Reviewed by Steven Whitehead After a 10-year run of successful releases that all followed themed anthologies (such as 2012's 'Advent At Merton') the Choir of Merton College, Oxford are now focusing on collaborations with individual living composers. The first release sets a very high standard, in terms of both composition and performance. Indeed, the review is to say that listeners with any sort of interest in contemporary choral singing need to hear this. Richard Allain was born in 1965 and in addition to being a composer is Director of Music at Norwich School. He writes music across a wide spectrum of genres; he and Benjamin Nicholas, Director of Music at Merton College, have put together a programme showcasing his oeuvre - from a setting of the Evening Canticles, animated then impassioned, to a sumptuous reimagining of the spiritual "Don't You Weep When I Am Gone" and Allain's most performed work, the wedding anthem "Cana's Guest". The programme gives a good overview of Allain's work over the years, including as it does a mix of sacred and secular texts and a cappella and accompanied music. Indeed while the excellence of the choir must not be underplayed a word of praise for the instrumentalists is also in order, so we duly applaud Alex Little and Tom Fetherstonhaugh on the organ and also Finn McEwan for some atmospheric soprano saxophone playing on the Advent antiphon "O Day-Spring". Half of the 14 works are premiere recordings, including the opening "A Perfect Friend", a setting of a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the finale, "The Lord Reigns" which is Psalm 93 with doxology, a piece I can confidently predict that will enter the repertoire of many other choirs. The two most substantial works are the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from "The Norwich Service" and a commission for Suzy Digby's choir ORA, "Videte Miraculum" ("Behold The Miracle"), a six-part response to the masterpiece of the same title by Thomas Tallis. I first heard this on the ORA album 'Many Are The Wonders, Volume 2' from 2017 and remember wondering whether other choirs would be able to do it justice. That the Choir of Merton College pull it off is testament to the excellence of their singing and credit to Benjamin Nicholas for attempting it.
The opinions expressed in this article are
not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed
views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may
not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a
later date. Interested in reviewing music? Find out
more here.
|