Launched in 2015, British a cappella vocal quintet Papagena has turned out a regular flow of imaginatively curated albums (2018’s The Darkest Midnight was highly placed on that year’s Limelight Christmas playlist). Founded by Sarah Tenant-Flowers, and including singers Imogen Ram-Prasad, Lizzie Drury, Suzzie Vango and Shivani Rattan, they are known for not only exploring a diverse range of musical styles – from medieval to folk and beyond – but for invariably ‘getting it right’.
Their latest is Tomorrow is Today, a collection focusing of songs of love, beauty and the passing of time. Composers range from Hildegard von Bingen, Monteverdi and Purcell to contemporary masters such as James MacMillan, Caroline Shaw and Kate Bush (yes, you heard me). First of all, the singing is immaculate, their light, bright voices creating a stimulating blend without ever straying into what might be described as the all-female edgy territory. Not only that, they don’t try too hard to swing the non-classical numbers, which on the whole are presented in original arrangements that suit both the blend and the ensemble’s style.
The album opens with Tenant-Flowers’ wonderful female-voice arrangement of the traditional Scottish song The Gallant Weaver (the original setting is by James MacMillan). Vocal flexibility here is part of their winning way in all this music, as well as their knack for gently pointing up pungent harmonies without hitting them over the head with a sledgehammer. The same is true in the haunting Ukrainian children’s song Oy khodyt son, another Tenant-Flowers arrangement). Deft engineering sets the recorded voices in a resonant acoustic, but never too echoey.
In more classical vein, their takes on Hildegard’s soaring O cruor sanguinis, the medieval carol Ther is no rose and a fizzy Monteverdi madrigal bear comparison with the very best of early music practitioners. Purcell’s Music for a While, lovingly gussied up by Gunnar Eriksson, is an oasis of radiant calm.
One area where Papagena invariably score is in their smart arrangements of contemporary pop or rock artists. Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work, arranged by Jim Clements, is a perfect example, bringing the original into their vocal wheelhouse rather than the other way around. The same goes for Kate Rusby’s I courted a sailor and Sandy Denny’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes. Very occasionally they come across as a tad polite – Helen Askew’s Order & Chaos is one – but in general this album is a joy from start to finish.
Title: Tomorrow is Today
Works: Songs of love, beauty and the passing of time
Performer: Papagena
Label: Somm SOMMCD0721
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