CD Reviews - November 2015

The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips, have followed up their acclaimed 2013 release of music by John Taverner (c1490-1545) with a recording of his massive Missa Corona Spinea. Taverner was a huge influence on English composers who followed, including Tallis and Byrd, yet remarkably little is known about his life, and details about his compositions and musical appointments really only account for less than ten years of his life from 1524 to about 1530.  Yet eight masses and a number of motets and antiphons remain, and the importance of this composer in the development of English music cannot be overstated. His command of texture and form, combined with the ability to create a sense of serenity and clarity in his melodic lines is amply demonstrated in the Missa Corona Spinea.  Unlike in his other great work Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, where the virtuosity required across the six parts is more or less equal, in the Missa Corona Spinea, it is the trebles (the top soprano line) who are the stars. Right from the opening bars they are soaring on top B flats, and stay up there pretty much throughout. Not only that, but there are two significant ‘gimell’ sections – this is where one part splits into two separate lines. So here, the two trebles (Janet Coxwell and Amy Haworth on amazing form) have incredibly intricate solo lines which weave in and out of each other, underpinned by a bass line. For the second gimell, Taverner complicates matters even more by splitting the mean voice (the next voice down) too, making this a double gimell.  The resulting virtuosic intricacy is amazing, and as ever, The Tallis Scholars relish this challenge, with the trebles in particular producing effortless, crystal clear lines above the rich sonorities of the lower voices.  Taverner further accentuates the soaring top line by scoring two bass parts at the bottom, adding to the richness of the fuller choral sections.  It is not known exactly what occasion Taverner composed this amazing work for, but there is speculation that none other than Cardinal Wolsey may have commissioned it, with Henry VIII possibly present at the first performance.  The scale of this single work, at nearly 48 minutes long, is immense, but it rewards concentrated listening. You can’t help being transported by those ringing top notes and the intensity of Taverner’s complex writing. The Tallis Scholars complete the disc with Taverner’s two settings of the Easter responsary Dum transisset Sabbatum. The first of these is better known, but it is great to hear them side-by-side. Despite using the same tenor chant line, they demonstrate the composer’s skill at producing strikingly different settings within the same construct.  The text describes the women arriving at Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday morning, and Taverner creates a sense of awe and wonder in both settings. A worthy end to another top-notch recording from The Tallis Scholars.

Taverner, J. 2015. Missa Corona spinea. The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips. Compact Disc. Gimbal Records. CDGIM 046.

Cellist Pieter Wispelwey has been joined by pianist Paolo Giacometti for the first disc in a projected six disc cycle in which he plans to record all of Schubert and Brahms’ chamber duos – predominantly composed for other instruments than the cello. Why, you might ask? Well, as he argues, some works, such as Brahms’ Clarinet Sonatas, are regularly performed on other instruments – Brahms himself published versions of these for viola. And the famed ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata, usually performed on the cello, was, as discussed with Tasmin Little’s recent Schubert disc, composed for a now defunct guitar/cello hybrid. So why now explore these works with the different sonorities of the cello? Well on the basis of this opening disc, I would tentatively agree – although I think this works better with some works than others. The Fantasie that opens the disc, a late work composed by Schubert for violin and piano, combines virtuosity with some incredibly touching moments. The cello is not quite lithe enough for the most virtuosic moments here, and Wispelwey’s tone in the higher registers is more brittle than a violin produces. However, Wispelwey and Giacometti have great fun with the piece, and they bring a fresh angle to the work as a result.  The second of the aforementioned Clarinet Sonatas by Brahms fares better, with the instrument’s natural lyricism suiting Brahms’ beautifully smooth lines well – although again here when taken to the higher reaches of the instrument, the tone becomes a little dry.  The early Schubert Sonata works well, and Wispelwey and Giacometti bring out its light, engaging spirit well. Wispelwey separates the three duos with two movements from Solo Cello Suites by Max Reger (1873-1916) – highly Romantic works, despite their obvious nod to Bach, and convincingly performed here.

Various. 2015. Schubert - Brahms. The Complete Duos/Phantasie. Pieter Wispelwey, Paolo Giacometti. Compact Disc. Evil Penguin Records Classic 608917720426 - 2015 EPRC 0018.

(These reviews first appeared in GScene, November 2015)

The Tallis Scholars - 2000 concerts and counting!

© Eric Richmond

The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips (Director)

Taverner (c.1490-1545):    Leroy Kyrie
Sheppard (1515-1558):  Missa Cantate

Gabriel Jackson (b.1962):  Ave Dei patria filia
Byrd (c.1539-1623): Infelix ego
Ye Sacred Muses
Tribue Domine

Encores:
Tallis (c.1505-1585):  Miserere nostri
Stanford (1852-1924):  The Blue Bird

St John's Smith Square, 21 September 2015

«««««

© Albert Roosenburg

2000 concerts in 42 years – an impressive statistic by any standard. The Tallis Scholars, now performing at a rate of roughly 100 concerts a year, with their founding director, Peter Phillips, chose to celebrate their 2000^th concert in relatively low key style, compared with their gala 40^th anniversary year concert at St Paul’s a couple of years ago. No expanded forces for Spem in Alium this time, but their more standard line-up of just 12 voices – a suitable way to celebrate such an achievement of such regular and consistent live performance, perhaps. However, three works from that concert appeared on tonight’s programme (although one as an encore), appropriately reflecting The Tallis Scholars’ repertoire with Renaissance polyphony combined with a contemporary choral work from Gabriel Jackson.

