Howells Choral & Organ Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Herbert Howells
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 9/1988
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: KA66260
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: MATTINS |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (6) Pieces, Movement: Master Tallis's Testament |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Like as the hart |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Behold, O God Our Defender |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (3) Psalm-Preludes (Set 2), Movement: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine (Psalm 130 v1) |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Take him, earth, for cherishing |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Evening Service, 'St Paul's Service' |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
Composer or Director: Herbert Howells
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 9/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA66260
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: MATTINS |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (6) Pieces, Movement: Master Tallis's Testament |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Like as the hart |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Behold, O God Our Defender |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (3) Psalm-Preludes (Set 2), Movement: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine (Psalm 130 v1) |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Take him, earth, for cherishing |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Evening Service, 'St Paul's Service' |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
Composer or Director: Herbert Howells
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 9/1988
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: A66260
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: MATTINS |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (6) Pieces, Movement: Master Tallis's Testament |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Like as the hart |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Behold, O God Our Defender |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| (3) Psalm-Preludes (Set 2), Movement: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine (Psalm 130 v1) |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer |
| Take him, earth, for cherishing |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
| Evening Service, 'St Paul's Service' |
Herbert Howells, Composer
Christopher Dearnley, Organ Herbert Howells, Composer John Scott, Conductor St Paul's Cathedral Choir |
Author: mberry
A single item on this admirable disc would make me wish to invest in it: the unaccompanied motet Take him, earth, for cherishing, composed in 1963 in memory of President John Kennedy to a text by Prudentius, in Helen Waddell's excellent translation. What John Scott does, in this amazing performance, is to use with consummate skill the unique acoustical potential of St Paul's Cathedral, its space, its resonance, its echo, its lively response to timbre and volume, all of this explored, justly timed, and finally captured in a superb recording by Anthony Howell's technical wizardry. The entire disc may be considered to be a tribute in sound to the memory of the late Herbert Howells—he died in 1963. His output in the field of church music, well represented here, was closely linked with his interest in performance in specific buildings, notably King's College, Cambridge, as well as St Paul's Cathedral: his attraction to the unique sound-quality of King's is wellknown; it comes more as a surprise to discover that he had such an intimate understanding of the acoustics of St Paul's.
The programme is nicely balanced, opening with the two canticles from Morning Prayer specially composed for King's, and ending with the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis from the St Paul's service. These four pieces provide a fitting framework for the two organ solos and three motets, that may be said to epitomize the life and death of the composer, both commemorating him and mourning him. In all of them performance is enriched by the variety of sonorities, obtainable as much from the building itself as from the music. I was impressed by the quality of the sound recording of the two organ pieces, both of them substantially improved incidentally, in the CD version. Nowhere, neither on the LP nor on the CD, was there any hint of distortion during the massive crescendos. The quiet coda to the De profundis leads naturally and gently into the unison opening of the unaccompanied motet, and similarlyMaster Tallis's Testament leads with striking inevitability into the opening of the motet Like as the hart. Such careful attention to detail contributes to making this one of the more outstanding recordings to have come my way in recent weeks.
The choir are well controlled throughout: both high and low voices shape the great arching phrases with mastery. The trebles are no exception, my one reservation being their slight over-emphasis in the final verses of the last two: canticles.'
The programme is nicely balanced, opening with the two canticles from Morning Prayer specially composed for King's, and ending with the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis from the St Paul's service. These four pieces provide a fitting framework for the two organ solos and three motets, that may be said to epitomize the life and death of the composer, both commemorating him and mourning him. In all of them performance is enriched by the variety of sonorities, obtainable as much from the building itself as from the music. I was impressed by the quality of the sound recording of the two organ pieces, both of them substantially improved incidentally, in the CD version. Nowhere, neither on the LP nor on the CD, was there any hint of distortion during the massive crescendos. The quiet coda to the De profundis leads naturally and gently into the unison opening of the unaccompanied motet, and similarly
The choir are well controlled throughout: both high and low voices shape the great arching phrases with mastery. The trebles are no exception, my one reservation being their slight over-emphasis in the final verses of the last two: canticles.'
Howells Choral & Organ Works
Howells Choral & Organ Works
Howells Choral & Organ Works
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