Purcell - Odes for St Celia's Day - Harmonia Mundi: HMC901643 - download

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The two famous St Cecilian Odes reflect a remarkable polarity in the composer's creative priorities: the shorter of the two, Welcome to allthe pleasures, is a supreme amalgamation of Fishburn's... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: HMC901643
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 72 minutes

Purcell: Hail! Bright Cecilia (Ode for St Cecilia's Day 1692), Z328

Work length54:12

$13.20

$16.50

Peter Harvey, Robin Blaze, Jonathan Brown, Mark Padmore, Susan Hamilton, Siri Thornhill, Martin van der Zeijst, Jonathan Arnold
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe

I. Symphony: Maestoso, Canzona: Allegro – Adagio – Allegro – Grave

Track length9:43

$1.20

$1.50

II. Hail! Bright Cecilia

Track length3:47

$1.00

$1.25

III. Hark! hark! Each Tree

Track length4:10

$1.00

$1.25

IV. ‘Tis Nature’s Voice

Track length4:20

$1.00

$1.25

V. Soul of the World!

Track length2:20

$1.00

$1.25

VI. Thou tun’st this World

Track length5:14

$1.00

$1.25

VII. With that sublime Celestial Lay

Track length3:15

$1.00

$1.25

VIII. Wondrous Machine!

Track length2:27

$1.00

$1.25

IX. The airy Violin

Track length1:38

$1.00

$1.25

X. In vain the Am’rous flute

Track length6:09

$1.00

$1.25

XI. The fife and all the Harmony of War

Track length3:18

$1.00

$1.25

XII. Let these among themselves contest

Track length3:10

$1.00

$1.25

XIII. Hail! Bright Cecilia

Track length4:41

$1.00

$1.25

Purcell: Welcome to all the pleasures (from Ode for St Cecilia's Day 1683), Z339

Work length18:32

$7.00

$8.75

Robin Blaze, Siri Thornhill, Jonathan Arnold, Susan Hamilton, Mark Padmore
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe

I. Symphony

Track length3:42

$1.00

$1.25

II. Welcome to all the pleasures

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.25

III. Here the deities approve

Track length4:36

$1.00

$1.25

IV. While joys celestial

Track length1:48

$1.00

$1.25

V. Then lift up your voices

Track length2:09

$1.00

$1.25

VI. Beauty thou scene of love

Track length3:15

$1.00

$1.25

VII. In a consort of voices

Track length1:13

$1.00

$1.25

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

The two famous St Cecilian Odes reflect a remarkable polarity in the composer's creative priorities: the shorter of the two, Welcome to allthe pleasures, is a supreme amalgamation of Fishburn's words and Purcell's music, bursting with contained subtlety and enchantment. There's also a unique sense of conveying something novel, in this case an inaugural tribute on 22 November 1683, to the patron saint of music, henceforth annually celebrating 'this divine Science'.
Hail, bright Cecilia from 1692 is three times longer and explores all the startling orchestral sounds which changed English music towards something approaching a Handelian palette. It's also truly fin de siècle (some might say Newtonian) in ambition and the imagery is as breathtakingly splendid now as it was when the Victorians first revered it for its boldness and scale. Such qualities clearly animate Herreweghe and he shapes this music with rapture and precision.
The whole is infectiously fresh and never rushed. Herreweghe is sensitive to the nuances which irradiate from Purcell's colouring of words. He largely uses English voices. 'Hark! hark! each tree' boasts the versatile and effortless alto of Robin Blaze who, with the assured Peter Harvey, achieves a delightfully naturalistic lilt. One blip here is the piping soprano in 'Thou tun'st this world' (Susan Hamilton) where the voice seems technically and expressively limited.
But for beauty of sound Herreweghe is your man.

Purcell - Odes for St Celia's Day

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