Bruckner: Motets

Bruckner MoTeTs

choir of st Mary’s cathedral, edinburgh

rs AMD Brass

Duncan Ferguson

An Ton Bruckner (1824-1896)

choir of st Mary’s cathedral, edinburgh

rs AMD Brass

Duncan Ferguson

1 Tota pulchra es, Maria Oliver Brewer tenor [4:57]

2 Aequale I [1:38]

3 Zwei Totenlieder I: O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht [1:21]

4 Ave Maria [3:17]

5 Afferentur regi

6 Christus factus est

7 Ecce sacerdos

8 Virga Jesse

9 Locus iste

10 Pange lingua

11 Jam lucis orto sidere dignare

12 Aequale II

13 Libera me (F minor)

14 Zwei Totenlieder II: O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht [1:31]

15 Vexilla regis

16 Os justi [5:17]

17 Inveni David [2:48]

Total playing time [62:02]

The troubled life of Anton Bruckner (1824-96) was sustained in no small part by his traditional yet sincerely-held Christian faith. Bruckner was frequently seen locked in prayer before organ improvisations and, on the sounding of the church bells, he stopped his organ practice as a mark of respect. Recently, his lists of daily prayer devotions have been used to discern an ‘inner biography’.1 Bearing in mind such deep religious convictions and the recent musicological attempts to discover something of Bruckner’s internalized feelings, his motets and shorter sacred works demand attention. As a corpus of works they take us on a journey through many important days in the Christian calendar while, individually, they fulfil the practical liturgical purpose for which they were often written. Despite the scale of Bruckner’s other works which included symphonies, major choral works, and chamber music, the motets and shorter sacred works should be considered at the heart of his creative output, for it is in the expression of these ancient religious texts – often apparently austere and yet with the power to speak most directly – that Bruckner reveals something of his inner world.

as a musician and composer. He spent his formative years as an organist and teacher, first at the Augustinian monastery of St Florian and then, from 1856, as Cathedral Organist in Linz. The friendships he made at St Florian and in Linz proved of immense importance to him (St Florian remained a place of refuge during the many difficult periods of his life). The number of dedications to people and places that Bruckner made in his motets is testimony to this. A long period of study with Simon Sechter, Professor of Composition at the Vienna Conservatory, proved highly fruitful: during this time he studied exhaustively the works of the past and mastered counterpoint. Bruckner ultimately succeeded Sechter in his post at the Conservatory in 1868, but despite finding the city to be bursting with creativity, he did not easily find happiness in Vienna. With the city divided along pro- and antiWagner lines, Bruckner – the ‘Wagnerian symphonist’ – had difficulty securing performances of his symphonies (the Vienna Philharmonic being one such obstacle). This led to him constantly revising his works which has, incidentally, proved a major frustration for Bruckner scholars.

Recorded on 31 May – 4 June 2010 in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh by kind permission of the Provost.

Producer & Engineer: Paul Baxter

24-bit digital editing: Paul Baxter & Adam Binks

24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter

Photography © Colin Dickson

Design: John Christ, www.johnchristdesign.com

Booklet editor: Andrew Caskie

Delphian Records Ltd – Edinburgh – UK www.delphianrecords.co.uk

With thanks to Stephen Morrison, Mary Jane Wilde and St Mary’s Cathedral Music Society

Bruckner’s faith developed from an early age and went hand-in-hand with his development

Bruckner had an inherent conservatism and confidence in the traditional forms of authority, and was a naturally shy and humble man, characteristics that set him apart from

1 Maier, E., A hidden personality: access to an ‘inner biography’ of Anton Bruckner, Jackson, T.L. and Hawkshaw, P., Bruckner Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 32 – 53).

many of the other composers of his day. He was a great worrier, too: during the course of his life, he had three serious nervous breakdowns. The first of these occurred in 1867, just a year before he moved to Vienna, when he was admitted to the sanatorium at Bad Kreuze. Bruckner’s condition deteriorated again in 1890, and he was plagued by serious psychological problems in the years leading up to his death. Bruckner has often been portrayed as an outsider in nineteenth-century Vienna and, though this has sometimes been exaggerated, his nervous disposition certainly led to periods of loneliness, especially at the end of his life. In 1893 he wrote ‘I feel totally deserted. Nobody comes to see me, or at least only extremely rarely’.