But the first half of their concert was dominated by a performance of the mammoth Missa Cantate by John Sheppard (1515-1558). Little is known about the detail of Sheppard’s life and music, which goes only some way to explaining why his wonderful music is not performed as often as Tallis or Byrd, say. One reason why the Missa Cantate in particular is not so often performed is the incredible stamina required to sustain a complete live performance. The Tallis Scholars wisely took short breathers between sections, yet even then, this is a pretty relentless challenge for just 12 voices, 2 to a part, with pretty much no let up.  Needless to say, The Tallis Scholars showed themselves more than up to this challenge however.

They preceded the mass with Taverner’s (c.1490-1545) Leroy Kyrie, so called as it is believed the tune may have been composed by King Henry IV or V. Immediately we heard The Tallis Scholars’ trademark smooth blend and bell-like high sopranos, setting the seen for the Missa Cantate to follow. In the opening Gloria, after the initial entries, Sheppard weaves the lower voices in and out in an almost hypnotic fashion, and the melismatic writing for tu solus (‘thou alone’) is exquisite, with more animation for cum Sancto Spiritu, and a glorious build to the Amen. Sheppard works his way through the Credo using the six voice parts in varied combinations, but also uses unexpected harmonic shifts (such as at ‘caelis’) to keep listeners and performers on their toes. Phillips and The Tallis Scholars managed the ebb and flow of the music within the overall arc of the whole mass with impressive ease, and the serenity of the Sanctus setting was contrasted well with the emphatic Hosannas, ending with a calming Agnus Dei, the lower voices particularly smooth and silky here. Having reached the end, Phillips and The Tallis Scholars deservedly enjoyed the sudden false relation and ‘blue’ notes Sheppard throws in towards the final cadence.

© Joel Garthwaite

The Tallis Scholars commissioned two works to celebrate their 40^th anniversary, one from Eric Whitacre, and the other from Gabriel Jackson, and both were premièred at their anniversary concert at St Paul’s two years ago. Jackson’s Ave Dei patris filia opens with a joyful ‘Ave’, with all voices swooping in birdlike fashion. The use of repeated turns, particularly in the higher voices, is a striking feature throughout the work. There is limited use of overt dissonance, really only obvious in the Ave plena gracia section, and its economical use here is all the more effective for it, with bright soprano lines in a tight interplay. Jackson also frequently sets a melismatic soprano line against staccato rhythms in the other voices. These rhythms are particularly playful and bouncy in the penultimate Ave virgo feta section, which builds wonderfully to a return of the opening swooping for the final glorious praise and amen. It was great to hear this wonderful piece performed again, especially with the detail articulated in a slightly less challenging acoustic than St Paul’s.

The remainder of the programme focussed on Byrd, with two monumental votive antiphon motets that share a great deal in form and style, despite being composed some 15 or so years apart. The structure of both is comparable, with broadly similar shapes to their sections, and they share Byrd’s unusual choice of transposed Lydian mode. They ended with Tribue Domine, the earlier work, but first came Infelix ego.  The text for this is a contemplation on Psalm 50 by the Italian priest Savonarola, written shortly before his execution. Understandably full of anguish and penitence, it is ultimately a plea for mercy, and Byrd mixes hefty sections of homophonic writing against a variety of polyphonic writing for varied combinations of the 6 parts. Yet this is a subtle setting – after total despair and the question ‘Despair?’, the answer, ‘Absit’ (I shall not) turns the priest’s focus to seeking pity and mercy, and Byrd makes this distinction clear.  The opening section from The Tallis Scholars here could have perhaps had more anguish, but the increasingly insistent pleas for mercy had real intensity, before the music subsides back to a more subservient penitence for the final words.

Before Tribue Domine, came Ye Sacred Muses, Byrd’s heartfelt elegy to Tallis, following his death in 1585. The final words, ‘Tallis is dead, and music dies’ merit perhaps a little more emotion than on display here, but this was nonetheless a respectfully sensitive yet firm performance.

The Tallis Scholars then closed the programme with Tribue Domine. As with Infelix ego, Byrd makes much use of varied part writing, but also a variety of dynamic textures, with animated entries at the opening contrasting smoother overlapping falling lines at the end of the first section, for example. The Gloria section is substantial, and the build to the final Amen proved a fitting end to this well constructed programme. 

Not one but two encores followed – first the brief yet achingly exquisite Miserere nostri from Tallis, and then, slightly out of left-field, Stanford’s Victorian gem, The Blue Bird, with the two top sopranos beautifully blended on the solo line.

