Bernstein/Copland Choral works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 10/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 754188-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Chichester Psalms |
Leonard Bernstein, Composer
King's College Choir, Cambridge Leonard Bernstein, Composer Stephen Cleobury, Conductor |
| In the Beginning |
Aaron Copland, Composer
Aaron Copland, Composer King's College Choir, Cambridge Stephen Cleobury, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 10/1991
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL754188-4
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Chichester Psalms |
Leonard Bernstein, Composer
King's College Choir, Cambridge Leonard Bernstein, Composer Stephen Cleobury, Conductor |
| In the Beginning |
Aaron Copland, Composer
Aaron Copland, Composer King's College Choir, Cambridge Stephen Cleobury, Conductor |
Author: Peter Dickinson
This is a fascinating release—it brings an Ives masterpiece, Psalm 90, into the British catalogue for the first time; also William Schuman's Carols of Death, which prefigure his more intense late style; and all these American works are brought into contact with the mystique of King's, Cambridge, through its choir, organ and acoustic. Psalm 90, Lord, thou has been our dwelling-place (the Prayer Book has 'refuge'), was considered by the composer to be one of his finest works, according to Mrs Ives. One can see why, as the music moves from simple chanting to dissonant clusters, but invariably appropriate in its reverent form of address. The opening organ chords each symbolize something—The Eternities, Creation (at the start); God's Wrath against Sin (0'07'', dissonant); Prayer and Humility (0'14''); and Rejoicing in Beauty and Work (0'19'', with the entry of the bells and gong, which make such a special effect for the final section). The low pedal C on the organ, which sounds throughout, must surely be the rock of faith, but in this performance it is not always as continually present as it might be. The lower frequencies seem to be missing in the recorded balance. At 6'04'' the low C is hard to catch at all. Deficient bass is also suggested by the near inaudibility of the low gong in the last section from 7'06''. These are minor points in a performance which is polished and carefully paced, realizing impressively Ives's personal vision in a piece he worked on over a period of some 40 years.
William Schuman's Carols of Death are three settings of Whitman, showing some of the same mystical qualities as Vaughan Williams and Holst who worked with some of the same portions of the text. Utterly fitting, both the composer's response and the King's performance. Copland's In the Beginning is a classic of unaccompanied choral cycles in English. The boys' voices are unusual here, but admirably controlled, even if Ameral Gunson is a slightly operatic soloist for the subject. I tend to prefer the cooler sound of Catherine Denley with the Corydon Singers under Matthew Best on Hyperion although the contrast between Gunson and the boys adds a dimension. The climax of In the Beginning is exhilarating.
Libby Larsen, a pupil of Argento, and co-founder of the Minnesota Composers' Forum in Minneapolis, wrote How it thrills us specially for the King's Choir last year. The piece uses carefully imagined pictorial effects in a setting of a translation of Rilke. Bernstein's Chichester Psalms was a British commission and is now one of the composer's most frequently heard non-theatrical works. Non-theatrical? Hardly, even in this version with accompaniment for organ, harp and percussion, which lacks some of the bite of the fuller scoring, but has other qualities, especially in the King's acoustic. Michael Pearce's solo (Track 2) is touching (and better in tune than the boy alto in Bernstein's original CBS recording), and the catchy sustained melody in five time which forms the last movement is rapturous, although the long phrases at 5'30'' seem to be intended for a single span rather than broken up. Bernstein does them continuously and in general, of course, is more operatic. But there are many ways of coping convincingly with the stylistic range from cathedral to Broadway even if Stephen Cleobury brings a little more English reserve than the charismatic maestro might have intended.'
William Schuman's Carols of Death are three settings of Whitman, showing some of the same mystical qualities as Vaughan Williams and Holst who worked with some of the same portions of the text. Utterly fitting, both the composer's response and the King's performance. Copland's In the Beginning is a classic of unaccompanied choral cycles in English. The boys' voices are unusual here, but admirably controlled, even if Ameral Gunson is a slightly operatic soloist for the subject. I tend to prefer the cooler sound of Catherine Denley with the Corydon Singers under Matthew Best on Hyperion although the contrast between Gunson and the boys adds a dimension. The climax of In the Beginning is exhilarating.
Libby Larsen, a pupil of Argento, and co-founder of the Minnesota Composers' Forum in Minneapolis, wrote How it thrills us specially for the King's Choir last year. The piece uses carefully imagined pictorial effects in a setting of a translation of Rilke. Bernstein's Chichester Psalms was a British commission and is now one of the composer's most frequently heard non-theatrical works. Non-theatrical? Hardly, even in this version with accompaniment for organ, harp and percussion, which lacks some of the bite of the fuller scoring, but has other qualities, especially in the King's acoustic. Michael Pearce's solo (Track 2) is touching (and better in tune than the boy alto in Bernstein's original CBS recording), and the catchy sustained melody in five time which forms the last movement is rapturous, although the long phrases at 5'30'' seem to be intended for a single span rather than broken up. Bernstein does them continuously and in general, of course, is more operatic. But there are many ways of coping convincingly with the stylistic range from cathedral to Broadway even if Stephen Cleobury brings a little more English reserve than the charismatic maestro might have intended.'
Bernstein/Copland Choral works
Bernstein/Copland Choral works
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.