It is unfortunate that many Bruckner studies, on turning to the motets, have seemed somewhat detached from their emotional impact, focussing instead purely on points of ‘academic’ interest. It is also unfortunate, though perhaps not unrelated, that a significant number of the motets have been unduly neglected by performers. Scholarship has focussed on Bruckner’s long association with the aims of the Cecilians, a nineteenth-century movement which strived for church music to return to its roots in plainchant and a cappella ‘purity’ of Palestrina. Such influences are easily found in Bruckner’s motets, but should not be

viewed in isolation: where they are in evidence, they are used as part of a greater whole. The gradual Os justi, for instance, is a remarkable work. Bruckner dedicated it to Ignaz Traumihler, one of the most enthusiastic of all Cecilianists and the music director at St Florian. There is no key signature, it is free from all seventh chords and, in Bruckner’s own words, is ‘without chordal combinations of four and five simultaneous notes’, all of which must have been to Traumihler’s great satisfaction. The work is in the Lydian mode, another link, as the Cecilianists saw it, with the stile antico. Other trademark Bruckner qualities are here in force, too: points of imitation, dynamic contrast, and pauses for breath (as much for the listener as the performer). Os justi ends with a plainsong Alleluia. Bruckner made an arrangement of the work with the chorale ‘Inveni David’ so that it could be used in liturgical context as a gradual for the feast of St Augustine. Although often omitted in performances today, it serves as a reminder that while the work fulfils the aims of the Cecilian movement, it was written for performance in a living and working Catholic tradition and not as an academic exercise. The Eucharistic hymn Pange lingua dates from 1868, Bruckner’s Linz period, the same year as his admission to the sanatorium. The work again demonstrates how Bruckner was influenced by the aims of the Cecilian movement, adhering to the Phrygian mode

rather than a major or minor scale. There is a distinct lack of chromaticism throughout the a cappella hymn. Yet the effect is certainly not the shunning of emotion as one might expect; rather, the haunting monotone-like opening combines with a wide range of dynamic contrast to great effect in evoking the mystery of the body and blood of Christ.

Bruckner’s enthusiasm for combining trombones with voices was evident as early as his Requiem of 1848-9, perhaps the first of his works worthy of performance, and it is again three trombones which are used in Libera me, itself a text from the Requiem Mass, written in 1854. Despite being an early work, written before Bruckner’s studies with Sechter, the austerely beautiful Libera me demonstrates a significant grasp of contrapuntal writing.

The scoring for brass together with the use of imitation between voices hint at an appreciation of the tradition of St Mark’s, Venice: such a link can also be made with the Aequale, two chorale-like funeral pieces written for three trombones. The grand baroque architecture of St Florian surely influenced Bruckner’s soundworld in these pieces. He set a significant number of funeral texts during this early period (the Zwei Totenlieder, literally ‘songs of death’, date from 1852).

scored, rather unusually, for four male voices and four trombones. This short piece places major demands on the singers, stretching to the extremes of the tenors’ tessitura (extending on more than one occasion to a top B flat). The setting of the word ‘alleluia’ at the end bears a passing resemblance, at least rhythmically, to Handel’s Hallelujah chorus from Messiah. Meanwhile in Ecce sacerdos from 1885, the brass parts add to the symphonic scale of the work: it was written in celebration of the one-thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the Diocese of Linz, and Bruckner’s scoring for organ, brass, and four-part choir is equal to the grandeur of the occasion. It is also a fine example of Bruckner’s mastery of both contrapuntal complexity and harmonic daring. The motet was written while Bruckner was completing his eighth (and what would be his last completed) symphony. Some of the enormity of scale of that symphony can be heard in Ecce sacerdos ; albeit a much shorter piece, the forces at work – from the striking harmonic progressions to the wide dynamic contrast – are immensely powerful. Here the brass is not merely a backdrop to the vocal parts, but draws attention to harmonic shifts and underlines the sense of the text.

