Mathias: Choral Music
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WILLIAM MATHIAS
Mathias: Choral Music
St John's Voices, The Gentlemen of St John's, Graham Walker
[ Naxos / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 20 January 2020
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
William Mathias wrote some of the most imaginative, communicative and joyful choral music of the mid-to late 20th century. These qualities are perhaps most clearly represented in his substantial catalogue of works for choir and, in particular, his settings of sacred texts, notably the invigorating A Babe is Born and the hauntingly beautiful Ave verum corpus, one of his last compositions. This selection also includes the both serious and entertaining sequence of Riddles and the rapt, ecstatic A May Magnificat. More Mathias choral music can be heard on 8.573523.
"Everything here is sung with freshness, security and rhythmic energy, and only at the biggest climaxes does one miss an ideal fullness of sound…the soloists [in Riddles] are from the main Choir of St John's which makes for a nice frisson between their easy refinement and the choir's slightly less burnished tone" BBC Music
"The whole programme is thoughtfully chosen, superbly executed, beautifully recorded - and, best of all, hugely enjoyable." Choir & Organ
"Kudos to Naxos for reminding us of the variety of the Welsh composer William Mathias's choral music with this selection...A May Magnificat, his beautiful setting of words by Gerard Manley Hopkins, is a radiant end to a programme incorporating his witty Riddles (1987) and Learsongs (1988), all sung by Walker's youthful choristers" Sunday Times
Tracks:
A Babe is Born, Op. 55
Jesus College Canticles, Op. 53 (version for mixed choir and organ)
Learsongs (version for female chorus and piano duet)
Y nefoedd sydd yn datgan gogoniant Duw (The Heaves Declare the Glory of God)
Ave verum corpus
Riddles
A May Magnificat, Op. 79, No. 2
