Composer: René Clausen, Frank Ferko, Edwin Fissinger, Ola Gjeilo, William Hawley, Stephen Paulus, Steven Edward Stucky, Healey Willan
Performer: Trinity College Choir Cambridge
Conductor: Stephen Layton
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA67832
Release: 2011
Size: 242 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Clausen: Tonight eternity alone
Stucky: Three New Motets ‘in memoriam Thomas Tallis’
02. I. O admirabile commercium
03. II. O sacrum convivium
04. III. O vos omnes
05. Gjeilo: Sanctus
Ferko: Hildegard Triptych
06. I. O vis aeternitatis
07. II. Caritas abundat
08. III. O virtus sapientiae
09. Fissinger: Lux aeterna
10. Willan: Fair in face, Op. 313
11. Willan: I beheld her, beautiful as a dove
12. Willan: Rise up, my love, my fair one
13. Willan: How they so softly rest, Op. 302
14. Paulus: The day is done
Paulus: The Three Hermits
15. Pilgrims’ Hymn
Paulus: To Be Certain of the Dawn
16. Hymn to the Eternal Flame
Hawley: Two Motets
17. I. Mosella
18. II. Te vigilans oculis
19. Gjeilo: Phoenix
Recently named in Gramophone as the ‘fifth best choir in the world’, Stephen Layton and his acclaimed Trinity College Choir perform a stunning disc of American and Canadian a cappella choral works.
The recording is a showcase of little-known American composers unearthed by Layton during his travels. These distinctive and luminous compositions illustrate the context in which better-known composers such as Lauridsen and Whitacre—already championed by Layton—learnt their craft.
The choir is in perfect voice. Their purity of tone, flawless intonation and depth of feeling are truly exceptional. This wonderful disc is a must for all choral fanatics.
British conductor Stephen Layton is one of few European conductors to take an active interest in 20th and 21st century American choral music; he and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, have already released three albums devoted to a cappella music by the two most prominent American choral composers of turn of the millennium, Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre. This disc features the works of eight composers, seven from the U.S. and one from Canada. For the most part, these pieces are less distinctive than those by Lauridsen and Whitacre, who each have a clearly recognizable sound, and the idiom of most of these pieces tends to be more conservative than theirs. Canadian Healey Willan, writing in the first decades of the 20th century, is strongly reminiscent of (if not indistinguishable from) British composers like Parry and Stanford. Stephen Paulus, writing three quarters of a century later, uses an unruffled euphonious tonal vocabulary not far removed from Willan’s, but his three works included here have an attractive, characteristic American sound. The most adventurous works, by Steven Stucky and Frank Ferko, use a broader harmonic palette and they employ a more inventive exploration of choral techniques. Even so, they fall comfortably into a lyrical, lushly neo-Romantic style that’s likely to appeal to broad audiences. In addition to the works by Stucky and Ferko, two of the most striking pieces are by the youngest composer, Ola Gjeilo, born in 1978, whose Sanctus is radiantly ecstatic. The performances are above reproach, and it’s hard to imagine their being bettered. The choir sings with gorgeous warmth and blend, and Layton brings exceptionally nuanced understanding to this music. Like his three previous releases of American music, Beyond All Mortal Dreams is a standout in a crowded field of recordings and should be of strong interest to fans of new choral music. Hyperion’s sound is impeccable.