Most Sacred Banquet
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Duruflé, César Franck, Jean Langlais
Label: Classics
Magazine Review Date: 9/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 53
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 37228-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Exultate Deo |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Francis Poulenc, Composer Gerre Hancock, Conductor St Thomas Church Choir |
O sacrum convivium! |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
Gerre Hancock, Conductor Olivier Messiaen, Composer St Thomas Church Choir |
(4) Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens |
Maurice Duruflé, Composer
Gerre Hancock, Conductor Maurice Duruflé, Composer St Thomas Church Choir |
Petite rapsodie improvisée |
Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, Composer
Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, Composer Judith Hancock, Organ |
Messe solennelle |
Jean Langlais, Composer
Gerre Hancock, Conductor Jean Langlais, Composer Judith Hancock, Organ St Thomas Church Choir |
Psalm 150 |
César Franck, Composer
César Franck, Composer Gerre Hancock, Conductor Judith Hancock, Organ St Thomas Church Choir |
Author: Lionel Salter
It shows itself to be a super-efficient body, with splendidly firm tone (the bright-voiced trebles with the clearest of attacks), secure intonation (save for the merest hint of tiring in the Benedictus of the Langlais Mass), exemplary blend and excellent verbal clarity. It is not perfect, however: though it at all times radiates immense assurance (invaluable in Durufle’s “Tu es Petrus”), it snatches off ends of phrases in Poulenc’s Exultate Deo (vociferously sung), and often has a tendency to be syllabic: Durufle’s “Tantum ergo” is uncomfortably stiff and unflowing. Nor does it suggest the mystery that was conveyed in the now-deleted Argo recording (2/71) by the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge (a comparable establishment) in the Messiaen O sacrum convivium, or its tenderness in Durufle’s “Ubi caritas”. The church has a very fine organ, convincingly French in sound, that is put through its paces in Durufle’s transcription of an improvisation by Tournemire (whose pupil and assistant he was), a skilfully contrapuntal improvisation by Dr Hancock (the Master of the Choristers), and in the Langlais Messe solennelle, in which the organ plays a prominent role throughout. The work, one of the most impressive in the repertory, is given a forthright, brilliant-toned performance that emphasizes its massive elements, rather at the expense of its more lyrical moments. The recording is first-class.'
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