The Sixteen, Harry Christophers - Poetry in Music (2015)
William Harris, Michael Tippett, Thomas Weelkes, James MacMillan, Ivor Gurney, Robert Ramsey
Benjamin Britten, Edmund Rubbra, Michael East, Herbert Howells, Robert Pearsall, Thomas Tomkins
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 297 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 177 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical, Choral | Label: CORO | # COR16134 | Time: 01:10:50
William Harris, Michael Tippett, Thomas Weelkes, James MacMillan, Ivor Gurney, Robert Ramsey
Benjamin Britten, Edmund Rubbra, Michael East, Herbert Howells, Robert Pearsall, Thomas Tomkins
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 297 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 177 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical, Choral | Label: CORO | # COR16134 | Time: 01:10:50
Does music add substance to words or is music inspired by them? Songs of departure and farewell are deeply rooted in the great tradition of British choral music, nourished by ancient myths of testing journeys, wayside transformations and homecomings. The transcendent nature of music and the power of poetry to challenge and alter perceptions of reality – harnessed by English composers over many centuries – flow through a programme that invites contemplation of life and death, of love and loss, creation and eternity. In a journey covering six centuries of musical history, The Sixteen performs a cappella anthems with powerful texts by writers as varied as Edmund Spenser, Christopher Fry and W.H. Auden.
The glowing textures of Harris’s classic anthem Faire is the heaven give way to an exuberant and rhythmically incisive account of Tippett’s 'Dance, clarion air', while the direct, heartfelt expression of Weelkes’s When David Heard is beautifully countered by the luminous, angelic wafting of high sopranos in MacMillan’s The Gallant Weaver. Four tracks and less than 20 minutes into this disc it is clear that this is something really special.
That specialness comes not just from the fact that The Sixteen elevate everything they perform through their opulent musicality and supreme clarity of tone, but from Harry Christophers’s intuitive grasp of the marriage of music and words in all 14 of these powerfully perceptive musical responses to beautifully crafted English texts. Many of these anthems will be familiar to those with a grounding in the great Anglican choral tradition, but none sounds familiar here. Rather, these performances reveal a depth of expression and artistic intensity in music we thought we knew but now realise we only partially comprehended. These performances are, in every sense of the word, revelatory.
Of the less familiar items, Ivor Gurney’s setting of Robert Bridge’s reimagining of the Creed, Since I believe in God, is a deeply intense work, written while the composer was incarcerated in a mental hospital in Dartford (a doubly grim location for such a sublime creation), while Rubbra’s free-flowing There is a spirit provides a lovely vehicle for the exquisite soprano of Julie Cooper. It is also good to be reminded that Robert Pearsall contributed far more to the repertory of English choirs than his famous version of In dulci jubilo, echoes of which are, however, never far from the surface in The Sixteen’s warmly expressive account of Lay a Garland.Review by Marc Rochester, Gramophone
Tracklist:
Sir William Harris (1883-1973)
01. Faire is the heaven
Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
02. Dance, clarion air
Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)
03. When David heard
James MacMillan (b.1959)
04. The Gallant Weaver
Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)
05. Since I believe in God the Father Almighty
Robert Ramsey (c.1590-1644)
06. When David heard
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
07. Hymn to Saint Cecilia
Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986)
08. There is a spirit
Michael East (1580-1648)
09. When David heard
Herbert Howells (1892 -1983)
10. Take him, earth, for cherishing
Robert Pearsall (1795-1856)
11. Lay a Garland
Edmund Rubbra
12. Eternitie
Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
13. When David heard
Sir William Harris
14. Bring us, O Lord God
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 3. March 2016, 8:54
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers / Poetry in Music
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EAC extraction logfile from 3. March 2016, 8:54
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers / Poetry in Music
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
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Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
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Add ID3 tag : No
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Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
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3 | 9:28.61 | 3:37.55 | 42661 | 58990
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13 | 62:41.46 | 4:17.46 | 282121 | 301441
14 | 66:59.17 | 3:50.25 | 301442 | 318716
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Test CRC 71943DF7
Copy CRC 71943DF7
Copy OK
No errors occurred
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==== Log checksum 4F9D084A503F9AED8DBE4058FD35751C414266386673240FE3086BDEA8354826 ====
foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-02-22 00:49:19
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Analyzed: The Sixteen, Harry Christophers / Poetry in Music
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -0.58 dB -21.72 dB 5:26 01-Harris: Faire is the heaven
DR13 -1.92 dB -20.15 dB 4:03 02-Tippett: Dance, clarion air
DR12 -5.49 dB -24.12 dB 3:38 03-Weelkes: When David heard
DR12 -7.33 dB -25.94 dB 5:49 04-MacMillan: The Gallant Weaver
DR14 -4.59 dB -25.06 dB 5:54 05-Gurney: Since I believe in God the Father Almighty
DR11 -2.89 dB -21.81 dB 2:38 06-Ramsey: When David heard
DR14 -3.89 dB -24.31 dB 10:59 07-Britten: Hymn to Saint Cecilia
DR14 -4.20 dB -24.75 dB 5:36 08-Rubbra: There is a spirit
DR14 -4.98 dB -24.15 dB 4:19 09-East: When David heard
DR15 -1.05 dB -23.15 dB 8:18 10-Howells: Take him, earth, for cherishing
DR11 -4.26 dB -22.94 dB 3:14 11-Pearsall: Lay a garland
DR12 -3.45 dB -22.23 dB 2:48 12-Rubbra: Eternitie
DR14 -4.89 dB -24.33 dB 4:18 13-Tomkins: When David heard
DR15 -0.83 dB -21.31 dB 3:50 14-Harris: Bring us, O Lord God
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 14
Official DR value: DR13
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Bitrate: 544 kbps
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================================================================================
log date: 2017-02-22 00:49:19
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: The Sixteen, Harry Christophers / Poetry in Music
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -5.49 dB -24.12 dB 3:38 03-Weelkes: When David heard
DR12 -7.33 dB -25.94 dB 5:49 04-MacMillan: The Gallant Weaver
DR14 -4.59 dB -25.06 dB 5:54 05-Gurney: Since I believe in God the Father Almighty
DR11 -2.89 dB -21.81 dB 2:38 06-Ramsey: When David heard
DR14 -3.89 dB -24.31 dB 10:59 07-Britten: Hymn to Saint Cecilia
DR14 -4.20 dB -24.75 dB 5:36 08-Rubbra: There is a spirit
DR14 -4.98 dB -24.15 dB 4:19 09-East: When David heard
DR15 -1.05 dB -23.15 dB 8:18 10-Howells: Take him, earth, for cherishing
DR11 -4.26 dB -22.94 dB 3:14 11-Pearsall: Lay a garland
DR12 -3.45 dB -22.23 dB 2:48 12-Rubbra: Eternitie
DR14 -4.89 dB -24.33 dB 4:18 13-Tomkins: When David heard
DR15 -0.83 dB -21.31 dB 3:50 14-Harris: Bring us, O Lord God
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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Official DR value: DR13
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Codec: FLAC
================================================================================