This new disc has close connections with their record company too. Adrian Green (b.1985), Convivium’s Managing Director, is also a composer himself, and the connecting thread between all the composers on this disc is the influence of the self-taught polymath and teacher, Leon MacLaren (1910-1994), who set up the Music Group at the School of Philosophy and Economic Science (which he also founded). That Music Group looked at the nature of sound and silence, and the connection between music and the meaning of text – in his words, what matters is ‘not what the words say, but where they’re coming from, and music has the capacity to connect us with this’. As someone who has sung chorally all my life, inevitably singing many settings of sacred texts, despite not having any religious belief, I do find this interesting, as I know from personal experience the power of music to move and touch one’s ‘soul’ on a deep level, regardless of one’s beliefs.
With 19 works from 9 composers (just one woman amongst them), most coming in at around two minutes long, it’s not possible to comment on every piece. Suffice to say the standard is consistently high, with clarity of text-setting in common across the board. This clarity is enhanced throughout by the crystal precision of the Phoenix Consort, with a purity of tone that nevertheless gives expressive weight when needed, thus avoiding the somewhat anodyne purity that can characterise even the best of choirs. Harmonically there are few shocks here, with many pieces centring strongly around a fixed tonic, and minimal modulation. Yet the settings are mostly effective and seldom lacking in interest.
Picking out a few highlights, David Fletcher’s (1931-2024) Set me as a seal contrasts weaving lines with sections of closer homophony, and O Oriens by David Goymour (b.1946) is one of the more polyphonic offerings, in contrast with John-Paul Bowman’s (b.1985) homophonic, simply set A new commandment, which follows it. Noel Skinner’s (1947-2019) For the Fallen is a touchingly contemplative setting of Binyon’s familiar poem, here arranged for SATB from Skinner’s original for young voices by Matthew Coleridge. Rosemary Broadbent’s (b.1950) And he arose combines tenderness in its outer sections with a more playfully dancing central section. Gillian Thompson joins on piano to accompany the singers for Peter Blumson’s (1942-2026) What is man?, which combines its straightforward melody with the steady motion of the piano to simple effect.
Green’s The Absorbeat (Prayer of St Francis), the longest, and most striking piece here, contrasts sections for upper or lower voices with pulsing harmonies below a soaring soprano line. Falling sequences of suspensions, richly sung by the Phoenix Consort lower voices in particular, increase in intensity, adding urgency to the prayerful pleas. Derek Saunders’ (b.1966) Be still, and know that I am God uses drones, mostly in the lower voices, to underpin the gently moving parts, creating a successful sense of stillness. Skinner’s The earth is the Lord’s is for upper voices, which shine brightly here. Baritone Will Pate impresses in Green’s Every good gift, his Latin chant initially alone then set against effective choral writing, and the choir further excel in Bruce Ramell’s (b.1939) declamatory O Adonai which follows this.
Strong solos from within the choir enhance a few pieces, adding further interest to an otherwise relatively homogenous soundworld, perhaps inevitable in such an extensive collection of short sacred settings. Of course ‘contemplation’ is in the disc’s title, but greater rhythmic variety and energy would have been welcome to break things up a little. Nonetheless, this is an impressive collection of works that choirs looking for new repertoire would do well to explore (with free downloadable scores here). And I look forward to hearing more from Adam Whitmore’s Phoenix Consort.
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