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Ralph Vaughan Williams wasn't the only great artist to have served as an ambulance man on the front lines during the First World War: Ravel, Roussel, Cocteau, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Jerome K. Jerome, Somerset Maugham and many others volunteered for this sinister role. It left Vaughan Williams with painful memories, and contributed more than a little towards his term to more spiritual music, although he remained a firm and unbending atheist for the rest of his life, as Bertrand Russell recalled, to whom Williams said around 1920: "There is no reason why an atheist could not write a good Mass" And in fact, this Mass of 1921, for double a capella choir and soloists, is full of splendour, especially when given by the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, led by their director Andrew Nethsingha. The ensemble complements the programme with a Te Deum from 1928 for choir and organ or orchestra (an organ is used here), one of Vaughan Williams's works in which tonality is deliberately muted in favour of a very personal form of modality in the old style – but which is also very modern. In this same harmonic spirit O vos omnes of 1922 is an immensely beautiful response for Holy Week, impalpable and unreal, in the same harmonic vein as the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. The album closes with handful of isolated choral pieces, including the famous and joyful Clap Your Hands from the 1920s. © SM/Qobuz
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Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Michael Bell, MainArtist - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Peter Lidbetter, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - George Balfour, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Daniel Brown, MainArtist - Michael Bell, MainArtist - James Adams, MainArtist - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - William Ashford, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Michael Bell, MainArtist - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - William Ashford, MainArtist - Hugh Cutting, MainArtist - Peter Lidbetter, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - Gopal Kambo, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Oliver Morris, MainArtist - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Hugh Cutting, MainArtist - Matthew Brown, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - James Beddoe, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - William Ashford, MainArtist - Jack Hawkins, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - George Balfour, MainArtist - Gopal Kambo, MainArtist - Alfred Harrison, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Joseph Wicks, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Hugh Cutting, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Joseph Wicks, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Joseph Wicks, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - Alfred Harrison, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Joseph Wicks, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer - Daniel Brown, MainArtist - James Adams, MainArtist - Andrew Nethsingha, Conductor - Joseph Wicks, MainArtist - The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Ensemble, MainArtist - Gopal Kambo, MainArtist
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
Album review
Ralph Vaughan Williams wasn't the only great artist to have served as an ambulance man on the front lines during the First World War: Ravel, Roussel, Cocteau, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Jerome K. Jerome, Somerset Maugham and many others volunteered for this sinister role. It left Vaughan Williams with painful memories, and contributed more than a little towards his term to more spiritual music, although he remained a firm and unbending atheist for the rest of his life, as Bertrand Russell recalled, to whom Williams said around 1920: "There is no reason why an atheist could not write a good Mass" And in fact, this Mass of 1921, for double a capella choir and soloists, is full of splendour, especially when given by the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, led by their director Andrew Nethsingha. The ensemble complements the programme with a Te Deum from 1928 for choir and organ or orchestra (an organ is used here), one of Vaughan Williams's works in which tonality is deliberately muted in favour of a very personal form of modality in the old style – but which is also very modern. In this same harmonic spirit O vos omnes of 1922 is an immensely beautiful response for Holy Week, impalpable and unreal, in the same harmonic vein as the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. The album closes with handful of isolated choral pieces, including the famous and joyful Clap Your Hands from the 1920s. © SM/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 01:07:22
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge Joseph Wicks Andrew Nethsingha
- Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
- Label: Signum Records
- Genre: Classical
(C) 2018 Signum Records (P) 2018 Signum Records
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