Composer: Kenneth Leighton
Performer: Londinium, Nina Bennet, Nick Pritchard, Rebecca Lea, Arielle Leowinger, Ciara Hendrick, Madelaine Napier, Fiona Clark, Helena Whitfield, Ben Byram-Wingfield, Clare Loosely, Isobel McIntosh, Finchley Children’s Music Group
Conductor: Andrew Griffiths
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Somm
Catalogue: SOMMCD0667
Release: 2023
Size: 1.18 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Laudes Animantium, Op.61
01. I. Prelude
02. II. Scherzo: Calico Pie
03. III. The Nightingale
04. IV. The Lamb
05. V. The Kraken
06. VI. The Grey Squirrel
07. VII. The Tyger
08. VIII. Every Living Creature
09. An Evening Hymn
10. London Town
11. Lord, When The Sense Of Thy Sweet Grace
Carols, Op 25
12. Lully, lulla, thou tiny little child
13. The seven joys of Mary
14. Sleep, Holy Babe
15. Nativitie
16. A Hymn to the Trinity
SOMM Recordings is delighted to announce the label return of the chamber choir Londinium and director Andrew Griffiths wi th Every Living Creature, a recital of choral music by Kenneth Leighton on the 35th anniversary of his death featuring five premiere recordings. The album unearths a number of significant works by this important British composer, including the extraordinary, eight-movement Laudes Animantium, a 25-minute work for double choir, soloists and children’s chorus, as well as a superb setting of John Donne’s Nativitie and the charming Three Carols (1948). Also featured are the partsong London Town and three more sacred works: Lord, When the Sense of Thy Sweet Grace, An evening hymn and A Hymn to the Trinity. Five of the pieces are heard on disc for the first time; the remaining four have been recorded only once before. Londinium is joined by soloists Rebecca Lea and Nina Bennet (sopranos), Ciara Hendrick (mezzo-soprano), Nick Pritchard (tenor) and, in the finale of Laudes Animantium, the choir of Finchley Children’s Music Group. In his insightful booklet notes, Griffiths writes: “It is rare to find a choral singer who does not enjoy performing Leighton’s works. His music is rooted in rigorous part-writing and counterpoint, and alive with invigorating rhythm, motivic interplay and piquant dissonance, underlaid with a deeply lyrical instinct and an exquisite sensitivity to the meaning and colour of text”.