When it appeared in 1861, Hymns Ancient and Modern was a groundbreaking collection of hymnody for the Church of England. Over a century later, having been through myriad editions, A&M began to be referred to by disenchanted organists as “Ancient and Mouldy”. Be assured there is nothing the slightest bit mouldy about this engrossing and expertly woven musical tapestry of choral music ancient and modern.
For their tenth album, The Gesualdo Six play decidedly to their strengths: plainchant and English polyphony melded with well-crafted contemporary creations. In this program that explores “different shades of light through music”, they are joined by trumpeter Matilda Lloyd, who is in every respect their musical equal.
Alex Roth’s Night Prayer is the perfect curtain raiser, riffing on the chant melody of the compline hymn Te lucis ante terminum and atmospherically blending its Latin text with an English translation to which Lloyd adds some soaring final touches.
English polyphony is represented in part by two Tallis classics. The simplicity of O nata lux, here sung at a low pitch and set in the glorious acoustic of London recording venue All Hallows’, Gospel Oak gains an added sense of mysticism. Dum transisset Sabbatum, a vivid depiction of Easter morning, is crowned by Lloyd playing the chant melody in the uppermost part. The polyphonic intricacies of Robert White’s setting of another compline hymn, Christe, qui lux est et dies are serenely contrasted again by the long notes of the chant on the trumpet. Also, on the “ancient” side of the ledger, tenor Joseph Wicks illuminates the florid chant of O gloriossisimi by St Hildegard of Bingen.
Showcasing a wide variety of styles and skilful organisation of textures, the “modern” pieces do not tend to modernism. Judith Bingham’s Enter Ghost would come closest, with its recitation of lines from Hamlet interspersed with spiky, virtuosic trumpet commentary and a little singing.
Among the contemporary works, Deborah Pritchard’s The light thereof creates a dazzling blaze before voices and trumpet fade to a luminous ending, while Grandmother moon by Eleanor Daley blends tenderness and sensuousness. The close, sometimes bluesy, sometimes astringent, harmonies of Roxanna Panufnik’s O harken stands in relief to the gentle impressionism of Aura by John Barnard as it seeks to bridge the living and the dead with the aid of the trumpet.
Two motets by James MacMillan, O radiant dawn and In splendoribus sanctorum speak masterfully of the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas. While the former’s intense cries of “Come” may have benefitted from the vocal heft of a larger ensemble, both works are finely calibrated, and the latter’s blending of voices and trumpet is a thought-provoking meditation on the Incarnation.
The singers beguilingly channel the differing forms of soft romanticism in Owain Park’s Sommernacht (based on a Reger song) and Rheinberger’s beloved Abendlied before closing the program with the wonderfully ruminative Nunc dimittis by Geoffrey Burgon written for the television adaptation of John le Carré’s thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy.
Such an amalgam of ancient and modern, so carefully conceived and compelling presented, will remain forever fresh.
Title: Radiant Dawn
Works: Music by Roth, Tallis, Hildegard et al.
Performers: Matilda Lloyd t, The Gesualdo Six/Owain Park
Label: Hyperion CDA68465

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