Bruckner’s use of trombones continued in his more mature compositions. Inveni David is

There can be little doubt that it was the long period of study with Sechter in the late 1850s that transformed Bruckner’s technical

abilities as a composer. Ave Maria (1861) represents the fruits of Bruckner’s studies, and consequently represents his first mature composition. Scored for seven voices, the influence of the much-admired ‘purity’ of Palestrina polyphony is clear in this setting of the salutation given by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. But imitation is used not so much between voices as between groups of voices. The possibilities for textural contrast are advanced through this technique, and the build up of textures leads to such resounding moments as the A major chord on ‘Jesus’. The contrapuntal technique which Bruckner mastered with Sechter is similarly put to work in Afferentur regi, a work often associated with Bruckner’s Mass in D minor, and the three trombone combination favoured in his more youthful compositions is put to work again. Locus iste was written at the beginning of Bruckner’s Vienna period in 1869, but it was once again for Linz that the motet was written, this time for the dedication of the Cathedral’s votive chapel. It is Bruckner’s most widely-performed choral composition, probably in part because of its apparent simplicity: gently moving chords in C major combined with subtle imitation. In the motet’s opening section, Watson finds more than a passing resemblance to the Priest’s Chorus in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. 2

The emotional rendering of texts in the motets is extraordinarily powerful, with their composition often coinciding with difficult periods in the composer’s life. Tota pulchra es, Maria (1878) was written during such a low point, at a time of little creative output. The prayer to the Virgin in Total pulchra es is at once intimately pleading and yet also affirming: a solo tenor introduces each line of text then to be repeated by the full choir. There are some sublime moments, with particularly tender treatment at ‘O Maria’. A remarkable harmonic progression occurs at ‘Mater clementissima’ where, in the space of a mere four bars, Bruckner moves from D minor to D flat major. The final petition to ‘now pray for us sinners through Jesus Christ’ ends with a magical turn from F to E major, echoing the earlier semitone shift but this time over a longer period. Christus factus est (1884) is the third and final setting Bruckner made of this text, a gradual from the Mass for Maundy Thursday. Bruckner dedicated the work to Father Otto Loidol of the Benedictine Monastery of Kremsmünster, as he did Locus iste. It is a fine example of Bruckner’s ability to build harmonic tension and then release it, using his favoured semitone shifts on a number of occasions. In the advent motet Virga Jesse of 1885, written for four-part a cappella choir, the broad emotional sweep at work in the piece culminates in a huge climax at ‘pacem Deus reddidit’ (‘God hath

restored peace’). A bass pedal ends the work, settling the harmony and the tonality at last in the key of E major. The tenors sing three descending lines on the word ‘alleluia’ each on a progressively higher note of the triad. With the pp dynamic, the effect is to underline the reconciliation and peace that Christ will bring.

The Good Friday hymn Vexilla regis (1892) is the last of Bruckner’s motets, and brings together many of the features of his mature compositions. The influence of Cecilianism is still clear: the piece shares the same modality as the earlier Pange lingua, and the melody bears more than a passing resemblance to plainsong. It is also unaccompanied, in keeping with the aims of the Cecilians. But Vexilla regis goes far beyond the narrow aims and ambitions of the Cecilian movement. Again there are the great dynamic contrasts, a feature not only of the smaller sacred works but of the symphonies, too; there are the pauses, the moments for intake of breath, while chromaticism and enharmonic transformations convey the transforming nature of the Cross most powerfully. It is perhaps fitting that in this composition from 1892, approaching a time of great personal desperation and his death four years later, it was the mystery of the Cross which Bruckner gave such heart-felt contemplation.

© Duncan Ferguson 2011

2 Watson, D., Master Musicians: Bruckner (Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 95)

1 Tota pulchra es, Maria

Tota pulchra es, Maria. Et macula originalis non est in te.

Tu gloria Jerusalem. Tu laetitia Israel. Tu honorificentia populi nostri.

Tu advocata peccatorum.

O Maria! Virgo prudentissima. Mater clementissima. Ora pro nobis. Intercede pro nobis ad Dominum Jesum Christum.

Thou art all fair, O Mary: there is no spot in thee.

Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.

Thou art the joy of Israel.

Thou art the great rejoicing of our nation.

Thou art the advocate of sinners.

O Mary! Most prudent Virgin.

Mother most clement. Pray for us. Intercede for us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

5 Afferentur regi

Afferentur regi virgines post eam: proximae ejus afferentur tibi in laetitia et exsultatione: adducentur in templum regi Domino.

