Smyth - Mass in D, Overture to ‘The Wreckers’
£14.49
In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Chandos
Cat No: CHSA5240
Format: Hybrid SACD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 27th September 2019
Contents
Artists
Susanna Hurrell (soprano)Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano)
Ben Johnson (tenor)
Duncan Rock (baritone)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor
Sakari OramoWorks
Mass in D for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organThe Wreckers: Overture
Artists
Susanna Hurrell (soprano)Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano)
Ben Johnson (tenor)
Duncan Rock (baritone)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor
Sakari OramoAbout
Sound/Video
Paused
-
1Smyth - Overture to The Wreckers (1902-04)
-
2Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Kyrie eleison
-
3Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Credo
-
4Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Sanctus
-
5Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Benedictus
-
6Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Agnus Dei
-
7Smyth - Mass (1891 revised 1925) - Gloria
Europadisc Review
Oramo is well-known for his championing of little-known works, and while neither of these pieces is new to disc, he and his forces do them proud. Proceedings open with a tremendously spirited account The Wreckers overture, its vigorous main theme complemented by a striking transitional idea in bold octaves, and a dreamy, broadly lyrical second subject. Smyth had clearly absorbed the spirit of her times, not least the influence of Wagner (whose Meistersinger gets a nod in the broad, chorale-like episode, complete with organ, that precedes the final appearance of the main theme). The earthy, dance-like coda comes closest to suggesting, in grand tones, the opera’s Cornwall setting. Oramo and the BBCSO have a high old time with the piece, and it serves as an excellent curtain-raiser to the disc.
In its original form, the Mass in D is a full decade earlier than The Wreckers, and here the most tangible influence is that of Brahms, particularly in the imitative and declamatory passages of choral writing, which often recall the German Requiem. Smyth designed the work for concert rather than liturgical performance, with large forces including percussion, and recommended that the ‘Gloria’ section be placed last, after the ‘Agnus Dei’, for best effect – an ordering that Oramo follows here. Despite its essentially conservative musical language, there are some really striking ideas here, belying Smyth’s reputation as a composer of tub-thumping, vigorous, ‘masculine’ music. At the end of the central ‘Christe’ section of the opening ‘Kyrie’ movement there’s a daringly chromatic suspension which resolves downwards, whose placement and length may well have the hairs standing on the back of your neck. In the ambitiously structured ‘Credo’ movement there are some gorgeous instrumental solos (violin, flute and oboe) as the tenor solo’s ‘Qui propter nos homines’ gives way to the soprano’s exquisite ‘et incarnatus est’, momentarily calling to mind Beethoven’s Missa solemnis.
At the opening of the ‘Sanctus’, the alto soloist (Catriona Morison) is bathed in gentle brass chords, answered by an angelic female chorus, while the ‘Benedictus’ with its radiant soprano solo (Susanna Hurrell) again reminds one of Brahms’s German Requiem. In the ‘Agnus Dei’ it is the tenor soloist (the warm-toned Ben Johnson, only slightly taxed in the higher range) who leads proceedings, before the full choir takes over for the central ‘miserere nobis’ section, while the concluding ‘dona nobis pacem’ is exquisitely beautiful. All four soloists (including baritone Duncan Rock) return in the concluding ‘Gloria’, another ambitiously scaled and constructed movement with plentiful contrasts of mood, and a rousing final ‘Amen’ that is surely every bit as thrilling and uplifting as Smyth intended. From the most intimate passages to the most urgently demonstrative, all the forces are captured to perfection by the Chandos team in the venue of the Watford Colosseum, and there are excellent, detailed booklet notes by Laura Tunbridge. This fine disc should be heard by anyone interested in a more complete picture of British music at the turn of the last century, as well as being required listening for Smyth fans everywhere!
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here