Star of Heaven
The Eton Choirbook Legacy
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Across the disc, complex polyphonic edifices are negotiated with Christophers’s intuitive suavity, and stretches of prayerful serenity are enlivened with a gear-changing dramatic lift here,...
Star of Heaven
The Eton Choirbook Legacy
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Purchase product
Across the disc, complex polyphonic edifices are negotiated with Christophers’s intuitive suavity, and stretches of prayerful serenity are enlivened with a gear-changing dramatic lift here,...
About
The Eton Choirbook is famous – and important – because it uniquely preserves some of the most spectacular music composed in Britain before the age of Purcell and Handel. Had this book not survived, literally dozens of superb pieces would have been irretrievably lost; among them would have been the ones by Walter Lambe, William Cornysh and Robert Wylkynson on this album. Whilst the book itself is of huge historic significance, its legacy is immeasurable, informing and influencing scores of composers and performers for more than 500 years. This unique recording emphasises that legacy with the premiere of four new works by contemporary composers all commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and all inspired by the works from the Eton Choirbook alongside which they sit. This album also features Stephen Hough’s stunning exploration of faith worldwide—Hallowed—which was commissioned for The British Museum’s ‘Living with Gods’ exhibition.
Contents and tracklist
- Emilia Morton, Julie Cooper
- The Sixteen
- Harry Christophers
- Jeremy Budd, George Pooley, Simon Berridge, Joshua Cooter, Julie Cooper
- The Sixteen
- Harry Christophers
- Jeremy Budd, Charlotte Mobbs, Ban Davies
- The Sixteen
- Harry Christophers
Awards and reviews
January 2019
Across the disc, complex polyphonic edifices are negotiated with Christophers’s intuitive suavity, and stretches of prayerful serenity are enlivened with a gear-changing dramatic lift here, a rhythmic nicety there…The Sixteen’s supple, fastidiously nuanced soundworld continues to serve ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’ with aplomb.
March 2019
Some individual singers make outstanding contributions and, although not everything nor everyone is fabulous, here is a very fine, thought-provoking way to celebrate over 500 years of one of the world’s great choral manuscripts.
January 2019
There can be few ensembles with such a close understanding of the late 15th-century music preserved in the Eton Choirbook and performances by The Sixteen have always been characterised by radiant high sopranos and deliciously bright altos supported by warmly crafted lower voices.
