Choir of New College Oxford - Agnus Dei I ~ Music Of Inner Harmony

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This album of choral classics, recorded in the beautiful acoustics of New College Chapel, Oxford, has been given the subtitle 'World of Inner Harmony'. If one were to be cynical, it suggests a stream of crystals'n'kaftans mood music. The surprise, however, is that though conductor Edward Higginbottom has created an unruffled surface of reflection and calm, he and his choir have also crafted a musically satisfying disc. Much of the variety is to be found in the significantly different styles on offer, from the slow build of Barber's Agnus Dei, through the restrained Gallic beauty of Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, to the spare spirituality of Górecki's Totus Tuus. There is also a sophisticated approach to the different acoustics needed for each piece. Fauré's In Paradisum is handled with much more intimacy than, for example, the Kyrie of Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, which is recorded at a far greater distance. The most risky item on the disc is John Cameron's arrangement of Elgar's 'Nimrod' for eight-part choir, using the words of the Lux Aeterna: it teeters between kitsch and real power. In the end, as with most of the pieces here, the choir's extraordinary performance renders it hugely enjoyable. -----Warwick Thompson Beyond this recording's new age packaging and title is a splendid sampling of some of the world's finest choral music, sung by one of the world's outstanding choirs. This 'anthology of sacred choral music' spans 400 years and includes such masterpieces as Allegri's Miserere, Bach's 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring,' and Barber's exquisite Agnus Dei, which is the composer's choral setting of his famous Adagio for Strings. Along the way we also hear Mozart's sublime 'Ave verum corpus,' Elgar's 'Lux aeterna,' and the Kyrie from Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. There has been a choir at England's New College, Oxford, since the year 1379, and this impressive line of experience shows in the intelligent, unfaltering, and finely polished performances by today's ensemble of 16 boys and 12 adults. -----David Vernier

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Track Listing:
01. Agnus Dei, op.11 - Barber
02. Cantique de Jean Racine, op.11 - Fauré
03. Kyrie - Palestrina
04. Ave Verum Corpus K 618 - Mozart
05. Jesus bleibet meine Freude - Bach
06. Ave Maria, op.37 No.6 - Rachmaninov
07. Lux Aeterna - Elgar
08. Totus Tuus - Górecki
09. Hear my prayer - Mendelssohn
10. The Lamb - Tavener
11. In paradisum - Fauré
12. Miserere mei, Deus - Gregorio Allegri



Information on Tracks:

01. Agnus Dei
Composed by Samuel Barber
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

02. Cantique de Jean Racine
Composed by Gabriel Fauré
Performed by Oxford New College Choir, Capricorn
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

03. Kyrie ~ Missa Papae Marcelli
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

04. Ave Verum Corpus in D
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Oxford New College Choir, Capricorn
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

05. Jesus bleibet meine Freude ~ Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Oxford New College Choir, Capricorn
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

06. Ave Maria ~ Vespers, 'All-Night Vigil'
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

07. Lux Aeterna ~ Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma'
Composed by Sir Edward Elgar
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

08. Totus Tuus
Composed by Henryk Górecki
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

09. Hear My Prayer
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

10. (The) Lamb, 'Little Lamb, who made thee?'
Composed by John Tavener
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

11. In Paradisum ~ Requiem
Composed by Gabriel Fauré
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
with Rebecca Hirsch
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom

12. Miserere mei, Deus
Composed by Gregorio Allegri
Performed by Oxford New College Choir
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom