Reviews
The Organ
Independent record producers Boreas Music, based in York, have come up trumps with a fine recording of choral music by Thomas Luis de Victoria.
The recording opens with the Motet O quam gloriosum followed by the mass of the same name. They add the hymn Christe redemptor omnium to end this section before concluding with the mighty Requiem Aeternam, written for the funeral of Victoria’s patron the Dowager Empress Maria of Spain in 1603.
The Ebor Singers were founded in 1995 and is a group made up of early music vocal specialists from the University of York, capitalising on the already great reputation that the city has in this sphere of music. Indeed, the quality, range of expression and mood of the singing is first rate, and can compete with any of the Oxbridge and London professional early music choirs. Paul Gameson is to be admired for the way he has persuaded The Ebor Singers to produce such a close-knit sound. This allows the resonant harmonic flow to despatch a greater depth of meaning, while the delicious dissonances used to highlight certain textual points, combine to produce a homogenous and convincing sound that grows organically from this finely balanced choir. I look forward to hearing more from The Ebor Singers in the future and I recommend this recording to you whole-heartedly.
Choir Schools Today
This recording demonstrates perfectly the value of having the right combination of singers to produce a blended choral sound. Each voice in the ensemble seamlessly merges into the next, contributing to the texture without pertruding. The sound is energetic and youthful which results in a fresh musical product rare in such groups. The tone is authentically even, without being bland.
The enjoyment with which the singers perform this work comes across clearly; perhaps this is unsurprising given its sublime beauty, which this recording will go a long way to making more widely known. |
