Proms at … Cadogan Hall 1: VOCES8 - 22.07.19

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00 Monday 22 July 2019
Cadogan Hall

Hildegard von Bingen: Spiritus sanctus vivificans
Pérotin: Viderunt omnes – excerpt
Josquin des Prez: Ave Maria … Virgo serena
Jean Mouton: Nesciens mater virgo virum
Tomás Luis de Victoria: Regina coeli (a 8)
Jonathan Dove: Vadam et circuibo civitatem
Orlande de Lassus: Missa ‘Bell’Amfitrit’altera’ – Gloria
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Magnificat primi toni
William Byrd: Sing joyfully unto God our strength
Orlando Gibbons: O clap your hands together
Alexia Sloane: Earthward (BBC commission: world première)


VOCES8

From the supple plainchant melodies of Hildegard of Bingen to the sophisticated choral polyphony of Palestrina, Byrd and Lassus, Proms debut artists VOCES8 return to music’s origins to launch a sequence of lunchtime concerts spanning 800 years.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

VOCES8 is an amazing group. I just wish certain much-publicised vocal group was in anything like the same league.

[doversoul1]

Very much looking forward to this.

[jonfan]

This was heavenly in every sense of the word. The huge variety of music was performed with perfection of pitch and ensemble, beautiful balance with a warm bloom to the sound. The two modern works by Jonathan Dove and the commission by Alexa Sloane gave a nice contrast to the earlier prices. The Sloane piece sounded a devil to sing but Voces8 just nailed it very persuasively. Voces8 have this fresh clarity of delivery which marks them out from the rest.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes, I greatly enjoyed the whole programme, too - even the Dove, which was his usual "pleasant-but-not-much-else" standard. Alexia Sloane's piece struck me as by some distance the best new work commissioned from a young British composer for use in a Prom in the past 10 years. Not exactly a competitive field - but even had the general standard been higher, this would have been an impressive piece and performance.

[bluestateprommer]

Splendid Cadogan Hall concert indeed from VOCES8, well worth catching on iPlayer if anyone here missed it. The Alexia Sloane was quite a darker and more dour work in mood compared to the Jonathan Dove, kind of mildly ironic for the younger composer vs. the older composer.

FWIW, in the Forum Calendar, I've split the program into the "sets" where Petroc had spoken between each group of selections, which is the set groupings that VOCES8 presumably had in mind. Given the darker feel of the Alexia Sloane, it was quite understandable that VOCES8 reversed the order of the Sloane and Orlando Gibbons works. The revised order is reflected in the Forum Calendar 'archive'.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Incidentally - did anybody else hear a peculiar "slurping" sound during the broadcast (rather like boiling mud at a geyser), or is there something wrong with my radio?

[jonfan]

Incidentally - did anybody else hear a peculiar "slurping" sound during the broadcast (rather like boiling mud at a geyser), or is there something wrong with my radio?

Yes I heard that quite clearly listening on headphones. I took it to be Petroc taking refreshment between his announcements.

[Stunsworth]

Incidentally - did anybody else hear a peculiar "slurping" sound during the broadcast (rather like boiling mud at a geyser), or is there something wrong with my radio?

Were you listening on a DAB radio? The boiling mud sound was an artefact of DAB - I say ‘was’ because I gave up on my DAB tuner years ago.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Were you listening on a DAB radio? The boiling mud sound was an artefact of DAB - I say ‘was’ because I gave up on my DAB tuner years ago.

YES! Gosh - that's most peculiar: I've been listening to DAB broadcasts for years, and mostly during this time slot, and never encountered this problem before.

[Stunsworth]

YES! Gosh - that's most peculiar: I've been listening to DAB broadcasts for years, and mostly during this time slot, and never encountered this problem before.

It’s down to the signal strength...

https://support-uk.pure.com/en/kb/articles/burbling-or-bubbling-sound-over-dab-station

[Bryn]

It’s down to the signal strength...

https://support-uk.pure.com/en/kb/ar...er-dab-station

https://www.radioandtvhelp.co.uk/interference/rtis_radio/burbling_DABradio

I don't think it is likely to be the current cause but in the early days of DAB, before I erected a suitable dipole above the chimney, thermal inversions caused serious drops in signal strength received.

[BBMmk2]

I must catch up with this, as it was this choir that used to it still do come to the school where I worked.