The Bevan Family Consort, Graham Ross - Christmas With The Bevan Family Consort
STYLE: Choral RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 182556- LABEL: Signum Classics SIGCD909 FORMAT: CD Album
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
There are, I am reliably informed, more than 50 Bevan cousins who are either professional musicians or talented amateurs so there is a good pool (gene pool?) from which to recruit singers for this second release from the current generation. In all there are 14 voices in various combinations. Wisely they have invited an outsider to direct proceedings so Graham Ross, Director of Music and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge takes the baton and keeps the peace - although perhaps I am being unfair in judging the Bevan family by my own family. Anyway, the end result is a splendid collection of a cappella singing with a Christmas theme, albeit Christmas as celebrated in Anglo-Catholic circles. The centrepiece is a lesser-known Mass for five voices by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina built around a series of ascending canons with each voice taking a turn at leading. If you want to know more then you must read the astute programme notes by family boffin Francis Bevan. The Mass is sequenced to run throughout the programme in five sections although of course you can easily recombine them into one whole on your preferred music playing device. By the way, the sound quality from St Nicholas' Church in the grounds of Upper Court, Kemerton, near Tewkesbury is crystal clear and producer Mark Brown is to be applauded for making it sound so good although, of course, even the greatest producer needs great singers to work with and the Bevans do not disappoint. Also of interest is Harold Darke's setting of Christina Rosetti's 'In The Bleak Midwinter' with the organ part translated into four parts by Francis Bevan thus keeping the arrangement a cappella; well worth hearing it is. David Bevan Snr's 'Lute-book Lullaby' was written for the men of St John's, Cambridge and later recorded by the Bevan Family Choir so the Consort's take on it is a pleasant link to their forebears. Both Bevan ensembles have recorded the old favourite 'The Holly And The Ivy' in Walford Davies' setting and it is an entertaining listen that must have been fun to sing. A sense of joy is palpable throughout the 65 minutes of this recording. No doubt a great deal of hard work went into preparing and performing this collection and the end result makes it a very worthwhile addition to any family's Christmas listening.
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