COMPOSERS: Debussy; Durufle; Faure; Poulenc; Ravel; Saint-Saens; Villette
LABELS: Meridian
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: French Choral Music
WORKS: Works
PERFORMER: Soloists; Choir of Clare College, Cambridge/Timothy Brown
CATALOGUE NO: CDE 84370 Reissue (1997)
Less fuss is made about the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, than some of the other Oxbridge choirs, but it is nonetheless well worth discovering. Here it tackles a range of French music of the last 150 or so years, beginning with some rather sleepy Fauré and Duruflé and working up to the more invigorating pleasures afforded by Poulenc’s four Christmas motets and Ravel’s Trois chansons. Very occasionally there are signs of strain in the upper register, but by and large the choir is admirably precise and well marshalled in this enjoyable if slightly undramatic repertoire.
Christopher Wood