Pott: Fugue

*****

“First comes the word and here we have a composer who has an implicit understanding and love of the text, which manifests itself throughout his music. Judy Martin is a choral director who has a perfect understanding of this relationship. She draws from the mixed-voice choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in beautifully expressive and finely honed performances.”

2010

“Some composers are difficult to pigeonhole.
The unsuspecting listener really can't help it if other composers' stylistic thumbprints spring to mind. In the case of Francis Pott he readily acknowledges the abiding influence of Byrd, 'that venerable, artistically transcendent and yet vulnerably human face of enduring Englishness'.
True, they share a sense of long-limbed phrases and eschew saccharinity. Couple this to the astringency of Kenneth Leighton and the contrapuntal rigour of Rubbra and you have part of the picture.
For poets Pott favours Traherne (A Meditation and A Remembrance), Newman (O Lord, supportus), the Psalmists and St Bernard of Clairvaux.
The unaccompanied Mass in Five Parts arches and glows, rolling along unhurriedly, the few lively passages being the climaxes in the Gloria and the bouncy 'Osanna' conclusion to the Sanctus and Benedictus. Wisely, the Mass sequence is interrupted by the motet Jesu dulcis memoria (with its beautiful alto solo sung by Áine Mulvey), and the Introduction, Toccata and Fugue, played with clarity and aplomb by the young Australian-born organist Tristan Russcher.
The disc's programme is perfectly balanced.
The performances are authoritative, passionate and convincing. The two dozen mixed voices of the Christ Church Cathedral Choir are more than a match for their English counterparts.
The organ accompaniments are unobtrusive (unlike an occasional whoosh from the Dublin traffic) and, under Judy Martin's expert direction, everything flows seamlessly. A beautiful disc in every sense.”

“thrilling music... contemporary and original… impressive and profoundly affecting”