Reviews for
GMCD 7132 - Songs of Farewell
CD Review, Building a Library, BBC
Radio Three, Saturday 21st January 2006
"The Vasari Singers under Jeremy
Backhouse from Guild Music, my top recommendation for Vaughan Williams’s Mass in
G minor. What’s most impressive about this version is the extraordinarily
careful pacing with which Jeremy Backhouse infuses the piece. Backhouse manages
to bring the Mass to life while also leaving its deliberately archaic style
intact. The work’s clear structure is treated with consideration and respect,
but within those logical parameters there’s a subtly flexible approach to each
and every bar. Not every chord is in tune, that’s undeniable. But there isn’t a
single recording of this piece where that is the case. What you do get from the
Vasari Singers is a performance that has passion and integrity in equal measure.
And for that reason, and for its controlled joie do vivre, it’s a
recording that bears repeated listening."
Jeremy Summerly, BBC Radio Three
++++++++++
Choir & Organ
Musical milestone
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: MASS IN G MINOR;
FINZI AND BAX: SACRED MUSIC
Choir of King's College, Cambridge / David Willcocks (cond) Stephen Cleobury (cond)
EMI Classics CDM 5655952
SONGS OF FAREWELL
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: MASS IN G MINOR
Vasari Singers / Jeremy Backhouse (cond) / Jeremy Filsell (org)
Guild GMCD 7132
The Mass in G minor is arguably one of Vaughan Williams's most
important works and a milestone in liturgical settings of the mass in the 20th century.
Frequently dismissed as rather sullen, dark and dour, its strengths lie in its enormous
depth of feeling. By some alchemy we are spiritually transported back a few hundred years
and yet we still feel the terra firma of a wind-swept English countryside.
Comparing two recordings of this piece is no simple task, especially as more than a
quarter of a century lies between their respective recording dates. We must also consider
that this is no simple a cappella setting of the mass. I confess to having witnessed some
fairly excruciating performances and having sung in a few that were, perhaps, less than
creditable. Vaughan Williams takes delight in throwing the voices around in an orchestral
way and seemingly revels in moving the trebles higher and yet higher and the basses lower
and yet more profundo. A piece then, full of colour and extremes.
Both recordings have their good and not-so-good bits, but it is interesting to note that,
although many years separate them, the style and technical quality of the recordings are
excellent.
So to the musical differences.
King's, not unexpectedly, has a clarity and 'ring' throughout, whereas
the Vasari recording has a mellowness at its heart. On balance I much prefer the tenor and
bass sound of King's, for it has a depth and sonority reminiscent of divisi cellos
and basses in a fine string ensemble. The quality of the Vasari sopranos is close to that
of boys' voices (though not those of King's), but with more control and less shriek in the
upper registers. The quality of the King's solely male altos is preferable to the Vasari
alto line-up. (A purely personal opinion and perhaps reserved for this piece alone.) The
warmth of the Vasari Singers is the more enhanced by the subtle dynamics and the natural
rise and fall, which is less evident in the King's recording. Having praised the Vasari
Singers, 1 must say that occasionally I felt the lower voices did suffer from pitch and
tone problems which King's didn't.
As to the interpretation, it is clear that two closely allied concepts
can reach fruition with obvious differences. The Willcocks (1969) recording is rock-like
and darkly granitised, whereas the Backhouse interpretation is more gentle: wind
and rain beating down on heathland. One is perhaps more subtle than the other. In their
own way, both are very fine performances of this great, if elusive work. It is simply a
matter of how you like your meat cooked!
I congratulate the producers of both CDs for the companion pieces to
the Vaughan Williams Mass. Bax and Finzi appear on the King's disc, albeit performances
under Stephen Cleobury and, of course, with a completely different choir some 20 years on,
this being a compilation disc. Parry's Songs of Farewell and Frank Bridge's A Prayer
are offered by the Vasari Singers. The latter piece, being previously unknown to me,
is a real discovery and I am won over to it through this recording. If you don't know it,
take a tip and get a copy. It's a great piece. Given all this you may not be surprised
that I'd plump for the Vasari / Backhouse disc as my first choice, though I'd prefer to
have both, which, thanks to the Editor, I have!
PETER
BEAVEN
Victoriana tickles the tastebuds
Classical Sounds with CHRIS
GREEN
From Essex Chronicle 22. January 1999
1998 was a year in which Parry (Composer of Jerusalem) was remembered on the
150th anniversary of his birth.
The Vasari singers sing his neglected SONGS OF FAREWELL as part of an all-English
programme on the Guild label. A well-filled CD provides an object-lesson for choirs.
From Classic CD - Christmas 1998 Issue
For a feature of Hubert Parry (The Gentle Art of Parry) Classic CD has chosen
Track 15 - "There is an old belief" - (3:46) for
their Cover Disc.
This, the fourth of songs of Farewell, starts with gentle counterpoint. A cadence is
reached (0:37) and the music continues with broader curves of melody, reaching another
cadence (1:41) and silence. In unison ff, the chorus affirms belief (1:44) and,
more quietly, hope (1:53). Emotion deepens (2:04) at the thought that endless sleep would
be better than not to awaken in heaven. Two inconclusive cadences are reached (2:34,
2:50); "eternal" is repeated in awe (3:03);finally a remarkable sense of space
is achieved by taking the upper voices very high, with the basses divided far below
(3:17).
