Pure review-notes : The Sixteen perform in York Minster during York Early Music Festival
More views of - or before - Cambridge Film Festival 2018 (25 October to 1 November)
(Click here to go directly to the Festival web-site)
For those for whom waiting for a fully written-out account is needless, because the review-notes suffice, here they are for The Sixteen's performance, in York Minster and as part of their Choral Pilgrimage and during York Early Music Festival, on Wednesday 11 July at 7.30 p.m.
The Sixteen
Britten ~ A Hymn
Serious, but not solemn - affecting, praise and celebration
Cornysh ~ My love
Just males
A work that subtly grows, and also through the element of hearing the refrain repeated
Britten ~ Hymn to
I - dramatic touches and harmonies
Use of the more restrained chorus
II - playfulness continues, with lightness of touch
Chorus - with greater gravitas, but transparent and joyous
III - the effect as of rain-drops
With a super solo, the scale and scope of what Britten creates
Fire - deep bass
'With fire' - emphasis
Cornysh ~ Salve Regina
A rich, layered setting, which, at times, seems rooted in plainsong
Full of beauty and gracefulness
II - Virgo mater section - timelessness
Soaring end with 'O pia'
III - Simple 'o dulcis Maria', but decorated
Boost on 'Salve'
* * * * *
Sixteen Part II
Britten ~ Advance Democracy
Paced and vigorous
Cornysh ~ Ave Maria
The melismatic, imitative lines were brought out in a coherent and robust ensemble
Cornysh ~ Woefully Array'd
A multi-entry opening to a piece whose premise reminded of Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri
High and low - then filling in in-between
Echo of opening with 'woefully'
II alto voice
Cornysh ~ Ah, Robin
At times, a round for three voices
Not complicated, but effective
Britten ~ Sacred and Profane
I - revisiting Sainte Marie x3
II - Interruptions
III - covering ground quickly (as VIII)
IV - Same theme in ll. 1-2
V - still point (Leiermann)
Tortured and painful
For the luve
Meditation
VI - Use of a chorus - chilling
VII - challenge to us
Assembly of the texts
Ending with the grave
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Unless stated otherwise, all films reviewed were screened at Festival Central (Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge)
