who sang on the first Adiemus album Songs of Sanctuary, and Mae McKenna. My orchestration has the usual classical and ethnic percussion mix, the latter played by Jody K Jenkins and Zands. The orchestra is the Marylebone Camerata, a hand-picked group of the finest young players in London, assembled by cellist Jonathan Byers.”

“Stella natalis means ‘star of birth’ or ‘star of origin,’ continues Jenkins, “and the music conveys the Christmas message of peace, goodwill, compassion and a new beginning whilst using a wider palette of inspiration than is usual in such treatments: Zulu text, reference to Hindu gods, as well as the Old Testament, all make an appearance! The libretto, for the most part, is by Carol Barratt together with some established text in Latin and English.”

Joy to the world consists of a set of idiosyncratic arrangements by Karl Jenkins to carols from England, Germany, France, Spain, the West Indies and the African-American Go tell it on the mountain.

Alison Balsom (www.alisonbalsom.com), the highly acclaimed trumpeter, is one of music's great ambassadors. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music, at the Paris Conservatoire and with Håkan Hardenberger. While under the aegis of the Young Concert Artists Trust, she caught the eye of EMI Classics with whom she records exclusively. Alison has also participated in BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme, through which she has performed at the Wigmore Hall and with all of the BBC Orchestras. For EMI, Alison Balsom has recorded a Bach Trumpet and Organ disc, which was enthusiastically received internationally; Caprice, which also won great critical acclaim, and a CD featuring the Haydn and Hummel Trumpet Concertos, which was named among the “24 records of 2008” by The New York Times. Alison Balsom won the Classic FM Listener’s Award at the 2006 Gramophone Awards and was hailed as “Rising Artist of the Year” the following year at the Echo Klassik Awards. In 2009 she became the first Briton ever to be crowned Female Artist of the Year at the Classical BRITs. As a featured performer at the 2009 Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, she played the Haydn Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and David Robertson and works by Gershwin and Piazzola.

“A natural communicator, [endowed with] musicality, a lyric soprano of rare loveliness, a poised and dignified manner and [gorgeous] looks,” (The Sunday Times), Kate Royal signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics in 2006. Since then, the Guildhall and National Opera Studio graduate and winner of Kathleen Ferrier, John Christie and Royal Philharmonic Society awards has recorded two critically acclaimed solo albums: the eponymous Kate Royal and Midsummer Night, an atmospheric recital collection focusing on female characters in 20th century opera and operetta. She has also been featured in albums with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Ian Bostridge and Sir Paul McCartney. Equally at home in opera and recital, classical and ‘crossover,’ Kate has wowed audiences and critics alike with her appearances at Glyndebourne, the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh Festival and Royal Opera House. Upcoming appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Bavarian Radio under Simon Rattle, Le Concert d’Astrée with Emanuelle Haïm, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Les Musiciens du Louvre. She has sung Donna Elvira at Glyndebourne, Pamina and Micaëla at the Bavarian State Opera and Pamina and Anne Trulove at the Royal Opera House. (www.royalmidsummer.com)

Soprano Alice Halstead (www.alicehalstead.com), a choir girl at St Alphege Church, Solihull and a pupil at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham, won the coveted title of “BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year 2008” award at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. From the age of four she has attended the Birmingham Junior Conservatoire where she studies singing, cello and piano. She is also a member of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain (Training North). Alice has appeared several times on BBC One’s “Songs of Praise” and has featured in many national radio broadcasts including Good Morning Sunday with Aled Jones and Friday Night Is Music Night with the BBC Concert Orchestra on BBC Radio 2, In Tune on BBC Radio 3 and Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4.

The chief librettist for Stella natalis Carol Barratt is a composer, pianist, lyricist and music educator with over 70 publications in print. She has written text for many works by Karl Jenkins, to whom she has been married for 34 years.

Karl Jenkins is one of the most prolific and performed composers in the world today – his anti-war work alone, The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds for the Millennium celebrations and premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April 2000, has been performed nearly four hundred times in recent years.

Born in Wales and a graduate of Cardiff University followed by post-graduate studies at London’s Royal College of Music, Jenkins was originally an oboist. It was a passion for jazz – he was a member of the bands Nucleus and Soft Machine – that led him to composition. Classically trained, but drawing on a diverse range of global influences, his composing style has transcended musical boundaries, including memorable ad jingles for Delta Air Lines, the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society, De Beers diamonds, British Airways and Levi’s Jeans, the global ‘crossover’ phenomenon Adiemus, more ‘classical’ commissions such as Requiem, Stabat Mater, Quirk and The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and television and feature film soundtracks.

Recent recordings include Kiri Sings Karl with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa; Requiem and Stabat Mater, which was premiered and released in March 2008, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus and the EMO ensemble from Helsinki.

The highest placed living composer in Classic FM’s “Hall of Fame,” Karl Jenkins’s recordings have won seventeen gold or platinum disc awards. Jenkins holds Fellowships or Professorships at five universities/conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music. He was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2005 New Years Honours List and a ‘Red f’ from Classic FM for ‘outstanding service to classical music.” He has been a castaway on BBC Radio 3’s Desert Island Discs and featured on ITV’s The South Bank Show.

“Karl Jenkins is a rarity among contemporary composers, balancing popularity with innovation.” (The Independent)