Ex. VAT prices will be applied automatically for non-EU delivery addresses.
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Poulenc - Gloria and Motets
Susan Gritton Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia, The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Stephen Layton Stephen Layton and Polyphony continue to blaze a trail as great interpreters and dazzling performers of a wide range of choral music. Their recent disc of Bruckner’s Mass in E minor and motets was acclaimed as a benchmark recording. For their latest Hyperion disc they turn to some of the most bewitching and unusual, yet well-loved, choral works of the twentieth century.
Poulenc’s choral music is a deep expression both of his faith and of his unique musical language. In the various motets, the music responds to the composer’s studies of Bach, Monteverdi, Palestrina and Gabrieli, but is always stylistically progressive. Prominently featured are Poulenc’s distinctive and often ingenious chord progressions. Each motet has its own delightfully etched personality.
Poulenc’s Gloria is one of his most enduringly appealing works. In some ways straightforwardly pious, it is also tinged with mischievous irreverence and a sense of rollocking enjoyment. ‘When I wrote this piece’, Poulenc famously recalled, ‘I had in mind those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also some serious Benedictine monks I had once seen revelling in a game of football.’ This recording by the Britten Sinfonia, The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Polyphony and the soprano soloist Susan Gritton under Stephen Layton brings out all these aspects in a classic performance. “Gloriously pompous,” says Marc Rochester of the fanfare that opens Poulenc’s Gloria. He’s quite right, of course, but also right in pointing out that it is absolutely electric. And that goes for much of this terrific album. When the massed forces of Polyphony, the Britten Sinfonia and the Trinity College Choir ring out at full strength, the sound is simply incredible. Gramophone Magazine | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Bruckner - Mass in E minor & Motets
Polyphony with Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton ‘The seven unaccompanied motets are absolute gems. An ethereal account of Ave Maria has a breadth and grandeur which belies its short time-span; as the vocal lines crowd in on each other, the effect is nothing short of electrifying. And popular as it is, if there has to be a ‘definitive’ interpretation on disc of Locus iste, this has to be it. Put it simply, we’re unlikely to hear choral singing as fine as this for a good few years to come’ (Gramophone) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Lauridsen - Nocturnesand other choral music
Andrew Lumsden (organ), Morten Lauridsen (piano) & Morten Lauridsen (finger cymbals) Polyphony & Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton ‘What more can one say of the singing other than that it is Polyphony? This ensemble—surely one of the best small choirs now before the public— invests everything it sings with insight, crisp ensemble and tonal warmth’ (The Daily Telegraph) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Cornelius: The Three Kings and other choral music
Polyphony, Stephen Layton | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Rutter - Christmas Music
Polyphony The City of London Sinfonia, Stephen Layton | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  |
Polyphony, City of London Sinfonia & Wallace Collection, Stephen Layton 'Delicious performances of Rutter’s wonderfully approachable and finely crafted vocal writing. The sound, too, is outstanding' (Gramophone) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | I Sing the Birth
The landscape traversed on this disc is broad, from twelfth-century conductus to a twentyfirst-century carol, though the musical centre is firmly polyphonic and rooted in the late medieval world. From the meditative simplicity of plainsong, Polyphony’s diverse voices burst forth as a resplendent flowering of music itself, in expressions of joy and wonder, in contemplation and exuberance alike. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | At Twilight
David Wilson-Johnson (baritone) & Paul Agnew (tenor) Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor) ‘This scalp-prickling, sometimes spine-chilling, disc should not be missed’ (The Musical Times) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Eric Whitacre - Cloudburstand other choral works
Polyphony, Stephen Layton ‘This beautifully performed and recorded CD contains the bulk of Whitacre’s choral canon and displays his delicate yet vital approach to writing for voices’ (Gramophone) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | O magnum misteriumA sequence of twentieth-century carols and Sarum chant
Polyphony, Stephen Layton | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |
|
Gramophone Magazine
