Welcome Joy - A Celebration of Women's Voices

Recording of the Month BBC Music Magazine December 2024

For their second album on Chandos, Freddie Crowley and his Corvus Consort - joined by the harpist Louise Thomson - turn their attention to a rich vein of choral music written for women's voices and harp. Gustav Holst was a champion of women's voices and taught in several girls' schools, most famously at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, where he worked for almost thirty years. His contribution to this genre is represented by three works: Two Eastern Pictures, Dirge and Hymeneal, and more substantially his Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda. These works provide a frame for the bulk of the programme - mostly written by British women. Works by Imogen Holst and Elizabeth Poston lead us towards the more recent generations - Judith Weir, Gemma McGregor, and on to Olivia Sparkhall, and Hilary Campbell. The Indian composer Shruthi Rajasekar was invited to compose for this programme in response to the Third Group of Gustav Holst's Choral Hymns. Both Ushās - Goddess of Dawn and Priestess not only add exciting new repertoire for these unusual forces, but explore directly Holst's engagement with ancient Hindu texts.