Advent Live Vol.2
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Label: Signum
Cat No: SIGCD661
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Christmas
Release Date: 27th November 2020
Contents
Works
Chorale Prelude BWV661 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland'An introduction to 'Hark, the glad sound'
A Ceremony of Carols, op.28 (arr. Julius Harrison)
» Deo gracias
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungenI am the day
A tender shoot
A Spotless Rose
Vox clara ecce intonat
There is no rose
E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come
The Last and Greatest Herald
A Prayer to St John the Baptist
Out of your sleep arise
Bogoroditse Dyevo (Mother of God and Virgin)
Hark, the glad sound (Bristol)
Ach, so lass von mir dich finden, TVWV1:1657a
Lo, he comes with clouds descending
O Antiphons (7)
» O Adonai
» O Key of David
» O Root of Jesse
» O Wisdom
The Linden Tree Carol (arr. Reginald Jacques)Geistliche Lieder (6) nach Gedichten von Joseph von Eichendorff
» no.2 Einklang
Artists
Choir of St John’s College, CambridgeConductor
Andrew NethsinghaWorks
Chorale Prelude BWV661 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland'An introduction to 'Hark, the glad sound'
A Ceremony of Carols, op.28 (arr. Julius Harrison)
» Deo gracias
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungenI am the day
A tender shoot
A Spotless Rose
Vox clara ecce intonat
There is no rose
E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come
The Last and Greatest Herald
A Prayer to St John the Baptist
Out of your sleep arise
Bogoroditse Dyevo (Mother of God and Virgin)
Hark, the glad sound (Bristol)
Ach, so lass von mir dich finden, TVWV1:1657a
Lo, he comes with clouds descending
O Antiphons (7)
» O Adonai
» O Key of David
» O Root of Jesse
» O Wisdom
The Linden Tree Carol (arr. Reginald Jacques)Geistliche Lieder (6) nach Gedichten von Joseph von Eichendorff
» no.2 Einklang
Artists
Choir of St John’s College, CambridgeConductor
Andrew NethsinghaAbout
The sublime Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge return with the second volume in their Advent series, celebrating the Advent season from within the Christian tradition; a season celebrated since at least the sixth century.
This splendid live recording, from within the Chapel of St John’s College itself, features Christmas favourites including Britten’s Deo gracias from A Ceremony of Carols, as well as gorgeous performances of lesser-known works by modern composers including Jonathan Dove, Arvo Pärt and Paul Manz.
This splendid live recording, from within the Chapel of St John’s College itself, features Christmas favourites including Britten’s Deo gracias from A Ceremony of Carols, as well as gorgeous performances of lesser-known works by modern composers including Jonathan Dove, Arvo Pärt and Paul Manz.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1I Am The Day (Live)
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2Bogoroditse Dyevo (Live)
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3A Spotless Rose (Live)
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4A Prayer Of St. John The Baptist (Live)
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5Vox Clara Ecce Intonat (Live)
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6The Last And Greatest Herald (Live)
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7O Wisdom (Live)
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8O Adonai (Live)
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9A Tender Shoot (Live)
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10Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen (Live)
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11Out Of Your Sleep (Live)
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12Hark, The Glad Sound (Live)
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13There Is No Rose (Live)
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14O Root Of Jesse (Live)
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15O Key Of David (Live)
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16Ach So Lass Von Mir Dich Finden (Live)
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17E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come (Live)
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18The Linden Tree (Live)
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19A Ceremony Of Carols, Op. 28: X. Deo Gracias (Live)
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20Einklang (Live)
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21Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending (Live)
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22Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, BWV 661 (Live)
Europadisc Review
In the Church calendar, Advent – the period leading up to Christmas – is a time of anticipation as well as reflection, both of which feelings take on added significance this year in particular, as the world confronts a Christmas in the shadow of the global Coronavirus pandemic. For their second disc of Advent music on the group's own label, the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, under its inspirational Director of Music Andrew Nethsingha, presents a programme that perfectly captures that special mixture of joy and meditativeness characteristic of the season. The performances were recorded for the most part at the Choir's Advent Carol Services in 2018 and 2019 (with John McCabe's The last and greatest Herald coming from the 2008 service), part of a tradition of Advent services which have been broadcast live by the BBC since 1981.
Reflection and anticipation are indeed the first feelings to emerge in the very opening bars of Jonathan Dove's I am the day which starts the disc, a skilful and absorbing setting of words from The Legend of St Christopher and The Book of Revelation – the latter a reminder that Advent looks forward not only to the Nativity but also to Christ's Second Coming. The listener is immediately drawn in by the clarity of the special 'St John's sound', particularly the sprung rhythms of the recurring dance-like phrase 'I am alpha and omega', but also the ability of the lower voice to sustain long lines with no loss of definition. Nethsingha writes that his priority in the selection of items for this programme 'has been to create an organic musical sequence', but some narrative themes also emerge, like the pairing of Arvo Pärt's fleet-footed, exuberant Bŏgŏroditsye Dyevo and Herbert Howells's exquisite A Spotless Rose, both centred on the figure of the Virgin Mary.
Cecilia McDowall's striking Prayer to St John the Baptist, the first work in the programme to include organ accompaniment, ingeniously incorporates verses which describe a mnemonic for the musical scale first set down by the medieval theorist Guido of Arezzo. Gabriel Jackson uses a solo saxophone (brilliantly played by St John's undergraduate Ignacio Mañá Mesas) to evoke the increasingly jubilant voice of St John in the wilderness in his Vox clara ecce intonat, while John McCabe in his 2008 setting opts for the unmistakably rousing Trompeta Real of the St John's Chapel organ.
