The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, directed by Stephen Layton. Owain Park, organ. Taken from our live performance at The Cathedral of St Philip, Atlanta, as part of our tour of the United States in 2015.
The Trinity sopranos are so distinctive - clear, but not thin. They shimmer on top of the tonal structure. Even for the famed pure-tone English soprano sound, this is unique.
They also (an English choral tradition) understand how to use the acoustic of large cathedral spaces as an extension of their voices. As I once hear a chiormaster describe it. “Playing the building’.
what the heck was up with the three front rows of the audience at the end? just sitting there not applauding one of the most spectacular musical moments of their lives, just wow!!!
The choir of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia performed this TE DEUM, composed by Herbert Howells, at our Good Friday concert this past week. We also performed REQUIEM FOR THE LIVING by Dan Forrest. What can I say? The music is magnificent, but God's opening one's heart to understand and believe the text of the TE DEUM is a holy miracle, a prelude to praising God for all eternity in heaven for what Jesus Christ has done!
This is truly superb. The best recording to date and sung with such excitement and sensitivity. The final few bars leading to the shattering entry of the 32ft Reed (and what a stop!!) is unforgettable and floored me completely. Thanks Trinity and your matchless conductor.
The best part is the contemplative bit in the middle: "When thou took'st upon thee to deliver man . . ." Just spellbinding. Lots of choirs can sing the climactic bits effectively, but Layton and the choir bring something special to the quiet parts. All that said, the choir sounds nothing like the choir Howells wrote the piece for.
Having sung this piece in my college choir, I can say that it takes a really long time to learn, and a really long time to get right, but it is all worth it, just for that ending. Beautiful.
Many Howells pieces are hard to learn especially because of the rich harmonies. It takes a really good choir to maintain their individual lines with separations.
Wonderful, wonderful, music. Musical cocaine; an orgasm in sound. Tenderness, tingles down the spine, goosebumps and hair standing up on the back of my neck.
Really interesting. I've never seen this piece performed from memory before. A very mature sound for a college choir. Sounds a bit more like Rutter's Cambridge Singers. Not a quibble, just an observation. Still superb.
Couldn't agree more. Adding that fabulous 32ft Reed not only demonstrates masterful writing but a moment of choral and instrumental ecstasy. The best and most appropriate English expression : it blows your socks off.
Used to enjoy singing this glorious music in Lincoln cathedral, where the singing and organ, like in this recording, have a dynamic relationship. Powerful recording-thanks for posting.
what fun! I'm using this performance to practice this piece for my own church choir, and decide to scroll down the comments, and who pops up but my favorite cuz!!
Jim Harper wonderful memories of singing St Philip choir in the ‘70s when living in Atlanta. J Marcus Ritchie ch. dir. a beacon of Anglican choral tradition.
I love how he conducts with a pencil, hehe. No complaints, just proves how a great conductor like Mr. Layton doesn’t need much to generate this brand of magic.
Absolutely beautiful. The singing, the conducting, the organ accompaniment - all first class! I've listened to this performance several times, and it just gets better and better
Just super. I was in choirs from age 3 to 18, I enjoyed it immensely and have just as happy to just sing in the congregation since then. But I would come back to sing this.
a spectacular performance of an unspeakable masterpiece. The tempo, however, while brilliantly effective with masterful organ-playing, is quite a bit more expansive than Howells's own tempo. The most authentic perf would probably be Willcocks '67 from King's, when HH was at the sessions.
Joel Wallenius This is a fantastic performance and I certainly don’t want to take anything away from it. The Duke University Evensong choir just did this piece during their May 5th, 2019 service, though, and it is certainly worth a listen as well. A recording of the entire service is on RU-vid, and the anthem starts shortly after the 40 minute mark.
@@xenabellebeest I came back on this by chance, forgetting that I had viewed it previously and had made a comment. Without viewing any comments and just listening to the piece, I came to the same conclusion; there is one soprano whose voice is standing out too prominently. And this is an opinion (based on having been a choir director) so no need for sarcastic comments about hearing aids.
Don't get me wrong, technically very good but dead. Think of Howells and the fact that he never got his son's loss. and he had this religion thing and occasionally it came out. He couldn't help it and the pain leaps out at you, but not sure they really understood this.
Exactly, Jason. This is a sacred work being performed in what appears to be a secular setting; at any rate, evidently not during Matins, for example . No matter how well performed, and I can find no fault with this performance, the sublime essence of this canticle can, I feel, only be truly expressed and comprehended when it is sung as an act of worship.
Stephen Layton in fact does understand the emotional and spiritual impact of the vast choral literature he has directed over his long career - check out his video about the Brahms Requiem on the Holst Singers' RU-vid channel for example - and you can see, in every close up on this recording, just how "into" this particular work he is. Could it be that you find the sound quality of this choir somewhat clinical compared to those you're used to? I find it more emotionally charged than many a cathedral choir's performance...
