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Offer,Foulds: A World Requiem

Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet (soprano), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano), Stuart Skelton (tenor) & Gerald Finley (baritone)

Trinity Boys Choir, Crouch End Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein

Anyone looking for the blazing, crazy brilliance of Foulds's Mantras, April-England or Dynamic Triptych is likely to come away with a very negative impression. There are occasional sparks of... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2008, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 31st Dec 2007
Catalogue No: CHSA5058(2)
Label: Chandos
Length: 89 minutes

This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched.

This release includes a digital booklet

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Special offer ends: 22/05/2024

Foulds: A World Requiem, Op. 60

Work length1:29:52

$24.00

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Catherine Wyn-Rogers (contralto), Stuart Skelton (tenor), Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet (soprano), Gerald Finley (baritone)
Crouch End Festival Choir, Philharmonia Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Trinity Boys Choir
Leon Botstein
Recorded: 11 November 2007
Recording Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Part I: I. Requiem

Track length8:42

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Part I: II. Pronuntiatio

Track length4:05

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Part I: III. Confessio

Track length5:46

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Part I: IV. Jubilato

Track length5:06

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Part I: V. Audite

Track length7:04

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Part I: VI. Pax

Track length3:53

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Part I: VII. Consolatio

Track length5:08

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Part I: VIII. Refutatio

Track length0:38

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Part I: IX. Lux veritatis

Track length1:19

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Part I: X. Requiem

Track length3:25

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Part II: XI. Laudamus

Track length6:31

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Part II: XII. Elysium

Track length6:24

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Part II: XIII. In Pace

Track length3:17

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Part II: XIII. Hymn of the Redeemed

Track length4:37

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Part II: XIV. Angeli

Track length3:27

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Part II: XV. Vox Dei

Track length3:07

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Part II: XVI. Adventus

Track length4:01

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Part II: XVII. Vigilate

Track length2:03

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Part II: XVIII. Promissio et Invocatio

Track length7:30

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Part II: XIX. Benedictio

Track length1:41

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Part II: XX. Consummatus

Track length2:08

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Favourites, Music to commemorate the First World War

David picks out some recordings of works particularly closely linked to the Great War - those written in response to it, or influenced by composers' experiences of the fighting.

‘It went deeper down and reached higher up, it was bigger, broader, nobler and reached out more into the eternal than music as it is commonly understood and interpreted, or as any music than that heard by the great masters, has ever done. It is indeed a world heritage.’ Thus wrote the Labour MP Frederick Pethick-Lawrence after attending the premiere of A World Requiem on Armistice Night 1923, and his statement was typical of the audience reaction on that night.

Live concert recording

Reviews

February 2008

Anyone looking for the blazing, crazy brilliance of Foulds's Mantras, April-England or Dynamic Triptych is likely to come away with a very negative impression. There are occasional sparks of fire… But there's barely a hint of the visionary daring of the best Foulds.

2010

Foulds conducted A World Requiem's 1923 premiere at the Festival of Remembrance, using 1250 performers. This present performance, the first in more than 70 years, was given on Remembrance Day 2007, and, aside from a rather unwieldy soprano, is a triumph, with special praise due to baritone Gerald Finley and conductor Leon Botstein.
A World Requiem is the kind of piece that could only have grown from wholehearted sincerity, in this case a very personal and inspired response to the devastating losses and suffering in the First World War. Cast in 20 interlinking sections, much of the work's musical style emerges off the backs of Requiems by Verdi and Berlioz but what we actually hear is more reminiscent of Busoni, the sombre tread of the opening Requiem, the ethereal, half-lit solos and duets, and the searing climaxes, not to mention the spooky use of quarter-tones. The fifth movement 'Audite' includes a stirring summons to 'you men of all the continents', an impressive roll call of nations (individually named) and a plea for universal peace.
The contrast between the sombre-hued close of the first part and the day-bright opening of the second – a celebration of deliverance – could hardly be more telling. From here on, the mood and language become more esoteric and the scoring is often extremely delicate. Sections based on texts from Revelation and the Gospel of St John lead to an affirmation of Christ's spirit and the work ends in ecstatic joy.
Foulds's work is as ambitiously all-embracing as Mahler's Third or Eighth symphonies, and in its way almost as moving as Britten's WarRequiem – though these are spontaneous reactions forged in the light of a first encounter.
Posterity's work starts here but her ultimate verdict could well be pretty favourable. Calum MacDonald's booklet-notes serve as an invaluable listening aid.

February 2008

Foulds conducted A World Requiem's 1923 premiere at the Festival of Remembrance, using 1250 performers. This present performance, the first in more than 70 years, was given on Remembrance Day last year, and aside from a rather unwieldy soprano, is a triumph, with special praise due to baritone Gerald Finley and conductor Leon Botstein.

2011 edition

this performance exerts a gripping hold on the listener. The recording is very much in the demonstration bracket.

Offer,Foulds: A World Requiem

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Favourites, Music to commemorate the First World War

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