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Harry Christophers, founder and conductor of the Sixteen, writes that performances of A Ceremony of Carols have become so routine that practices alien to the composer's intent have become enshrined and unthinkingly repeated from performance to performance. Christophers' intent is to look freshly at the score and follow it faithfully and without preconceptions. His performance does, in fact, sound newly imagined, with some surprises in tempos, dynamics, and articulation that make good musical sense. Most noticeable is maintaining the same tempo throughout "This Little Babe," Britten's frighteningly close three-part canon, which when taken at the correct speed can inspire fear in both performers and audience, as well it should. At the end of the piece, in most performances, conductors allow the tempo to go slack, as if in relief at making it through the hard part. Christophers keeps precisely to the original tempo, allowing Britten's longer note values to provide the respite from the torrent preceded it, and it's highly effective. Christophers is a stickler, to good effect, for precision in articulation, giving the work more varied textures than some other performances. He also maintains a refreshingly strict adherence to the proper pronunciation of the Middle English. The ensemble, which includes female sopranos and altos and male altos, sings with such pure, straight tone that the listener is hardly aware that they are not treble voices. The album includes incisive performances of three of Britten's carols, his wonderfully quirky Missa Brevis, and his 30-minute set of choral variations, A Boy was Born.
© TiVo
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Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Boosey & Co Ltd, MusicPublisher
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Sally Dunkley, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Libby Crabtree, MainArtist - Boosey & Co Ltd, MusicPublisher
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Libby Crabtree, MainArtist - Sally Dunkley, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Libby Crabtree, MainArtist - Sally Dunkley, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Sioned Williams, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Carys Lane, MainArtist - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Simon Birchall, MainArtist - Neil Mackenzie, MainArtist - Deborah Miles-Johnson, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Margaret Phillips, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - Carys Lane, MainArtist - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Rebecca Outram, MainArtist - Deborah Miles-Johnson, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Margaret Phillips, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - Carys Lane, MainArtist - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Rebecca Outram, MainArtist - Deborah Miles-Johnson, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Margaret Phillips, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - Carys Lane, MainArtist - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Rebecca Outram, MainArtist - Deborah Miles-Johnson, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Margaret Phillips, MainArtist - Benjamin Britten, Composer - Carys Lane, MainArtist - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Rebecca Outram, MainArtist - Deborah Miles-Johnson, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Jamie Hopkins, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble - Harry Christophers, Conductor - Jamie Hopkins, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Benjamin Britten, Composer - Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Ensemble - John Scott, Conductor - The Sixteen, Ensemble, MainArtist - Harry Christophers, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
Album review
Harry Christophers, founder and conductor of the Sixteen, writes that performances of A Ceremony of Carols have become so routine that practices alien to the composer's intent have become enshrined and unthinkingly repeated from performance to performance. Christophers' intent is to look freshly at the score and follow it faithfully and without preconceptions. His performance does, in fact, sound newly imagined, with some surprises in tempos, dynamics, and articulation that make good musical sense. Most noticeable is maintaining the same tempo throughout "This Little Babe," Britten's frighteningly close three-part canon, which when taken at the correct speed can inspire fear in both performers and audience, as well it should. At the end of the piece, in most performances, conductors allow the tempo to go slack, as if in relief at making it through the hard part. Christophers keeps precisely to the original tempo, allowing Britten's longer note values to provide the respite from the torrent preceded it, and it's highly effective. Christophers is a stickler, to good effect, for precision in articulation, giving the work more varied textures than some other performances. He also maintains a refreshingly strict adherence to the proper pronunciation of the Middle English. The ensemble, which includes female sopranos and altos and male altos, sings with such pure, straight tone that the listener is hardly aware that they are not treble voices. The album includes incisive performances of three of Britten's carols, his wonderfully quirky Missa Brevis, and his 30-minute set of choral variations, A Boy was Born.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 26 track(s)
- Total length: 01:09:23
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: The Sixteen Harry Christophers
- Composer: Benjamin Britten
- Label: Coro
- Genre: Classical
(C) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. (P) 2005 The Sixteen Productions Ltd.
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