Bingham Choral Music
At last, a disc devoted to this most accomplished choral composer
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Judith Bingham, Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 4/2007
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8 570346

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Salt in the Blood |
Judith Bingham, Composer
BBC Symphony Chorus Fine Arts Brass Ensemble Judith Bingham, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor |
(The) Darkness Is No Darkness |
Judith Bingham, Composer
BBC Symphony Chorus Judith Bingham, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor Thomas Trotter, Organ |
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace |
Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer
BBC Symphony Chorus Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor |
First Light |
Judith Bingham, Composer
BBC Symphony Chorus Fine Arts Brass Ensemble Judith Bingham, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor |
(The) Snows Descend |
Judith Bingham, Composer
Fine Arts Brass Ensemble Judith Bingham, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor |
(The) Secret Garden |
Judith Bingham, Composer
BBC Symphony Chorus Judith Bingham, Composer Stephen Jackson, Conductor Thomas Trotter, Organ |
Author: Guy Rickards
To say Judith Bingham’s discography is meagre would be an understatement. Hitherto, the only works available have been a Mass setting on Hyperion (which greatly impressed John Steane – 8/05) and a couple of miniatures (one in EMI’s “A Garland for Linda”, 3/00). This woefully under-represents a composer with a special gift for vocal setting and a wealth of experience in what can be sung: for 13 years she was a permanent member of the BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers (for whom she is Associate Composer).
All five works on this new disc reveal a distinctive voice writing in a recognisably modern idiom which combines clarity of thought and complexity of vision. Bingham’s music draws audiences in, without alienating them or compromising her expressive integrity. Salt in the Blood (1995) is a prime example, a large musical – at times theatrical – tapestry of British sea-song, weaving in existing shanties and invented hornpipes to retell the tale of two sailors’ rivalry as to who was the better dancer. Bingham thinks convincingly in long spans, as her 2004 Prom commission The Secret Garden confirms (given here in a live performance). First Light (2001) and the brief The Darkness is no Darkness (1993) engage with the English choral tradition to an unusual degree, the latter – a reinterpretation of a Wesley hymn – in particular.
The performances all round are first rate and the recorded sound is excellent, which is no less than Bingham deserves. The BBC Symphony Chorus sing with gusto and Fine Arts Brass relish some fine brass writing, not least in The Snow Descends (1997), an atmospheric paraphrase for brass of one of Bingham’s choral works. Recommended.
All five works on this new disc reveal a distinctive voice writing in a recognisably modern idiom which combines clarity of thought and complexity of vision. Bingham’s music draws audiences in, without alienating them or compromising her expressive integrity. Salt in the Blood (1995) is a prime example, a large musical – at times theatrical – tapestry of British sea-song, weaving in existing shanties and invented hornpipes to retell the tale of two sailors’ rivalry as to who was the better dancer. Bingham thinks convincingly in long spans, as her 2004 Prom commission The Secret Garden confirms (given here in a live performance). First Light (2001) and the brief The Darkness is no Darkness (1993) engage with the English choral tradition to an unusual degree, the latter – a reinterpretation of a Wesley hymn – in particular.
The performances all round are first rate and the recorded sound is excellent, which is no less than Bingham deserves. The BBC Symphony Chorus sing with gusto and Fine Arts Brass relish some fine brass writing, not least in The Snow Descends (1997), an atmospheric paraphrase for brass of one of Bingham’s choral works. Recommended.
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