Rosa Mystica: Musical Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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The experienced choral director Paul Spicer is an ideal advocate of this varied repertoire, in both his interpretations and his booklet notes. The glory of his Birmingham student choir is its... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2020, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 19th Jun 2020
Catalogue No: SOMMCD0617
Label: Somm
Length: 62 minutes

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Tavener: Mother Of God, Here I Stand (from The Veil Of The Temple)

Work length3:15

$1.00

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$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Ludford: Ave cuius conceptio

Work length8:24

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Bruckner: Ave Maria (1861), WAB 6

Work length2:49

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$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Dalby: Mater Salutaris

Work length4:42

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$1.75

Callum Alger (organ)
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Gjeilo: Second Eve

Work length6:00

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$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Dyson: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F

Work length3:33

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Isabella Abbot Parker (soprano), Callum Alger (organ)
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

No. 1, Magnificat

Track length3:33

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$1.75

Britten: A.M.D.G.

Work length4:24

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Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

No. 2, Rosa mystica

Track length4:24

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Howells: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis (Chichester, 1967)

Work length7:24

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Callum Alger (organ)
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

No. 1, Magnificat

Track length7:24

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Rütti: Ave Maria

Work length3:12

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Callum Alger (organ)

Willan: I beheld her, beautiful as a dove

Work length2:16

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$1.30

$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Bingham, J: Ave Virgo Sanctissima

Work length5:08

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$1.30

$1.75

Imogen Russell (soprano)
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Villette: Hymne à la Vierge, Op. 24

Work length4:01

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Imogen Russell (soprano)
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

Kverno: Ave Maris Stella

Work length5:06

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

McDowall, C: Of a Rose

Work length2:24

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$1.30

$1.75

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Paul Spicer

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Conductor Paul Spicer and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir return to SOMM Recordings with a ravishing, centuries- spanning recital of musical portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Rosa Mystica takes its title from Benjamin Britten’s passionate setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins and forms the centrepiece of a programme ranging from the glorious Tudor polyphony of Nicholas Ludford’s motet Ave cujus conception via Bruckner’s dramatically contrasted Ave Maria to the Norwegian Ole Gjeilo’s apparently simple but sophisticated Second Eve, composed as recently as 2012. Two versions of the Magnificat are heard in George Dyson’s bewitchingly peaceful depiction of the Virgin Mary, composed just after the end of the Second World War, and Herbert Howell’s more troubled setting for Chichester Cathedral in 1967. The enduring fascination with and devotion to Mary in the modern era is represented by a diverse array of composers from the austere, hushed, mystical atmospheres of John Tavener’s Mother of God, here I stand, the jazz-Blues-accented Ave Maria of Carl Rütti, rich harmonic and colour palette of Judith Bingham’s Ave Virgo Sanctissima and Trond Kverno’s beautiful, unusual setting of Ave Maris Stella to Cecilia McDowall’s short but highly effective carol, Of a Rose. The RBCCC are joined by Spicer’s student in Birmingham, organist Callum Alger, currently an impressive young organ scholar at Westminster Cathedral. Paul Spicer and the RBCCC’s previous SOMM releases include Partsongs by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (SOMMCD 0128), hailed by MusicWeb International as “indispensable listening for all lovers of British music” and The Glory and the Dream, choral music by Richard Rodney Bennett (SOMMCD 0184), to which Gramophone respectively extended an “enthusiastic” welcome as well as collections of choral music by John Joubert (SOMMCD 0166), Samuel Barber (SOMMCD 0152) and Herbert Howells (SOMMCD 0140).

Reviews

September 2020

The experienced choral director Paul Spicer is an ideal advocate of this varied repertoire, in both his interpretations and his booklet notes. The glory of his Birmingham student choir is its soprano section, soaring freely with pure tone, and often leaving the lower voices somewhat in the shade…But this is a minor reservation about an adventurous and rewarding anthology.

September/October 2020

Paul Spicer has instilled in his Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir excellent diction, evenness of tone and bright but unforced sound, which is a pleasure to listen to.

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