Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem / Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

The Choir of King's College Cambridge & Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Cleobury

Herinnering

De Chichester Psalms, geschreven in 1965, zijn met recht Leonard Bernsteins populairste koorcompositie en markeren een terugkeer naar het tonale componeren na zijn experimenten met de twaalftoonstechniek. Stephen Cleobury en het koor van King's College Cambridge presenteren hier een versie voor koor, orgel, percussie en harp en laten het publiek ook kennismaken met het gepassioneerde Dona nobis pacem van de laatromantische Britse componist Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Bernstein:
 Chichester Psalms

Paulus:
 The Road Home

Vaughan Williams:
 Dona Nobis Pacem

"The boy trebles bring an extra, touching intimacy to the Agnus Dei, though there are places…where their tone becomes attenuated, and others where major surges of dynamic threaten to swamp their contribution. Both soloists are moving and Stephen Cleobury conducts incisively…These performances, though not definitive are consistently insightful, and provide a viable alternative to adult choir versions."
BBC Music Magazine - January 2018 ****

"King’s Chapel plays its part, not only in the acoustic halo that surrounds Ailish Tynan’s opening plea, but the space surrounding and somehow uplifting strings and voices: bass drum and organ entirely fill the air when they need to, but there is a not inappropriate illusion of the performance taking place in mid-air. That’s also due to Stephen Cleobury’s incisive direction."
Gramophone Magazine - January 2018

"Cleobury’s King’s forces, ably matched by the ever-reliable Britten Sinfonia, give of their very best … Both soloists are superb, with Roderick Williams’s bright tone and exemplary diction especially to be admired. The Bernstein receives a lively, precise reading in which the newly restored chapel organ is heard to particularly fine effect."
Choir & Organ - January/February 2018