Holst Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gustav Holst
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 1/1990
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: KA66329
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (2) Psalms |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| (6) Male Choruses |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| (The) Evening watch |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Singers |
| (7) Partsongs |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| Nunc dimittis |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Singers |
Composer or Director: Gustav Holst
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 1/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA66329
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (2) Psalms |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| (6) Male Choruses |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| (The) Evening watch |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Singers |
| (7) Partsongs |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Orchestra Holst Singers |
| Nunc dimittis |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Hilary Davan Wetton, Conductor Holst Singers |
Author: Ivan March
This collection draws the eye by its title: The evening watch, an unaccompanied eight-part motet for mixed choir with two soloists, which lies at the centre of the programme. It is a remarkably concentrated piece, just short of five minutes, a questioning dialogue (by the seventeenth-century English metaphysical poet, Henry Vaughan) between the Body, and the Soul, parting at the moment of death. Holst asks for a serene sustained pianissimo until the last bars, when the choral sound expands into a blaze of fervour to illuminate the closing words: ''Yet, this take with thee; the last gasp of time is thy first breath, and man's etennal prime''.
It is a superb moment, wonderfully realized here. Earlier we have had two imaginative Psalm settings, the first (No. 86) also in the fonm of a dialogue, the second (a resplendent Psalm 148) using a very famous tune with its repeated ''Alleluias'' has another climax to send shivers down the spine The Six choruses for male voices, written in 1931–2; were among Holst's last works and have a reputation of emotional austerity. But here the singing brings out the underlying feeling and there is certainly no reserve in ''How mighty are the Sabbaths'' while the ''Drinking Song'' combines earthiness with a genially sophisticated response to the positive sentiments expressed by the singers, who point out that ''Bacchus drinking water hath no man seen''. The Partsongs for women's voices are set to words by Robert Bridges and show the composer's special feeling for female vocal timbre and his ready response to words where the meaning can be elusive, inviting an intangible mystidsm in the music. Yet ''Sorrow and Joy'', with its characteristic 7/4 rhythms, spiritedly leans towards the latter of the title's alternatives, while ''Angel spirits of sleep'' has an ethereal, dreamlike beauty. The most ambitious and final setting. ''Assemble all ye maidens'', is a narrative ballad about a lost love. The words understandably moved Holst greatly (''But now for many days the dewy grass has shown no markings of his feet at morn: And watching she has seen no shadow pass the moonlit walk, and heard no music borne''). Holst follows the narrative line with masterly subtlety and a restrained emotional power that is profoundly moving. The programme ends satisfyingly with an eloquent unaccompanied Nunc dimittis, written in 1915.
The performances here are wonderfully responsive. All the solo contributions are distinglushed: the individual voices seem perfectly attuned to the special colouring of Holst's music. Hilary Davan Wetton's choice of tempos seems instinctively apt and the graduation of dynamics, from the gentlest pianissimo to chmaxes that can be thrillingly expansive, is splendidly controlled. The very appropriate recording venue—St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith—produces the most beautiful atmospheric bloom on voices and the accompanying strings. The balance is wholly natural and the effect very realistic: one feels drawn into this highly original music in the most compulsive way. Highly recommended. If you only know The Planets this concert could bring an added dimension to your appredation of Holst's genius.'
It is a superb moment, wonderfully realized here. Earlier we have had two imaginative Psalm settings, the first (No. 86) also in the fonm of a dialogue, the second (a resplendent Psalm 148) using a very famous tune with its repeated ''Alleluias'' has another climax to send shivers down the spine The Six choruses for male voices, written in 1931–2; were among Holst's last works and have a reputation of emotional austerity. But here the singing brings out the underlying feeling and there is certainly no reserve in ''How mighty are the Sabbaths'' while the ''Drinking Song'' combines earthiness with a genially sophisticated response to the positive sentiments expressed by the singers, who point out that ''Bacchus drinking water hath no man seen''. The Partsongs for women's voices are set to words by Robert Bridges and show the composer's special feeling for female vocal timbre and his ready response to words where the meaning can be elusive, inviting an intangible mystidsm in the music. Yet ''Sorrow and Joy'', with its characteristic 7/4 rhythms, spiritedly leans towards the latter of the title's alternatives, while ''Angel spirits of sleep'' has an ethereal, dreamlike beauty. The most ambitious and final setting. ''Assemble all ye maidens'', is a narrative ballad about a lost love. The words understandably moved Holst greatly (''But now for many days the dewy grass has shown no markings of his feet at morn: And watching she has seen no shadow pass the moonlit walk, and heard no music borne''). Holst follows the narrative line with masterly subtlety and a restrained emotional power that is profoundly moving. The programme ends satisfyingly with an eloquent unaccompanied Nunc dimittis, written in 1915.
The performances here are wonderfully responsive. All the solo contributions are distinglushed: the individual voices seem perfectly attuned to the special colouring of Holst's music. Hilary Davan Wetton's choice of tempos seems instinctively apt and the graduation of dynamics, from the gentlest pianissimo to chmaxes that can be thrillingly expansive, is splendidly controlled. The very appropriate recording venue—St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith—produces the most beautiful atmospheric bloom on voices and the accompanying strings. The balance is wholly natural and the effect very realistic: one feels drawn into this highly original music in the most compulsive way. Highly recommended. If you only know The Planets this concert could bring an added dimension to your appredation of Holst's genius.'
Holst Choral Works
Holst Choral Works
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