Berlioz: Te Deum, Op. 22

Composed some 12 years after Berlioz’s Requiem, his Te Deum is in many respects a close relation of the earlier work. Again it is on a large scale, written for triple choir, large orchestra, organ and tenor soloist. Where the Te Deum differs is in the range of colours it projects. There is much more in the way of light and shade, more a sense of praising God, rather than fearing him as is conveyed in the Requiem, at least until the awesome final ‘Judex crederis’. Both works plundered the 1824 Messe solenelle, and Berlioz commented to Liszt that ‘the Requiem has a brother’. We know little about the reasons why Berlioz composed this work. Maybe the upcoming coronation of Louis-Napoleon provided the stimulus – we know that Berlioz was lobbying for the honour of writing a suitable work for the new Emperor. Berlioz had also examined in Dresden the score of a large-scale Te Deum by Hasse, and commented on the dramatic effect made by the pealing of bells in the score. Some of the early material was intended for an aborted Fête musicale funèbre of1835. This later became the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, and the section where Berlioz imagines ‘General Bonaparte making his entry beneath the cathedral vaults’ may have been the catalyst for the Te Deum.

For this performance, which was captured live in this recording, the Voices of Ascension were augmented up to a total of 140 of New York's finest professional singers, probably the largest all-professional chorus that has ever sung this work. Another 140 members of The Young Voices of Pennsylvania sang the children's chorus part. There was an orchestra of over 100 players, including a double number of winds and brass, and four pairs of cymbals and military field drums. Tenor John Aler was the vocal soloist, and Mark Kruczek was at the great Aeolian-Skinner organ at St. John the Divine. Berlioz's requirement of a vast performing space was certainly met on this occasion. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City is the largest Gothic space in the world. It is so vast, in fact, that a fortissimo orchestra or organ chord will reverberate in the cathedral for several seconds, even when the cathedral is packed with thousands and thousands of people, as it was the night of the concert.

Originally planned as an 85th birthday tribute, this set documents over 3 decades of exceptional artistry by the Sir Colin Davis, one of the musical pillars of the Philips label (now part of Decca Classics), who died Sunday 14th April 2013. He was a musician of incomparable integrity and class.

After signing to Philips exclusively in the mid-1960s, over more than three decades he then produced work for the label of the highest quality and range:-

• the first (and still greatest) Berlioz cycle

• pioneering Tippett,

• superb Haydn and Mozart,

• plus top-ranking Sibelius, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Dvorak and Britten, and much else.

His many recording orchestras included the English Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Royal Opera House, Royal Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony, Bavarian Radio and Dresden Staatskapelle, as well as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics.

His great Philips collaborators on disc include Stephen Kovacevich, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jon Vickers, José Carreras, Jessye Norman, Arthur Grumiaux and Claudio Arrau.

An extraordinary number of his recordings have achieved legendary status and are enduring staples of the catalogue. This set balances all his most important musical spheres as well as many of his most important artistic relationships with soloists, orchestras and opera houses around the world.

The booklet notes are in English, French and German with an excellent appreciation of his work for Philips by Jeremy Hayes.