Apollo5: Haven
Brian Morton
Friday, February 23, 2024
Some of the most insightfully earthy singing of Byrd (the Mass for Five Voices) you’re likely to hear
Penelope Appleyard (s), Clare Stewart (m-s), Oscar Golden-Lee, Oli Martin-Smith (t), Augustus Perkins Ray (b), Apollo 5
VOCES8 ★★★★
This comes tricked out in a psychedelic cover, but it isn’t in the wrong browser. Inside is some of the most insightfully earthy singing of Byrd (the Mass for Five Voices) you’re likely to hear.
There’s no plumminess about Apollo5, who take their mythological name seriously and always root the human and divine in one another.
The five voices create an unbroken spectrum, which creates the illusion of larger forces or some kind of chordal instrument behind.
They make clever choices of subsidiary material as well: ancient pieces like de Monte’s Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi and modern stuff you won’t have heard before, woven together into an hour-plus of enchantment.
This review originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Choir & Organ magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
