Choirs of Angels: Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol. 2
The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Stephen Darlington
Awards:
-
Gramophone Awards, 2013, Finalist - Early Music
the performances here are undoubtedly among the best. Partly this is because the pace is well-judged and spacious...and the voices are exceptionally nimble and focused...[Browne's] O Maria evinces...
Choirs of Angels: Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol. 2
The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Stephen Darlington
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Gramophone Awards, 2013, Finalist - Early Music
the performances here are undoubtedly among the best. Partly this is because the pace is well-judged and spacious...and the voices are exceptionally nimble and focused...[Browne's] O Maria evinces...
About
The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, under the direction of Stephen Darlington, gives glorious renderings of rich 15th-century English sacred music from the Eton Choirbook, by Browne, Cornysh, Davy, Lambe and Wylkynson.
Following a critically acclaimed recording of music from the Eton Choirbook, More Divine Than Human (AV2167), The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford returns with a second volume from the vast collection of 15th-century English sacred music, Choirs of Angels. The works range from John Browne's richly scored eight-part O Maria salvatoris mater, the first piece in the Eton Choirbook, to William Cornysh's exquisite miniature Ave Maria mater Dei, the choirbook's shortest work. The compositional range in the Eton Choirbook demands extraordinary virtuosity from its performers, and Stephen Darlington and his choir of men and boys do this glorious music tremendous justice.
Critical acclaim for The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford's More Divine Than Human (AV2167):
"A disc to send the spirits soaring. Glorious beyond words." - Gramophone, Best of 2009
"Hugely appealing...natural, spacious, rich, expressive performances." - The Sunday Times
"They do a fantastic job and the soundworld is terrific." - BBC Music Magazine
Contents and tracklist
- Stephen Darlington
- Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford
- Stephen Darlinston
Awards and reviews
August 2013
the performances here are undoubtedly among the best. Partly this is because the pace is well-judged and spacious...and the voices are exceptionally nimble and focused...[Browne's] O Maria evinces a glorious sound from this accomplished choir, a sound to which the recording techniques do full justice.
June 2013
the distinctive Christ Church sound is not lost - and distinctive it most certainly is. The boys, in particular, sound as they always have under Stephen Darlington, singing with confident healthily open voices that allow them to ascend through phrases and create a gloriously soaring effect
September 2013
Christ Church proves again and again that its boys are up to the technical challenges thrown up by the music
4th November 2013
The sound of the trebles is sweet and soft-edged, and seems to reflect more the 'angelic' ideal of the Victorian era than the way trebles used to sing earlier in history.
5th May 2013
This second volume of what one hopes will be a long series brings to five antiphons, each by a different composer, an abundant grace, sumptuousness and sense of space, with not a hint of frailty in the upper lines.