The appearance within less than six months of three recordings of the same works is already something of note: still more when they are by a composer who until 1992 was all but unknown to the record catalogues. But these performances of Lili Boulanger’s masterly setting of Psalm 130 (De profundis) , together with two shorter pieces of hers, demand special consideration in that they were conducted by her elder sister Nadia, who was extremely close to, and had a unique understanding of, her precociously gifted but tragically short-lived sibling. The vividness of the recording equals that in Tortelier’s performance for Chandos or that in Stringer’s for Timpani lauded in September’s ‘Soundings’, and the impact of the impassioned Psalm 24, heightened here by ferociously trenchant organ and brass, is overwhelming; but it must be conceded that in this public performance the chorus’s intonation is a shade less than impeccable, and Psalm 130 contains small imperfections (notably in the strings). And surely the BBC could have bestirred itself sufficiently to provide texts of these works in the booklet?
There are more than 40 recordings of the Faure Requiem currently available, but once again this merits special attention since Nadia Boulanger was a pupil and ardent champion of Faure. It is, however, rather strange that she preferred the later fully-scored version of the work (the sternness of whose opening contrasts with the overall consolatory atmosphere) to the composer’s intimate original, intended for liturgical use. This is a fervent, heartfelt reading, lent distinction by fine singing by John Carol Case, and there is an emotional Pie Jesu from Janet Price (making an interesting comparison with Lili Boulanger’s setting of the same words, with Bernadette Greevy as soloist) ; but those with an acute ear for intonation will be a little troubled by the chorus’s tendency to sing on the underside of notes.'