With no sign of their schedule letting up in any way, the concert tally will no doubt continue to rise indefinitely, but tonight’s concert will certainly stand out as a landmark on the way towards their next milestone.  Happy 2000^th!

CD Reviews - May 2014

The Gould Piano Trio have released a third volume in their series of Beethoven Piano Trios – but in fact this disc is a little different, in that there is only one single movement here (the Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’) that is performed by the full Gould Piano Trio.  The other two works on offer here, the Op. 11 and Op. 38 Trios, are for clarinet, cello and piano – so the Trio’s founder, violinist Lucy Gould gets a bit of a rest, replaced by clarinetist Robert Plane.  Once again, these are live recordings, recorded in 2012 at St George’s, Bristol.  The Op. 38 Trio is actually Beethoven’s own arrangement of his Op. 20 Septet, one of his most successful chamber works.  It is more like a serenade, with real variety across its six movements.  The Scherzo which follows the central set of variations is full of energy, and following a slow introduction, the finale really takes off with rousing Presto.  This is Beethoven in playful mode, and the players are clearly having fun here.  The Op. 11 Trio was in fact written first for the clarinet, cello & piano combination, but it was published with an additional violin part too.  It is a light, almost lyrical work, and the duet in the Adagio is particularly well suited to the clarinet and cello, with a beautiful tone from Plane here.  In between, we have the Variations, with the humour of the original popular song (‘I am the tailor cockatoo’) exploited throughout.  Whilst none of the works here are the most profound of Beethoven’s output, these spirited live recordings do full justice to their lighter, joyful nature.  One minor point – the otherwise informative notes by Robert Matthew-Walker are slightly confusingly written as if Op. 11 is performed in its version with violin, rather than clarinet.

Beethoven, L. v. 2014. The Complete Piano Trios - Vol. 3. Robert Plane, Gould Piano Trio. Compact Disc. Somm SOMMCD 0135.

The same forces have also recorded a survey of chamber works by York Bowen (1884-1961).  This time, the forces are slightly more varied, with Robert Plane accompanied by the Gould’s pianist, Benjamin Frith for Bowen’s Clarinet Sonata, and then the Gould string players, Lucy Gould & Alice Neary, are joined by Mia Cooper (violin) and David Adams (viola), with Plane this time on bass clarinet for Bowen’s Phantasy Quintet.  The rest of the disc is given over to the Gould Piano Trio by themselves, with the Piano Trio in E minor, the single movement Rhapsody Trio, and another single movement from an unfinished Piano Trio in D minor, which the Goulds have edited and prepared for performance.  Bowen’s music is unashamedly Romantic, and whilst he was incredibly successful in the early twentieth century, his rejection of the changing styles of more modern contemporaries meant that slowly his music fell out of favour, and by the end of the last century, his repertoire was largely forgotten.  The works on this disc here are definitely within a very distinct late-romantic idiom, with an obvious line back to Brahms, and a strong flavour of Rachmaninov (Bowen was even referred to in his day as the ‘English Rachmaninov’). This is perhaps most evident in his Piano Trio in E minor, a towering work, with a particularly virtuosic piano part, of which Frith demonstrates full command here.  The Phantasy Quintet is an equally impressive work, and Bowen makes imaginative yet unobtrusive use of the bass clarinet, blending it with the string textures expertly.  The Clarinet Sonata which opens the disc again demonstrates Bowen’s skill at creating a seamless flow through his compositions, and for all the virtuosity required here from both clarinet and piano (amply supplied by Plane & Frith), this is a remarkably coherent work which deserves more hearings.  Plane and the Gould Piano Trio have worked together extensively, and this is highly evident in their consummate performances on both of these discs.

Bowen, Y. 2014. Chamber Works. Robert Plane, Mia Cooper, David Adams, Gould Piano Trio. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10805.

Late last year, as part of their 40^th birthday celebrations, The Tallis Scholars released a magnificent recording of the Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas by John Taverner (c1490-1545).  This is an incredibly challenging yet incredibly beautiful work, lasting just over forty minutes.  In six voices, the parts have enormous ranges, stretching the singers and requiring remarkable stamina to perform.  Taverner’s writing here is hugely architectural, and this further requires sustained intensity, which director Peter Phillips extracts from the 13 singers performing here.   As ever, the blend is impeccable, and the unfailing continuity of line is impressive.  The Benedictus is a perfect example of Taverner’s ability to stretch his settings of the text, and the setting of the ‘in nomine’ here became the basis of many other composers’ settings, such was its regard.  The remainder of the disc is given over to three settings of the Magnificat, for four, five and six voices.  They couldn’t be more varied in their settings, with the four-voice the most dramatic and imitative, and the five-voice is the most subtle, almost soothing.  In the six-voice, understandably, Taverner makes greater use of variety of textures, with complex passages for all six parts contrasted with sections for fewer voices.  Overall, this disc demonstrates the technical brilliance and profound depth of Taverner’s writing, and The Tallis Scholars have chosen a fitting way to celebrate their forty years of bringing such music to our ears.  Long may this continue.

Taverner, J. 2013. Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas. The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips. Compact Disc. Gimell CDGIM 045.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, May 2014)