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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Janacek: Choral Works
Dirk Luijmes (harmonium), Philip Mayers (piano), Thomas Walker (tenor) & Ernestine Stoop (harp) Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss Janácek’s choral works draw on an extremely rich repertory of folksongs and folk tales. The composer seized on idioms from Bohemian and Moravian traditions, with their characteristic folk dances and rustic nursery rhymes, and on the recently published ‘Moravian Duets’ of his compatriot Antonín Dvorák, to convey a mixture of emotions, forever shifting between cheerfulness and melancholy, like his subdued harmonies. Here we witness the birth of a musical language which, though deliberately rooted in central Europe, has projected for nearly a century the aura of a universal sentiment. The professional chamber choir Cappella Amsterdam was founded in 1970. Over the years, under the direction of Daniel Reuss, it has built up a repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works with a special focus on promoting Dutch music of today. “Janácek’s choral music is not widely performed on the international stage, but there is much to enjoy in this programme...a much more personal voice comes through in such pieces as The Wolf’s Trail and a sequence of nursery rhymes, accompanied by instrumental ensemble and performed here with character and distinction.” The Telegraph, 13th January 2012 “From the poignant to patriotic, a super introduction to Janacek and a vital context to enrich appreciation of his operas...A seven-minute mini-opera, The Wolf’s Trail, tells a cautionary tale about sexual jealousy written (Military Wives-style) for a women’s chorus while their husbands were away at the First World War.” The Times, 14th January 2012 **** “This selection is mostly folk-inspired, apparently sunny but hinting at the psychological darkness of the composer's better known operas...A batch of Nursery Rhymes offer light relief and the disc ends with a serene setting of the "Our Father", sung with well-drilled, idiomatic precision by the long-established Cappella Amsterdam.” The Observer, 22nd January 2012 “Cappella Amsterdam produces a superb choral sound: firm in ensemble and suitably heroic in the higher tenor lines. It clearly identifies closely with this repertoire and captures the off-beat humour of the 1926 version of Nursery Rhymes...this is an attractive recording, and beautifully performed.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 **** “Daniel Reuss has a good feeling for the cut and colour of Janacek's phrases and the chorus are admirable in making all his originalities fall naturally into place” Gramophone Magazine, May 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Janacek: Choral Music
This recording features a wide variety of works by the Czech composer Leoš Janá„ek, ranging from the mayhem of the “íkadla nursery rhymes and the description of the shameful antics of Mr Kašpar Rucký to the serene beauty of the Lord’s Prayer setting. Several of the pieces are only rarely performed—even today when the composer’s reputation is growing fast—and are little known outside the Slavic choral tradition which so influenced their style. “Excellent performances … a well made and enjoyable record” Gramophone Magazine “These performances strike me as nearly ideal … this enchanting Hyperion disc” Fanfare | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Bernstein: Chichester PsalmsMusic for Choir and Harp
The recording takes as its tagline 'Music for Choir and Harp' and at its core are three substantial works: Bernstein's Chichester Psalms in its 'chamber' version for choir, organ, harp and percussion; a setting of the Lord's Prayer by Leoš Janáček, Otčenáš; and A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten, in its arrangement by Julian Harrison for SATB, rather than the original version with three treble parts. “Bernstein's evergreen Chichester Psalms are sung here as they were conceived: for an Anglican choir of boys and men...The singing is again of a predictably high standard. With attractive instrumental interludes by Marcel Grandjany and William Mathias thrown in, this disc certainly has a lot going for it.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2012 *** “The polished sound of the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge (including some very accomplished treble soloists) under the meticulous direction of Andrew Nethsinga could be described as 'urbane'...[the Janacek works] are considerable enhanced by the rich, vibrant singing of Justin Lavender. Frances Kelly's contribution as both accompanist and soloist is truly wonderful” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012 “This is an interesting and well-planned programme of music for choir, harp and organ. The Choir...sounds on good form...Justin Lavender is a forthright and suitably Slavonic-sounding soloist with credible Czech pronunciation” International Record Review, March 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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| |  | Vater Unser: Pater Noster
Philharmonia Chor Stuttgart, Helmut Wolf | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Bap Nos: In memoriam Meinhard SchutterWorks by Schutter, Henking, Janacek
Capella Nova, Raphael Immoos The Swiss composer Meinrad Schütter would be celebrating his 100th birthday in 2010. Reason enough and about time to finally introduce this highly original composer to an interested, international audience. On this CD, Meinrad Schütter’s music is combined in a unique way with Gregorian music, music by Leoš Janácek and Christian Henking. None of these people ever met! Janácek was one composer of many, who Meinrad Schütter studied and thought very highly. We do not know any more details. But both composers composed a ‘Lord’s Prayer’. Christian Henking became acquainted with Schütter’s music in the autumn of 2009. He was commissioned by the vocal ensemble for New Music CAPPELLA NOVA to reflect Schütter’s music, and to write his own music about it. A procedure we know from the old masters. They studied the music of their predecessors and contemporaries in order to try something completely new. Thus, this CD shows how creative musical work gets embedded into time periods, an endless cycle of inspiration, processing and new creation. Meinrad Schütter’s music will therefore hopefully continue to be played as long as possible. | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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Beno Blachut, Jadwiga Wysoczanska, Dalibor Jedlicka, Marie Mrazova, Miroslav Svejda, Ivo Zidek (vocalists), Jan Panenka (piano), Jaroslav Tvrzsky, Petr Sovadina (both organ), Ludmila Solarova (harp) Prague Philharmonic Choir (=Czech Philharmonic Chorus) , Prague Radio Choir , Prague Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Pinkas, Jan Kasal, Josef Veselka | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Dvorak & Janacek: Choral Works
Robert Worle, tenor/Irmgard Gorzawski (harp), Harald Feller (organ) Munich Orpheus Choir, Gerd Guglhor | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Janacek - The Lord's PrayerChoral & Organ Music
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| |  | Dvorak: Mass in D
Prague Chamber Choir, Josef Pancik “This imaginative coupling brings together three fine pieces of Czech church music in skilled and sympathetic interpretations. Dvorák's Mass has received a number of good recorded performances; this one, in the original 1887 version with organ, has a very well-matched quartet of soloists who blend smoothly with each other and with the chamber choir. It's a work of particular intimacy and charm, and these qualities mark this performance.
Janácek's setting of the Lord's Prayer dates from 1906, and is in turn a meditative piece, not without vivid illustrative touches appropriate to a work originally designed to accompany a sequence of devotional pictures; and Petr Eben's Prague Te Deum coincided, in 1969, with a moment of apparent release from political oppression. It has something of Janácek's suddenness in the invention, and a graceful melodic manner. Each of these works is in its way inward, personal and reflective, but they all share a Czech character.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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