Works by RR Bennett, Holst, Tavener, Cecilia McDowall, Francis Pott, Caroline Shaw et al
Tenebrae/Nigel Short
Signum Classics SIGCD880 80:45 mins
Nigel Short’s experience as a King’s Singer has rubbed off in his work with Tenebrae, the virtuosic vocal ensemble he formed in 2001. This latest recording once again showcases his singers’ effortless versatility both as choristers and soloists, with a cappella singing that is precise yet never precious, highly disciplined yet unaffected and warm.
The centrepiece of the album’s first half is A Prayer for Deliverance, a powerful contemporary setting of Psalm 13. American composer Joel Thompson’s urgent, politically inspired music was written as a response to the Pandemic and to Black Lives Matter, anguished and restless in its soul-searching quest for existential meaning. This is contrasted with Howells’s Requiem, in the second half of the programme, full of measured introspection and a sense of resignation.
Around these two pillars, Short has assembled a collection of atmospheric works with a crepuscular feel to them, exploring thresholds of light and darkness, sleep and death, and a longing for rest. Favourite bastions of the English choral tradition, such as Sullivan’s ‘The Long Day Closes’ and Pearsall’s ‘Lay a Garland’ feel completely at home in the company of more recent voices such as Caroline Shaw and Joanna Marsh.
One of Tenebrae’s great strengths is to bring both dignity and panache to these works, showing restraint where it is due, but unleashing full-blooded passion at the climaxes without a trace of vulgarity. Signum’s recording captures the extraordinarily reverberant acoustic of Ampleforth Abbey without compromising the clarity and coherence of this fine group of singers. Ashutosh Khandekar
