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Recording
Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012)
Sea Change – Choral Music of Richard Rodney Bennett
Sea Change (1983); A Farewell to Arms (2001); A Good-Night (1999); Verses (1964)
Missa Brevis (1990); Five Carols (1967); Lullay mine liking (1984)
What sweeter music (1968); Puer nobis (1980)
The Cambridge Singers, Sue Dorey (cello), John Rutter (conductor)
Collegium Records 901
Ask even an educated classical music enthusiast what Richard Rodney Bennett is best known for and the answer is likely to be his music for film. It is certainly true that film music has made Bennett a virtual household name - how many millions of people have seen his name roll past at the beginning of Four Weddings and a Funeral? Yet the diversity of his output over a fifty year period has encompassed virtually every genre including jazz, for which he has become particularly well known years accompanying such artists as Marion Montgomery at the piano. It is a shocking truth then, that so little of Bennett’s "serious" music for the concert hall has made it onto disc. With so little music from outside the cinema available, this particular disc is therefore most welcome and serves as a fine demonstration of Bennett’s consummate gifts. The choral music spans a good part of his career, the earliest example here being the popular Five Carols (1967) with the most recent, A Farewell to Arms (2001). Sea Change, the work from which the disc takes its title opens proceedings and serves as a particularly good introduction to the music surveyed. Setting Shakespeare in the outer two movements with Andrew Marvell and Edmund Spenser in the centre, Bennett creates an immediately compelling sense of atmosphere. The tolling of tubular bell that commences The isle is full of noises, returns at the close of the opening song, with the austere beauty of the writing akin to Judith Bingham, another British composer with a gift for choral music. In Full fathom five, which Bennett places last, Vaughan Williams’s Three Shakespeare Songs may be thought of as the precedent. The exception here is the setting of Edmund Spenser, in which Bennett creates an extraordinary nightmarish vision, employing a kind of "sprechgesang" technique completely at odds with its neighbouring settings yet startlingly effective. A Farewell to Arms utilises a clever juxtaposition of two poems, movingly realised in writing of telling eloquence. The words of Ralph Knevet and George Peele tell of the instruments of war and the reminiscences of the old retired soldier respectively. Bennett binds the two with a lyrical commentary on solo cello, a stroke of genius and here played beautifully by Sue Dorey. A Good-Night and Verses are shorter, the former a gorgeous little part-song setting Francis Quarles and written as a contribution to "A Garland for Linda" in memory of Linda McCartney, a personal friend of the composer. In comparison Verses is a relatively early work, a setting of John Donne, written in 1964 when the composer was twenty eight. It is another notable example of the natural ease with which Bennett responds to his chosen texts. Speaking of the Missa Brevis, John Rutter questions why Bennett has not been asked for more liturgical music. It is indeed surprising that this is his only liturgical work, for the composer’s natural language is particularly well suited to the medium. The gentle strains of the Kyrie place the music, as Rutter aptly points out, closer to France and in particular Poulenc. The Christmas music is grouped together at the end of the disc, commencing with the ever delightful Five Carols, probably Bennett’s best known choral work thanks to its popularity with amateur choirs. The carols set texts ranging from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries and in the case of There is no rose, for instance, will be familiar from settings by other composers. Out of your sleep and the joyous Susanni with which the cycle closes are particular pleasures. The fifteenth century text of Lullay mine liking continues the middle ages theme and like What sweeter music, was written for former Prime Minister Edward Heath and his Broadstairs Choir, Broadstairs just happening to be the composer’s home town. The brief but touching Puer Nobis, which concludes the disc, brings proceedings to an unashamedly nostalgic close. There can be few finer advocates of Bennett’s music than John Rutter whose own choral credentials do of course precede him. Without exception Rutter and his Cambridge Singers respond to Bennett’s music with sensitivity and eloquence whilst Rutter also provides the lucid and informative booklet notes. Credit also to Collegium Records, firstly for their enterprise in releasing this worthy collection of music and secondly for the quality of the packaging which is both eye-catching and practical. Add to this a beautifully balanced, atmospheric recording and the result is a fine disc in every way.
.- Christopher Thomas/MusicWeb International
... to read more click here
*** Click here to listen to excerpts from this Collegium Records disc ***
. . . also check itunes . . .