The virgins that be her fellows shall be brought unto the King: they that bear her company shall be brought unto thee with joy and gladness and shall enter the palace of the Lord the King.

3 O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht (No. 1 from Zwei Totenlieder )

O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht und bei meinem Leichnam jetzt versammelt steht, heftet eure Sinn und Herzen nicht an diese Eitelkeit!

Sucht nur Gottes Reich und die Gerechtigkeit.

4 Ave Maria

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

O Thou, who goest today with me to the grave and stand together by my body; lift not your senses and your hearts to this vanity!

Seek only the Kingdom of God and the Right.

6 Christus factus est Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.

Christ for us became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.

7 Ecce sacerdos

Ecce sacerdos magnus, qui in diebus suis placuit Deo. Ideo jurejurando fecit illum Dominus crescere in plebem suam. Benedictionem omnium gentium dedit illi, et testamentum suum confirmavit super caput ejus.

Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Behold a great priest who in his days pleased God. Accordingly the Lord vowed to increase his people. He granted his blessing to all his peoples and confirmed his oath over his head. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

8 Virga Jesse

Virga Jesse floruit: Virgo Deum et hominem genuit: pacem Deus reddidit, in se reconcilians ima summis. Alleluia.

9 Locus iste

Locus iste a Deo factus est:

Inaestimabile sacramentum

irreprehensibilis est.

10 Pange lingua

Pange lingua gloriosi

Corporis mysterium

Sanguinisque pretiosi

Quem in mundi pretium

Fructus ventris generosi, Rex effudit gentium.

Tantum ergo sacramentum

Veneremur cernui, Et antiquum documentum

Novo cedat ritui:

Praestet fides supplementum

Sensuum defectui.

Now hath blossomed Jesse’s rod: a Virgin bears both man and God: God restoreth peace to men: high and low are one again. Alleluia.

Genitori genitoque Laus et jubilatio. Salus honor virtus quoque Sit et benedictio, Procedenti ab utroque Compar sit laudatio. Amen.

Glory let us give, and blessing to the Father and the Son; honour, might and praise addressing, while eternal ages run: ever too his love confessing, who, from both, with both is one. Amen.

This dwelling is God’s handiwork; a mystery beyond all price that cannot be spoken against.

11 Jam lucis orto sidere dignare

Jam lucis orto sidere

Dignare, custos Angele!

Mentis fugare nubila

Et alma ferre lumina; Me recta prudens edoce, Ut exsequar me commone.

Now my tongue the mystery telling, of the glorious body sing; and the blood, all price excelling which the world’s eternal king, in noble womb once dwelling shed for this world’s ransoming.

Therefore we, before him bending, this great sacrament revere; types and shadows have their ending, for the newer rite is here.

Faith, our outward sense befriending, makes the inward vision clear.

Fidus venis qui coelitus

Illuc redisque nuncius!

Preces labores lacrimas

Ad Regis aulam perferas; Donum clientis parvulum

Reddas Datori munerum.

Fuga ruant quum turbida

Mortalis aevi tempora:

Caduca fac me temnere, Aeterna semper quaerere, Ut haereat mens fervida

Sublimis inter sidera.

Now that the daylight has risen in the sky, Do thou, O my Guardian Angel, clear away all that clouds my mind, and bring unto me sweet enlightenment. Prudently show me the right path, and caution me, that I might persevere in following it.

Thou comest to me, O trusty messenger of Heaven, and thither dost thou return! Take thou my prayers, my works and my tears, and present them at the Altar of the King; Take this servant’s small offering back to Him who is the Giver of all gifts.

Since in confounded haste my time in this mortal life will cease, Make me despise that which is fallen, and seek always that which is eternal, that my mind may fervently cling to the higher things, among the stars.

Urgente pugna lugubri

Fortis paventi subveni; Per mortis umbram dirige

Defende coram Judice

Laetaque de sententia

Fruar perenni Gloria.

Amen.

13 Libera me (F minor)

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda:

Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.

Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.

Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.

Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde.

Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

In the midst of the dread battle I tremble, full of sorrow; Thou art strong, come to my aid! Guide me through the shadow of death, and defend me before the Supreme Judge, that having received from Him a happy sentence I might enjoy everlasting glory. Amen.

