COMPOSERS: Bennett
LABELS: Collegium
ALBUM TITLE: Sea Change
WORKS: Sea Change; A Farewell to Arms; Missa brevis; Five Carols; Verses
PERFORMER: Sue Dorley, Charles Fullbrook, Cambridge Singers, John Rutter
CATALOGUE NO: CSACD 901
I confess that some of the early
Cambridge Singers discs were a
musical epiphany for me. Even if I
were minded to remove those rosetinted
spectacles, this disc is in no way
a poor relation. The same winning
qualities are present: clean-sweeping
musical lines, loving attention to text,
absolute commitment to choral blend.
All of these give the impression of an
intimacy and singularity of purpose
more associated with a Lieder recital
than a choral performance, and it is
hard to imagine a more persuasive
and personal rendering of this
charming music.
Richard Rodney Bennett’s is a
rich, nostalgic harmony, pivoting
restlessly from sweet discord to
half-resolved concord. When firmly
rooted in a text, this style provides
inspiring material for a young choir
and a conductor of Rutter’s calibre;
Shakespeare’s Tempest texts are
revealed in Vaughan Williams-like
lushness; the Elizabethan poetry calls
forth similarly personal response.
Only the Missa brevis is unexceptional;
though there is nothing to dislike in
it, the liturgical text makes Bennett’s
harmonic gambits, and thus the
performance, seem somewhat
anchorless. The Nissan hut-like
acoustics of the new LSO St Luke’s
fortunately do not detract from the
music-making, a further tribute to the
performers. William Whitehead