Check here for more information
Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012)
Sea Change – Choral Music of Richard Rodney Bennett
Sea Change (1983); A Farewell to Arms (2001); A Good-Night (1999); Verses (1964)
Missa Brevis (1990); Five Carols (1967); Lullay mine liking (1984)
What sweeter music (1968); Puer nobis (1980)
The Cambridge Singers, Sue Dorey (cello), John Rutter (conductor)
Collegium Records 901
Ask even an educated classical music enthusiast what Richard Rodney Bennett is best known for and the answer is likely to be his music for film. It is certainly true that film music has made Bennett a virtual household name - how many millions of people have seen his name roll past at the beginning of Four Weddings and a Funeral? Yet the diversity of his output over a fifty year period has encompassed virtually every genre including jazz, for which he has become particularly well known years accompanying such artists as Marion Montgomery at the piano. It is a shocking truth then, that so little of Bennett’s "serious" music for the concert hall has made it onto disc. With so little music from outside the cinema available, this particular disc is therefore most welcome and serves as a fine demonstration of Bennett’s consummate gifts. The choral music spans a good part of his career, the earliest example here being the popular Five Carols (1967) with the most recent, A Farewell to Arms (2001). Sea Change, the work from which the disc takes its title opens proceedings and serves as a particularly good introduction to the music surveyed. Setting Shakespeare in the outer two movements with Andrew Marvell and Edmund Spenser in the centre, Bennett creates an immediately compelling sense of atmosphere. The tolling of tubular bell that commences The isle is full of noises, returns at the close of the opening song, with the austere beauty of the writing akin to Judith Bingham, another British composer with a gift for choral music. In Full fathom five, which Bennett places last, Vaughan Williams’s Three Shakespeare Songs may be thought of as the precedent. The exception here is the setting of Edmund Spenser, in which Bennett creates an extraordinary nightmarish vision, employing a kind of "sprechgesang" technique completely at odds with its neighbouring settings yet startlingly effective. A Farewell to Arms utilises a clever juxtaposition of two poems, movingly realised in writing of telling eloquence. The words of Ralph Knevet and George Peele tell of the instruments of war and the reminiscences of the old retired soldier respectively. Bennett binds the two with a lyrical commentary on solo cello, a stroke of genius and here played beautifully by Sue Dorey. A Good-Night and Verses are shorter, the former a gorgeous little part-song setting Francis Quarles and written as a contribution to "A Garland for Linda" in memory of Linda McCartney, a personal friend of the composer. In comparison Verses is a relatively early work, a setting of John Donne, written in 1964 when the composer was twenty eight. It is another notable example of the natural ease with which Bennett responds to his chosen texts. Speaking of the Missa Brevis, John Rutter questions why Bennett has not been asked for more liturgical music. It is indeed surprising that this is his only liturgical work, for the composer’s natural language is particularly well suited to the medium. The gentle strains of the Kyrie place the music, as Rutter aptly points out, closer to France and in particular Poulenc. The Christmas music is grouped together at the end of the disc, commencing with the ever delightful Five Carols, probably Bennett’s best known choral work thanks to its popularity with amateur choirs. The carols set texts ranging from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries and in the case of There is no rose, for instance, will be familiar from settings by other composers. Out of your sleep and the joyous Susanni with which the cycle closes are particular pleasures. The fifteenth century text of Lullay mine liking continues the middle ages theme and like What sweeter music, was written for former Prime Minister Edward Heath and his Broadstairs Choir, Broadstairs just happening to be the composer’s home town. The brief but touching Puer Nobis, which concludes the disc, brings proceedings to an unashamedly nostalgic close. There can be few finer advocates of Bennett’s music than John Rutter whose own choral credentials do of course precede him. Without exception Rutter and his Cambridge Singers respond to Bennett’s music with sensitivity and eloquence whilst Rutter also provides the lucid and informative booklet notes. Credit also to Collegium Records, firstly for their enterprise in releasing this worthy collection of music and secondly for the quality of the packaging which is both eye-catching and practical. Add to this a beautifully balanced, atmospheric recording and the result is a fine disc in every way.
.- Christopher Thomas/MusicWeb International
... to read more click here
*** Click here to listen to excerpts from this Collegium Records disc ***
. . . also check itunes . . .
Check here for more information
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Here are some
of the many record labels that feature contemporary art music.
Tell us about any others you know of - we'd love to add them to our growing list.
Tell us about any others you know of - we'd love to add them to our growing list.
Contemporary Music Recordings
Albany Records
alt-classical.com
Atopos
Blipfonica
Bridge Records
Cedille Records - contemporary
Centrediscs (Canadian Music Centre)
Edition RZ
EMC (Experimental Music Catalog)
ERM Media
empreintes DIGITALes
Fleur de Son Classics
Innova Recordings (The Label of the American Composers Forum)
itunes
Komplott
last.fm
Métier Records
Mode Records
MSR Classics - contemporary
Musica Omnia - 20th century
musicnow
Mythical Records
Novona Records
Naxos
New Albion Records
New Amsterdam Records
New Focus Recordings
New Music from Indiana University: Volumes 1 and 2
New Tertian Recordings
New World Records
Nonesuch Records
numusic.org
Oxingale Records
Passionato.com
Rhapsody.com
Toccata Classics
Trace Label (Paris, France)
Vienna Modern Masters
Zimbel Records
. . . other labels (thanks to Neue Musik @ University of Hamburg)
Check out the Pytheas Featured Recordings Archive
In addition
to individual record labels, contemporary recordings can be
searched
by the composer's name at such sites as:
by the composer's name at such sites as:
Amazon.com
ArkivMusic.com
CD Baby: Music Now
ClassicsOnline: 20th Century or Contemporary or by Composer
e classical: Contemporary
ArkivMusic.com
CD Baby: Music Now
ClassicsOnline: 20th Century or Contemporary or by Composer
e classical: Contemporary
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