Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs

“Performances like these don’t come along very often; each one is an absolute winner, and with rich, atmospheric recording quality the satisfaction is of a very special quality” CD Review

“Strongly recommended!” Fanfare

“Profoundly moving” Gramophone Magazine

“Elgar's Memorial Ode for Queen Alexandra of 1932, practically unknown until its recent revival, emerges under Shellard's direction as much more than an exercise in nostalgia. Choir, conductor and organist also tease out turbulent emotions from below the elegiac surface of the same composer's The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” Classic FM Magazine, November 2011 ***

“The general title "Mystical Songs" directs attention to the settings of five poems by George Herbert, performed here in the rarely heard version accompanied by piano and string quartet. …the Mass in G minor, is beautifully performed and recorded with unusual clarity. The organ and piano accompaniments are sensitively played, the brass ensemble adds a magnificent range of colours and the TinAlley String Quartet belies its name.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2009

“In 1938 Sir Henry Wood celebrated his 50 years as a professional conductor with a concert.
Vaughan Williams composed a work for the occasion, the Serenade to Music, in which he set words by Shakespeare from Act 5 of The Merchantof Venice. Sixteen star vocalists of the age were gathered together for the performance and Vaughan Williams customised the vocal parts to show off the best qualities of the singers. The work turned out to be one of the composer's most sybaritic creations, turning each of its subsequent performances into a special event.
Hyperion has gathered stars of our own age for this outstanding issue and Best has perceptively managed to give each their head, while melding them into a cohesive ensemble. A mellow, spacious recording has allowed the work to emerge on disc with a veracity never achieved before.
The coupled vocal pieces are given to equal effect and the disc is completed by Nobuko Imai's tautly poignant account of Flos campi, in which the disturbing tension between solo viola and wordless chorus heighten the cryptic nature of the work.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010