It's particularly welcome to have four of the traditional Advent 'O' Antiphons performed in chant by the choral scholars, framing the central section of the programme, which includes four distinctive 20th-century contributions to the Advent repertoire by Otto Goldschmidt, Hugo Distler, Anthony Milner and Elizabeth Maconchy. Reaching even further back, Telemann's Ach so lass von mir dich finden is one of the highlights of the programme, with a group of trebles surrounding star lutenist Jakob Lindberg in a performance of beautiful intimacy.
Paul Manz's E'en so, Lord Jesus and Reginald Jacques's popular arrangement of the Linden Tree Carol transport the listener to a particularly British tradition of pastoral loveliness. They serve as a bridge of sorts to the 'Deo gracias' movement from Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols in the SATB arrangement by Julius Harrison, with harpist Anne Denholm providing the excellent accompaniment, and the Choir projecting every word with stunning clarity. Their beauty of tone should not be underestimated, either, as is evident from their lovely performance of 'Einklang' from Hugo Wolf's Six Sacred Songs.
Nethsingha is almost apologetic about the forthrightness of the singing and balance for the two congregational hymns, Hark, the glad sound and Lo! he comes with clouds descending. There's no need, for they serve as a timely reminder of the splendours of full-throated delivery of community singing, and are distinguished in the first case by Judith Bingham's dazzling introduction for choir and solo saxophone, in the second by Christopher Robinson's heaven-storming descant.
The programme is rounded off with a sinewy rendition of J.S. Bach's prelude on the great Advent chorale 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland' from the 'Great Eighteen' collection, played by Organ Scholar James Anderson-Besant, a blazing note on which to end this hugely uplifting disc. Under Nethsingha, the St John's Choir remains unsurpassed in this repertoire while retaining all its individuality, continuing to commission new works while honouring tradition. Of all the seasonal discs released for this very different Advent and Yuletide, the present album really is the pick of the bunch.
Reflection and anticipation are indeed the first feelings to emerge in the very opening bars of Jonathan Dove's I am the day which starts the disc, a skilful and absorbing setting of words from The Legend of St Christopher and The Book of Revelation – the latter a reminder that Advent looks forward not only to the Nativity but also to Christ's Second Coming. The listener is immediately drawn in by the clarity of the special 'St John's sound', particularly the sprung rhythms of the recurring dance-like phrase 'I am alpha and omega', but also the ability of the lower voice to sustain long lines with no loss of definition. Nethsingha writes that his priority in the selection of items for this programme 'has been to create an organic musical sequence', but some narrative themes also emerge, like the pairing of Arvo Pärt's fleet-footed, exuberant Bŏgŏroditsye Dyevo and Herbert Howells's exquisite A Spotless Rose, both centred on the figure of the Virgin Mary.
Cecilia McDowall's striking Prayer to St John the Baptist, the first work in the programme to include organ accompaniment, ingeniously incorporates verses which describe a mnemonic for the musical scale first set down by the medieval theorist Guido of Arezzo. Gabriel Jackson uses a solo saxophone (brilliantly played by St John's undergraduate Ignacio Mañá Mesas) to evoke the increasingly jubilant voice of St John in the wilderness in his Vox clara ecce intonat, while John McCabe in his 2008 setting opts for the unmistakably rousing Trompeta Real of the St John's Chapel organ.
It's particularly welcome to have four of the traditional Advent 'O' Antiphons performed in chant by the choral scholars, framing the central section of the programme, which includes four distinctive 20th-century contributions to the Advent repertoire by Otto Goldschmidt, Hugo Distler, Anthony Milner and Elizabeth Maconchy. Reaching even further back, Telemann's Ach so lass von mir dich finden is one of the highlights of the programme, with a group of trebles surrounding star lutenist Jakob Lindberg in a performance of beautiful intimacy.
Paul Manz's E'en so, Lord Jesus and Reginald Jacques's popular arrangement of the Linden Tree Carol transport the listener to a particularly British tradition of pastoral loveliness. They serve as a bridge of sorts to the 'Deo gracias' movement from Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols in the SATB arrangement by Julius Harrison, with harpist Anne Denholm providing the excellent accompaniment, and the Choir projecting every word with stunning clarity. Their beauty of tone should not be underestimated, either, as is evident from their lovely performance of 'Einklang' from Hugo Wolf's Six Sacred Songs.
Nethsingha is almost apologetic about the forthrightness of the singing and balance for the two congregational hymns, Hark, the glad sound and Lo! he comes with clouds descending. There's no need, for they serve as a timely reminder of the splendours of full-throated delivery of community singing, and are distinguished in the first case by Judith Bingham's dazzling introduction for choir and solo saxophone, in the second by Christopher Robinson's heaven-storming descant.
The programme is rounded off with a sinewy rendition of J.S. Bach's prelude on the great Advent chorale 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland' from the 'Great Eighteen' collection, played by Organ Scholar James Anderson-Besant, a blazing note on which to end this hugely uplifting disc. Under Nethsingha, the St John's Choir remains unsurpassed in this repertoire while retaining all its individuality, continuing to commission new works while honouring tradition. Of all the seasonal discs released for this very different Advent and Yuletide, the present album really is the pick of the bunch.
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