Howells from Winchester

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  • ardcarp
    Late member
    • Nov 2010
    • 11102
    #1

    Howells from Winchester

    Driving to work yesterday, with Breakfast as wallpaper, I pricked up my ears at some Howells...Exaltate Deo (Sing We Merrily)...and thought, 'Hmm. This is rather good. St Paul's and John Scott perhaps?' But it turned out to be Winchster and Andrew Lumsden. I was impressed. Perhaps Lizzie can tell us which CD it's on.
    Tags: None
  • ardcarp
    Late member
    • Nov 2010
    • 11102
    #2
    Sorry, WiNchester...

    Comment

    • bach736
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 213
      #3
      It's on Hyperion CDA67853 released at the end of May just gone. Has the 'Winchester Service' and other late works.Sounds like a 'must have'!

      Comment

      • decantor
        Full Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 521
        #4
        I'm sure Lizzie will have more to say on this, but the track you heard is from Winchester's latest CD on Hyperion (CDA67853).

        If I may be allowed a value-judgement, I think the CD is brilliant. It's all Howells, and focuses on his later output - which IMO is darker and edgier than we are accustomed to. The Howells Winchester service (included) is a mighty fine setting that receives too few outings. The choir's singing is terrific throughout - as you heard.

        The tracklist (with samplers) is here ---
        Howells: The Winchester Service & other late works
        http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67853
        <p>Hyperion’s previous recordings with Winchester Cathedral Choir are among the jewels in its choral collection. Now the label begins a new relationship with this ancient foundation and its latest director of music, Andrew Lumsden. Their new disc features a composer who was at the centre of the English twentieth-century choral tradition.</p> <p>Herbert Howells’ is a unique and distinctive voice in church music and it is his lyrical anthem <i>Like as the hart</i> and his compositions of the 1940s and 50s for which he is most known and celebrated. However, his late works are equal in beauty and intensity and it is these that are featured on this superb recording. They are often over-looked as a result of their difficulty but Winchester Cathedral Choir reveal them as unjustly neglected gems.</p> <p>The Winchester Service, written in 1969, has its roots in plainchant and demonstrates the composer’s chromatic sophistication and the incredible depth of his harmonic palette. The choir display a clear affinity with the composer. They perform with sensitivity and precision and their glorious sound is quintessentially English.</p>

        Comment

        • Lizzie
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 297
          #5
          Originally posted by decantor View Post
          I'm sure Lizzie will have more to say on this, but the track you heard is from Winchester's latest CD on Hyperion (CDA67853).

          If I may be allowed a value-judgement, I think the CD is brilliant. It's all Howells, and focuses on his later output - which IMO is darker and edgier than we are accustomed to. The Howells Winchester service (included) is a mighty fine setting that receives too few outings. The choir's singing is terrific throughout - as you heard.

          The tracklist (with samplers) is here ---
          http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67853
          Have to admit I've only heard it once and haven't even got a copy myself yet! I bought copies for two good friends in Belfast recently so heard it in a car sitting near the Giant's Causeway. On one hearing thought it sounded superb. Never heard the Redcliffe before. I know all our musicians are very pleased with the cd and with good reason I'd say. Thank you for such positive comments and I hope some of our team are reading them here. Will hope to before my copy soon too! All Bws. Liz

          Comment

          • muticus
            #6
            I absolutely agree - heard it - and it sounded superb (although would have expected no less!). Well done all concerned - I have ordered my copy by return.

            Comment

            • Magnificat
              #7
              I haven't heard the record but I am looking forward to hearing Winchester when they come to the St Albans IOF Three Choirs along with New College Oxford in a fortnight's time. No Howells unfortunately, it's all 17th century stuff ( should suit NC particularly). Purcell's Funeral music on a summer's evening I ask you. Still we have Handel's Coronation Anthems to look forward to and all the brass.

              VCC

              Comment

              • BBMmk2
                Late Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 20908
                #8
                Another top cd from Hyperion!This has surely to be this country's leading independent,with all these imaginative productions they issue!!
                Don’t cry for me
                I go where music was born
                J S Bach 1685-1750

                Comment

                • Simon Biazeck
                  #9
                  This is a stunning recording - beautifully sung and recorded! - of many things I have long loved (The Winchester Service, especially) and many I have longed to hear, including Exultate Deo. The cover art is equally beautiful with its metaphor for a composer in the Autumn of his life, but still ablaze with musical passion! God bless Winchester and Hyperion!

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