Stephen Paulus is one of America’s most prominent composers, recognised particularly for his empathetic vocal writing. In Splendid Jewel, based on a fourteenth-century lauda, Paulus imparts a mediaeval flavour to the setting of this ancient text, which he then warms with his own harmonic language. A Hymn to the Virgin is one of Britten’s earliest pieces, written in 1930 when Britten was not quite seventeen. Britten retained a warm feeling for this youthful piece, so much so that it was one of the pieces performed at his funeral. 

 

The English composer Cecilia McDowall is well known for her sensitive text setting. The ‘Ave Regina’ and the ‘Regina caeli’ are two of the four great Marian antiphons of the ancient Church and McDowall’s settings of them are here followed by a haunting Ave Maria for women’s voices. She is joined by another English composer, Herbert Howells, a composer famous for his choral music, and more especially for his sacred music. His setting of the fourteenth-century Marian text ‘A Spotless Rose’ dates from his mid-twenties, and is dedicated to his mother

 

The Liturgical Motets are among Healey Willan’s best-known pieces, and the three recorded here take their texts from Responsories from an eighth-century Office of Our Lady and from the Song of Solomon. Completing the SACD are works by Javier Busto and Jean Belmont Ford. Belmont Ford has long been a favourite of Charles Bruffy and his choirs, who are enthusiastic champions of her work. Electa, a commission by the Kansas City Chorale in 1995 and recorded here for the first time, draws on various liturgical texts to weave a tapestry of praise to the Virgin Mary. In his Ave, Maria and Ave maris stella, the latter a premiere recording, Busto sets the familiar ancient texts. 

                           Grammy Award Winner - Best Small Ensemble Performance

Where has this fabulous choir been all my life? No choral strength you can name eludes them… Chandos’ usual lucid and unaffected notes, full texts and resplendent SACD-hybrid sound conspire with irresistible choral wizardry to make this an absolute must
Charles Bruffy’s much talked-up Phoenix Chorale of Arizona contributes a CD of Marian anthems which new repertoire hounds should check out for Three Latin Motets by Cecilia MacDowall and Electra by a composer new to me, Jean Belmont Ford – choir, bass drum and single timpano combine atmospherically in contrasting setting of texts associated with Marian Theology.
The more I hear if the American Phoenix Chorale, the more I admire their work. Their English-leaning choral style, impinging on the territory of Polyphony or the Sixteen, feels absolutely right for this repertoire. Their peerlessly blended style makes for persuasive readings
Choral singing just doesn’t get much better than this. When it comes to purity of tone, daunting precision and superfine blend, Charles Bruffy’s remarkable Phoenix Chorale have it all – and then some!
Chandos’ recording is wholly sympathetic to both choir and repertoire, while Kathryn Parke’s booklet notes are full, detailed and engagingly written. Given the transcendent nature of the music and the performances, spiritual satisfaction is guaranteed, whatever your religious proclivities.

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