14 O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht (No. 2 from Zwei Totenlieder )

O ihr, die ihr heut mit mir zum Grabe geht und bei meinem Leichnam jetzt versammelt steht, heftet eure Sinn und Herzen nicht an diese Eitelkeit! Sucht nur Gottes Reich und die Gerechtigkeit.

O Thou, who goest today with me to the grave and stand together by my body; lift not your senses and your hearts to this vanity!

Seek only the Kingdom of God and the Right.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,

When the heavens and the earth shall be moved, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.

15 Vexilla regis

Vexilla regis prodeunt: Fulget Crucis mysterium, Quo carne carnis conditur Suspensus est patibulo.

O Crux, ave, spes unica, Hoc passionis tempore Auge piis justitiam, Reisque dona veniam. Te summa, Deus, Trinitas, Collaudet omnis spiritus: Quos per Crucis mysterium Salvas, rege per saecula.

Amen.

The banners of the king advance: the mystery of the Cross shines forth; he, the creator of all flesh, flesh himself, was hanged.

Hail, O Cross, our only hope; in this Passiontide increase justice to the pious, grant forgiveness to sinners. God, most high Trinity, may every soul praise you: forever reign over those you save through the mystery of the Cross. Amen.

Os justi meditabitur sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium. Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus. Alleluia.

Inveni David servum meum, oleo sancto meo unxi eum.

17 Inveni David

Inveni David servum meum, oleo sancto meo unxi eum, manus enim mea auxiliabitur ei et brachium meum confortabit eum. Alleluia.

The mouth of the just is exercised in wisdom, and his tongue will be talking of judgement: the law of his God is in his heart, and his footsteps will not be distracted. Alleluia.

I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him: my hand shall hold him fast, and my arm shall strengthen him. Alleluia.

Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh is unique in Scotland in maintaining a daily choral tradition, and enjoys an international reputation. The Cathedral was the first in the United Kingdom to allow girls to join boys as trebles in 1978. The choristers (aged 9-14) are educated at St Mary’s Music School, Scotland’s specialist music school, while the lay clerks of the choir consist of undergraduate choral scholars alongside more experienced singers. In 2008 the thirtieth anniversary of the successful admission of girl choristers into the Choir was marked by an article and editorial in The Times. The Choir broadcasts regularly across the BBC on radio and television. During the Edinburgh Festival the Choir is in residence, singing the daily services and at a number of high-profile concerts and broadcasts. The Choir has an extensive discography which includes the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems, the sacred works of Gabriel Jackson and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and several premiere recordings. In January 2010 the Choir’s most recent CD of works by the sixteenth-century composer John Taverner was released to critical acclaim, earning an ‘outstanding’ accolade from International Record Review and five stars from Classic FM Magazine. The CD was number seven in the specialist classical charts. Past Choir tours include France, Norway, Hungary, and several trips to the USA and Canada, the most recent

being 2008. The Choir has been invited to sing at the Taipei International Choral Festival, Suntory Hall, Tokyo, and venues in Hong Kong in summer 2011.

