New Horizons

Disc Information

Following on from Dusk Songs, The Ebor Singers' first recording for Boreas which included works by Kerry Andrew, James Macmillan and Ivan Moody, the choir continue to explore contemporary British sacred music. The choir itself is committed to encourage the composition and performance of new additions to the choral repertoire; indeed, two of the works, Kerry Andrew's York Mass and Philip Moore's Pilgrimage, were commissioned to celebrate the choir's 15th anniversary in 2008, and are recorded here for the first time.

Kerry Andrew's association with York began as a music student at a University, where she was awarded a PhD in Composition having studied with Roger Marsh. The commission of the York Mass was the fruit of two requirements: first, as a means for The Ebor Singers to celebrate its 15th anniversary in August 2008, and secondly, as a gift from the choir to Canon Glyn Webster, Chancellor of York Minster and supporter of the choir, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his ordination, in September 2008. The mass is a setting of the main movements excluding the Creed, and although it was composed with liturgical performance in mind with the movements separated by spoken or sung sections of the service, even so there is a control and balance to the overall structure when performed in sequence, as it is here. Andrew's musical style is notable for its energy and exploitation of different choral styles and techniques, and in this work she draws on non-voiced, aleatorical, improvised and ethnic styles. The movements mirror the mood of the liturgy, from the imploring chanting of the Kyrie, the celebratory Gloria, the ecstatic Sanctus, to the anguish and resolution of the Agnus Dei.

When Herbert Howells was a student at the Royal College of Music he was encouraged by Stanford to hear Dr Richard Terry's Westminster Cathedral Choir singing Renaissance polyphony. In response, he wrote his earliest sacred choral works, the Mass in the Dorian Mode (1912) and Four Antiphons to the Blessed Virgin Mary (1915), including Salve Regina. The influence upon Howells of Palestrina and other 16th-century composers is clear, yet many aspects of Howells' mature writing are already evident, including his restless harmonies and simple chant-like melodies contrasting with long rhapsodic choral passages. Howells was without doubt the leading church composer of the twentieth century and it is a testament to the durability of his music that it stands up as fresh and vibrant alongside the other works on this recording.

Tarik O'Regan, described as 'one of the most original and eloquent of young British composers' (The Observer), studied composition at Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, and now divides his time between New York City and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he is Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts. For many of his choral commissions, O'Regan has selected texts from the Portiforium of St Wulfstan, a 723-page almanac by the 11th-century bishop of Worcester. Both pieces recorded here were composed in 2003. O vera digna hostia was commissioned by The Vaulkhard Choral Trust for The Choir Schools' Association, and was also a Prize-winner in 'Concours Européen de Composition pour Choeurs et Maîtrises de Cathédrales 2003': it is a hymn for Eastertide. Beatus auctor saeculi was commissioned by Tim Brown and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge in 2003, and is a hymn for Christmas or Marian feasts.

Jonathan Dove is best known as a composer of operas and choral music. He has written a dozen operas, and his choral works have been commissioned by Spitafields Festival, Salisbury Cathedral and several Cambridge college choirs. The Three Kings was commissioned by King's College Choir, Cambridge for the service of Nine Lessons and Carols in 2000. Dove combines the simplicity of the carol idiom with an originality of style that perfectly matches the emotional power of Sayers' text: the youngest king is portrayed as the saddest, anticipated Christ's death by bringing myrrh, while the oldest king bring golden toys; this surprise is captured in the music, with two simple opening verses, and the third verse suddenly sparkling with unexpected joy.

Michael Finnissy was a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied composition with Bernard Stevens and Humphrey Searle. Afterwards, he studied in Italy with Roman Vlad. He has taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Sussex, and is currently Professor of composition at the University of Southampton. Ave regina coelorum is the fifth of a set of seven motets written in 1991-2 relating the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the composer contrasts a plainsong melody for choir with more expressive folksong-like phrases for solo soprano.

Philip Moore moved to York Minster in 1983, succeeding Dr Francis Jackson as Organist and Master of the Music. He retired in July 2008. He studied at the Royal College of Music, and in 1968 became Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral. In 1974 he succeeded Dr Barry Rose as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral before moving to York. While Philip has written music for each of the choirs with which he has been associated, he has had commissions from many others, including Westminster Abbey Choir, the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge and the Vasari Singers.

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