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Special offer. I Sing the Birth

New York Polyphony

I Sing the Birth
The four male members of New York Polyphony… are the core performers, augmented as necessary by a trio of female voices, the crystalline purity of the soprano contribution to Kenneth Leighton's...

BBC Music Magazine, December 20075 out of 5 stars

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Special offer. I Sing the Birth

New York Polyphony

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The four male members of New York Polyphony… are the core performers, augmented as necessary by a trio of female voices, the crystalline purity of the soprano contribution to Kenneth Leighton's...

BBC Music Magazine, December 20075 out of 5 stars

More reviews

About

The landscape traversed on this disc is broad, from twelfth-century conductus to a twentyfirst-century carol, though the musical centre is firmly polyphonic and rooted in the late medieval world. From the meditative simplicity of plainsong, Polyphony’s diverse voices burst forth as a resplendent flowering of music itself, in expressions of joy and wonder, in contemplation and exuberance alike.

Contents and tracklist

Smith, Andrew: Veni Redemptor gentium
Work length2:36
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Hodie Christus natus est (Plainchant)
Work length0:53
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Palestrina: Hodie Christus natus est
Work length1:39
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Puer natus est
Work length2:48
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Leighton: Lully, lulla ('Coventry Carol'), Op. 25b
Work length2:59
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Perotinus: Beata viscera
Work length1:54
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Cornysh the elder: Ave Maria Mater Dei
Work length2:36
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Alma Redemptoris Mater (Plainchant)
Work length1:39
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
trad.: The darkest midnight in December (arr. Alexander Craig)
Work length2:05
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Davies, Peter Maxwell: The Fader of Heven
Work length1:21
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Vox in Rama (Introit)
Work length0:53
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Clemens: Vox in Rama
Work length3:08
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Vox in Rama (Introit reprise)
Work length0:59
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
trad.: Away in a Manger (arr. Alexander Craig / New York Polyphony)
Work length2:26
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Parsons, R: Ave Maria
Work length3:35
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Lully, lulla, thow littel tyne child (Coventry Carol)
Work length2:29
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Ave Maria
Work length0:59
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Lullay, lullow, I saw a swete semly syght (Fifteenth-century English carol)
Work length2:10
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Mervele noght, Josep (Fifteenth-century English carol)
Work length5:44
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Smert: Nowell - Dieus wous garde, byewsser
Work length2:52
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Veni Redemptor gentium (Plainchant)
Work length0:51
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Byrd: O magnum mysterium
Work length4:54
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Ecce advenit dominator Dominus (Plainchant)
Work length2:07
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Clemens: Magi veniunt ab oriente
Work length3:18
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
Smith, Andrew: Nunc dimittis
Work length2:35
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony
anon.: Vox in Rama (Plainchant)
Work length1:12
  • Geoffrey Dunstan Williams (countertenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Scott Dispensa (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass-baritone), Elizabeth Baber (soprano), Ruth Cunningham (soprano), Emilie Williams (vocalist)
  • New York Polyphony

Awards and reviews

December 2007

The four male members of New York Polyphony… are the core performers, augmented as necessary by a trio of female voices, the crystalline purity of the soprano contribution to Kenneth Leighton's setting of the famous 'Coventry Carol' being particularly affecting. They sing most alluringly, superior technique a given but never flaunted, the focus squarely on communicating the deeply emotional wellsprings of much of this music.
5 out of 5 stars
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