Duncan Ferguson

Organist and Master of the Music

Nicholas Wearne

Assistant Organist

Choristers

Aidan Biggs

Katie Bradshaw

Sally Carr †

Max Carsley

Anna Cooper

Susanna Davis

George Dehaney

Elena Grant

Amy-Felicity Horsey

Jenny Jackson*

Emily Jarron

Neil Jeacock

Rebecca Johnstone†

Natasha Leitch

Hugh Mackay

Alexander Maclaren

Catherine Marple

William Neville-Towle

Lucas Watson

Altos

Judy Dennis

Margaret Hartley

John Mountford

Duncan Parry

Alastair Ross

Andrew Stones Tenors

Andrew Bennett

Oliver Brewer

Christopher Hann

Benjamin Tambling Basses

Dominic Barberi

Matthew Davies

Peter Nicholson

James Skuse

Andrew Woolley

* Head Chorister

† Deputy Head Chorister

Duncan Ferguson was appointed Organist and Master of the Music at St Mary’s Cathedral in 2007 at the age of 26. In this role he has responsibility for the extensive musical life of St Mary’s. He trains the choristers and directs the Cathedral Choir. Duncan’s debut recording with St Mary’s was received with great critical acclaim, with him being described as ‘a wizard’ by The Times. Duncan was Organ Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, between 1999 and 2002, accompanying the choir and playing solo organ pieces on numerous CDs and broadcasts. Duncan was awarded a Distinction in his Master of Studies degree in Musicology, specialising in music at the time of the English Reformation. He then became Organ Scholar at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. Duncan moved to Edinburgh in 2005 to take up the post of Assistant Organist at St Mary’s Cathedral and Organist at Fettes College. Recent engagements have included playing the organ for BBC Songs of Praise, recording the St Mary’s organ as part of the Organs of Edinburgh project, and giving recitals in the US this past summer. He has conducted a number of choral societies and orchestras in the Edinburgh area and is the organ tutor at St Mary’s Music School.

The Brass Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama has a long tradition as a centre of excellence and a worldwide reputation made in Glasgow for training tomorrow’s leading musicians. A top quality team of dedicated staff includes many of Britain’s finest brass players, with international reputations as soloists, orchestral and chamber musicians, and this is supplemented by masterclasses from many of the world’s great artists.

The department houses many ensembles of different shapes and styles, covering repertoire ranging from classical to jazz, from serious to lunatic, from medieval to cutting edge. Numerous chamber ensembles, such as the trombone quartet featured on this CD, flourish within the department, and its graduates fill positions in orchestras and ensembles worldwide.

RSAMD Brass Ensembles have toured to several countries such as China, Spain, Denmark, Russia and the Faroe Islands, and have appeared on many radio broadcasts and commercial recordings.

RSAMD Trombone Ensemble

Rui Pedro Alves, Davur Juul Magnussen, Lorna McDonald, Tom Smith

Duncan Ferguson RSAMD Brass

John Taverner (c.1490 - 1545): Sacred choral music

Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

Duncan Ferguson conductor

DCD34023

John Taverner brought the English florid style to its culmination; his music is quite unlike anything written by his continental contemporaries. In his debut recording with the critically acclaimed Edinburgh choir, Duncan Ferguson presents this music with forces akin to those of the sixteenth century – a small group of children and a larger number of men. The singers respond with freshness, and an emotional authenticity born of the daily round of liturgical performance.

‘Treble voices surf high on huge waves of polyphony in the extraordinary Missa Corona Spinea, while smaller items display the same freshness, purity and liturgical glow. Duncan Ferguson, the Master of Music, is plainly a wizard’ — The Times, February 2010

Gabriel Jackson: Sacred choral works

Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

Matthew Owens conductor, Susan Hamilton soprano, Michael Bonaventure solo organ

DCD34027

The culmination of a four-year association between the choir of St Mary’s Cathedral and British Composer Award winner Gabriel Jackson, this disc presents eight world premiere recordings. Whether gentle and meditative, brilliantly exuberant, or soaring in ecstatic contemplation, Jackson’s vividly communicative music is brought thrillingly to life by a choir at the peak of its powers.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Sacred choral works

Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

Matthew Owens conductor, Michael Bonaventure solo organ, Simon Nieminski organ accompaniment, RSAMD Ensemble

DCD34037

In the 1960s few would have predicted that Sir Peter Maxwell Davies would eventually write a set of Evening Canticles; yet religious texts have always been of fundamental importance to the composer as this disc vividly demonstrates by bringing together sacred masterworks from both ends of his career.

‘the Edinburgh choristers respond with superlative performances, full of spirit but always secure and sensitive … the sound can only be described as luxurious.’ — Gramophone, December 2005

‘This disc will knock you out’ — Cathedral Music

(Editor’s Choice, November 2005)

Ascension

Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh

Matthew Owens conductor & solo organ, Simon Nieminski organ accompaniment

DCD34017

The powerful imagery of the Ascension has been a potent inspiration to generations of composers. This recording presents a Choral Evensong of contemporary works associated with St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, leading up to Messiaen’s meditative organ work L’Ascension. Featuring premiere recordings of works by James MacMillan and Richard Allain.

‘There can be few more stunning sounds than that of a top-notch choral evensong cathedral choir in full cry, particularly in examples of challenging contemporary and near-contemporary settings. The choir of St Mary’s Cathedral must be one of the best’ — Choir and Organ, March/April 2004