Howells and Vaughan-Williams - English Romantic Choral Music

English Romantic Choral Music: 

Herbert HOWELLS (1892-1983) 

Requiem

A Sequence for St. Michael 

The House of the Mind 

Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)

Prayer to the Father of Heaven

A Vision of Aeroplanes

Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge

Finzi Singers 

Paul Spicer 

Review:

It is interesting to compare this Howells Requiem with that on Hyperion, where the Corydon Singers convey convincing but abstract grief with cool white tone and precise tuning. Here, the Finzi's warm tone and dynamic range seem more empathetic, pulling you into the agonized suspensions of the Requiem æternam and the comforting light of the final movement. The shorter works are all worthwhile, but two by Vaughan Williams stand out. A Vision of Aeroplanes sets an uncanny prophecy of Ezekiel; the whirling organ pedals sound like an old Sopwith Camel. "Lord, thou hast been our refuge" intersperses Psalm 90 (to a beautiful melody) with the hymn "O God, our help in ages past"--it opens with hushed tenderness and closes powerfully as a trumpet blazes through the hymn. --Matthew Westphal

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..Being a lover of choral music, the quality of the choir is always a central concern for me in choral recordings. This group-only 18 in number but sounding like far more-is truly superb. Their intonation and tuning are true without being sterile-indeed, there is great warmth to their sound and their interpretive approach to these works.

Howells' Sequence for St. Michael is a work that I had never heard before I heard it on this recording. It is stunning from the first cry of "Michael" from the chorus to the end. Not knowing the circumstances of its composition, I can't help but think that Howells' response to this text was colored by the tragic death of his young son, Michael, a tragedy that is reflected in much of Howells' greatest music.

I agree with the earlier reviewer who said that the Vaughan Williams Psalm 90 is a wonderful work, wonderfully done. I am always a bit shy of choral works that incorporate hymns, but this is an exception.

Howells' Requiem was a personal response to the death of his beloved son, which he penned and then put away in a drawer. When he wrote his Hymnus Paradisi, he drew some of the material from this work. Many years later, he showed the manuscript to Sir David Willcocks, who convinced him that the Requiem was a great work in its own right and that Howells should permit it to be published and performed. I find the Requiem to be much more intense and soul-baring than the Hymnus Paradisi, and it receives an incredibly passionate and moving performance on this disc. It does not set the traditional text of a Requiem mass, but texts selected by Howells. There is no Dies Irae here, and, in this context, that is certainly not a loss.

The opening movement, which sets the text "O Saviour of the World" so famous in its setting by John Goss, would make a more-than-welcome alternative to that old warhorse. Howells included settings of two psalms, very beautifully done, two settings of a portion of the Latin "Requiem aeternam" and a rapt vision of heaven in the closing movement, "I heard a voice from heaven." This performance alone, at around 20 minutes, would be worth the price of the entire disc.

If you love the passionate music of Howells, which reaches ecstatic heights in the synthesis of joy and sorrow, this is a recording not to be missed.

from Amazon review