From The Organ Vol 76 No 302
It is not often that music by Parry, Bridge and Vaughan Williams is heard on one CD but
that is what this Jeremy Backhouse's recording has done, with Bridge's rarely heard A
Prayer framed by Parry's Songs of Farewell and Vaughan Williams' Mass in G
minor
It is a rare treat to hear all six of the Parry songs in one siting, disclosing the
composer's scheme of using a four part choir for numbers one and two and then adding an
additional voice for each of the subsequent motets. His sumptuous vocal writing is
sensitively handled by the Vassari Singers who obviously have a great understanding of
English a cappella music.
JR
from Cathedral Music (Friends of Cathedral Music magazine) Issue 2, 1997
The Guild label has an ever-growing reputation for excellent recordings of imaginative
programmes, and these recent releases present both a high standard of performance and
production.
The Songs of Farewell disc comprises Parry's exquisite settings of the same name,
together with Vaughan Williams' haunting Mass in G minor and the, for some,
unfamiliar A Prayer, by Bridge. The Vasari Singers under the direction of their
conductor, Jeremy Backhouse, were winners of the 1988 Sainsbury's Choir of the Year
competition and judging from the very first sounds that emerge from this disc, the reasons
for their success are immediately apparent. This choir sings with enviable blend and
balance, handling all the complexities of the music with great ease.
The Vasari Singers are admirably joined by Jeremy Filsell, whose accompaniment in the
Bridge piece is a delight. This disc should be a best seller and has rarely been out of my
CD player!
from BBC Music Magazine August 1997:-
VAUGAN-WILLIAMS, BRIDGE, PARRY
Vaughan Williams: Mass In G minor;
Bridge: A Prayer;
Parry: Songs of Farewell
Vasari Singers/Jeremy Backhouse
Jeremy Filsell (organ)
Guild GMCD 7132 73:16 mins
A splendid collection of fine English choral music superbly sung by Jeremy Backhouse's
Vasari Singers - Their RVW Mass is glorious and the two more well-known motets from Songs
of Farewell 'My soul there is a country' and 'Lord, let me know mine end' sound
fresh-minted and very moving.
'A Prayer' is a deeply felt work, a setting of a German text composed during the Great
War to underline Bridge's pacifist beliefs. The organ plays an important integral part in
this beautiful work of gentle supplications leading to a climax of passionate fervour.
The sympathetic acoustic of Rosslyn Hill Chapel is a perfect setting for these
intricate, multi-part works
Ian Lace
PERFORMANCE Five Star
SOUND Five Star
from Classic CD August 1997:-
Vaughan Williams - Mass in G minor (1921)
Bridge - A Prayer (1916)
Parry - Songs of Farewell
Jeremy Filsell (organ)
Vasari Singers: Jeremy Backhouse
Guild CMCD 7132: 73.16 DDD
The Vasari Singers already have an excellent recording of Herbert Howells's Requiem in
the catalogue, and the performance of Vaughan Williams's Mass in G minor which opens this
new disc will undoubtedly enhance their reputation as one of Britain's finest chamber
choirs.
Jeremy Backhouse's interpretation of the Mass is notably restrained and rarified in
style, with much concentration on the devotional aspects of the work, and not a whiff of
cheap concert hall theatrics in the air. That is not to say that it is dull. Far from it:
there is much quietly beautiful and very musicianly singing here, and I was particularly
impressed by the choir's ability to sustain both warmth and focus in their tone when
singing at the lowest dynamic levels, always so much more difficult than when volume
output is high.
The Bridge and Parry items are less distinguished musically, but are just as well
performed, although in the Bridge the organ struck me as a little dominantly balanced in
relation to the choir. The VW performance, however, is definitely a "must hear".
Terry Blain
Performance: 4 - 5 Star
Sound: 4 Earphones
FULL PRICE
An excellent performance of the Vaughan Williams Mass alongside some slightly less
enticing fare.
from The Singer August/September 1997:-
A made-in-heaven pairing of two 20th century masterpieces - the Mass in G Minor and the
Songs of Farewell - separated by an intriguing, rarely heard Bridge work which seams like
a dream into the following Parry - all represent substantial challenges - many an amateur
choir must have tackled the Vaughan Williams and the Parry unwarily, and come unstuck.
The Vasari Singers offer good performances, well into the mood of each work, with warm
legato sound. The slightly too distant recording tends to show up a lack of vowel clarity
and the solo quartet in the Mass is a little unsteady at times. Both of the main works
make severe demands in terms of tuning, especially the Parry and, perhaps inevitably,
there are a few shortcomings. It remains a more than welcome release.
The Songs of farewell, containing some of Parry's greatest music, provide an
extraordinary spiritual and emotional journey, drawing the listener ever closer, gently
asserting their mood of leavetaking. I am not sure there is yet an ideal recording, such
is the mountain to be climbed. Richard Marlow and his Trinity College, Cambridge choir are
immaculate and beautifully paced, but lacking the last few ounces of emotional depth. Buy
their version and the Vasari's, then mix in the head.
Andrew Green
Page revised 01.03.06
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