Vaughan Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs

A compilation of twentieth century English choral music performed by the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Composers include Walton, Vaughan Williams, Tippett, Stanford, Charles Wood, Howells, Ley, Harris and Rutter.

“Here is choral singing of the very highest order” Of Tippett choral works (Gramophone)

The first part in a series of four – two secular and two sacred – this recording sets out to explore different facets of a cappella choral music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Volume 1 takes its name from one of the nine cycles of secular music presented here. In this panorama of works, the word, through poetry, is central to musical creation; it becomes the subject of play, with the composers appropriating it and translating it into music. Alongside famous cycles from the repertoire, Ens Aedes have chosen to record a work commissioned by them from Philippe Hersant, as well as several cycles by other composers who are still active.

These cycles set words by William Shakespeare, Joseph von Eichendorff and Paul Éluard; the listener will also discover (or rediscover) poems by Charles d’Orléans, Louise Labé and Henry Felix.

The Song of Songs stands apart from its Biblical surroundings as one of the supreme love poems of world literature, a celebration of erotic love in the form of a dialogue between a bridegroom and his bride, invoking all the senses – the fragrance of wine, blossom, fruits and spices. Ranging widely over five centuries,from the relative asperity of Dunstaple to the lush exoticism of Daniel-Lesur, this cherrypicked assortment of sweetmeats is given exultant life by Mike Brewer and Laudibus.

Brewer and his award-winning chamber choir Laudibus have unearthed some rare and precious gems in this recording of a cappella choral music by one of England’s best-loved composers. Little-known works both early and late nestle alongside repertory staples such as the glorious Mass in G minor, in a programme which displays Vaughan Williams’ indebtedness to both the sacred and secular instincts of his Elizabethan precursors.