Taverner: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas & other choral works

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

Stephen Darlington gives majestic shape to this monumental work, effectively drawing out the imperturbable tread of the 'Gloria tibi Trinitas' cantus firmus. The choir produces a sound of blistering... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2007, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th May 2007
Catalogue No: AV2123
Label: Avie
Length: 62 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

October 2007

Editor's Choice

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Early Music - up to 35% off selected titles

Special offer ends: 04/06/2024

Taverner: Cantus firmus: Gloria tibi Trinitas

Work length0:41

$1.00

$1.40

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

Taverner: Kyrie: Deus creator omnium

Work length2:16

$1.00

$1.40

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

Taverner: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas

Work length42:55

$7.00

$9.80

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

Gloria

Track length12:56

$2.00

$2.80

Credo

Track length10:53

$1.50

$2.10

Sanctus

Track length5:46

$1.00

$1.40

Benedictus

Track length4:14

$1.00

$1.40

Agnus Dei

Track length9:06

$1.50

$2.10

Taverner: Mater Christi Sanctissima

Work length6:21

$1.00

$1.40

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

Taverner: Dum transisset Sabbatum (1)

Work length6:54

$1.00

$1.40

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

Taverner: O Wilhelme

Work length3:50

$1.00

$1.40

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Stephen Darlington

About
Reviews
Explore

About

John Taverner, the most outstanding English composer of his time, was appointed Informator Choristarum of Cardinal College, Oxford in 1526, with the charge of establishing the foremost choral institution in the land. He succeeded magnificently and the tradition continues to this day at what is now known as Christ Church, Oxford, with acclaimed director Stephen Darlington, renowned for his strength in 16th century choral music, at the helm. Darlington and his forces – 16 boys and 12 men, unchanged since the 1520s – pay homage to their predecessor with a programme of his liturgical music written at Oxford. While there, Taverner had to write music to be performed virtually round the clock and he rose to the challenge using great imagination. He wrote innumerable memorable melodies, with an unprecedented emotional range and a sophisticated sense of drama. His music was astonishingly modern for its time, and in its richness remains much so today.

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford has a special and distinctive place within the great English choral tradition as it uniquely serves both an Oxford college and a diocese. With an unbroken, continuous tradition of glorious music-making for nearly five hundred years, today the choir is renowned for its vibrant sound and artistic versatility, qualities that have been praised throughout the world from Sydney to Rio de Janiero, Tokyo to New York, Helsinki to Paris. Apart from their Oxford duties and international tours, the Choir has been heard by millions on the Mr. Bean soundtracks and Vicar of Dibley TV theme tune.

Recorded at the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford, England, 15 –17 November 2006

Reviews

August 2007

Stephen Darlington gives majestic shape to this monumental work, effectively drawing out the imperturbable tread of the 'Gloria tibi Trinitas' cantus firmus. The choir produces a sound of blistering intensity…

2010

The Choir of Christ Church could hardly have made a more ambitious return to recording after their valuable but variable series of Nimbus Tavener Vocal 1157 discs. Taverner's Mass is the chef d'oeuvre of the greatest composer of his time, yet it has never before been recorded by the kind of liturgical choir which he had in mind; this is a courageous and significant act of reclamation. Courageous, because Taverner's demands of phrase and melodic continuity are more subtle, but no less daunting in their own way, than those presented by Palestrina and Gombert. Performing at written pitch helps.
Stephen Darlington and his choir aren't afraid of a few dirty edges around the sound; this is a world away from the hygienic surfaces of the Gabrieli Consort or from the shapely halo of King's, Cambridge. The Christ Church trebles have a full-frontal attack to a phrase that is more commonly heard from middle-European choirs.
That makes it more susceptible to the glare of the microphone, but the recording itself dares to go in closer than Nimbus ever did. The risk largely pays off in tutti passages of startling immediacy, contrasted with more solo verse sections than is usual (to rest tired voices?). Some distended cadences leave you wondering whether they can possibly have the puff to sustain them. Sometimes they can't (at the end of the first paragraph of the Sanctus); often they can (the 'Hosanna' at the end of the famous Benedictus).
The motets are no less individual in concept and execution, including a cheeky but winning slide in Mater Christi; like the rest of the disc it will divide opinion, but it demands to be taken seriously.

October 2007

Taverner's Mass is the chef d'oeuvre of the greatest composer of his time, yet it has never before been recorded by the kind of liturgical choir which he had in mind; this is a courageous and significant act of reclamation.

Offer,Taverner: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas & other choral works

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue