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The Dream of Herod
Music for Advent and Christmas

Tenebrae
directed by Nigel Short



"...inspired repertoire selection."

Classic fm

    "...an almost ecstatic tenderness..."

Gramophone

       

"...more polished choral singing would be hard to find anywhere."

BBC Music Magazine

       

"...exquisitely understated...singing of sincere simplicity..."

International Record Review

       


Classic FM, December 2002

Tenebrae is a professional choir, established by former King's Singer Nigel Short to address the market for fine singing in fine buildings. Jacques Villeneuve and James Bowman are among the group's patrons, testimony to Short's networking powers. The conductor stresses the passion and precision generated by his singers ad the enjoyment comes from the inspired repertoire selection. Plainsong smoothly covers the joins between works such as Peter Wishart's Alleluya, Hadley's I sing of a maiden and Short and Richard McDonald's effective The Dream of Herod.

Andrew Stewart


International Record Review, December 2002

As for Christmas presents … one of most impressive offerings is The Dream of Herod – the recorded debut of the chamber choir Tenebrae. Under the direction of ex-King’s Singer Nigel Short they like performing by candlelight in resonant ecclesiastical spaces, mixing medieval chant with renaissance and contemporary choral works to create an ‘ethereal mood of contemplation’. They certainly create quite an impression here with short sequences of music for Advent, ‘Mother and Child’, Christmas, and a brand new semi-dramatic work The Dream of Herod composed by the conductor himself. Chant, popular carols, and twentieth-century anthems rub shoulders evocatively, and we hear just how close ‘O come all ye faithful’ is to the plainchant original – ‘Adeste Fideles’. Barry Rose’s arrangement of ‘Silent Night’ is exquisitely understated and throughout this programme the choir judiciously trade in seasonal sentimentality for singing of sincere simplicity. ‘Passion and Precision’ is their motto and it’s nowhere more potent than in the stark Dream of Herod in which the ancient villain, haunted by the genocide he has inflicted on his people, eventually finds redemption – a tale with plenty of contemporary resonance this Christmas.


Title Page
Programme Notes
    Texts
Reviews
Credits
Tenebrae
Nigel Short
Release date: 15th November 2002
Order code: SIGCD046
SIGDVD046
Barcode: 635212004623
 
- CD -
- DVD -
Music for Advent
1 Anthem Alleluia
[1:55]
2 Plainsong O Radix Jesse [1:02]
3 Anthem A Spotless Rose [3:38]
4 Plainsong Rorate Coeli [6:01]
5 Hymn Of the Father's Heart Begotten [3:33]
Tribute to Mother and Child
6 Plainsong Ave Maria [0:33]
7 Anthem I Sing of a Maiden [4:00]
8 Plainsong Puer Natus Est [1:19]
9 Anthem A Flower given to my Daughter [3:01]
Music for Christmas
10 Carol Silent Night [4:25]
11 Carol Sussex Carol
[1:44]
12 Carol Away in a Manger [4:17]
13 Plainsong Adeste Fidelis [0:47]
14 Hymn O Come all ye Faithful [4:13]
The Dream of Herod
15 Scene I Herod's Despair [3:02]
16 Scene II The Visit of the Magi [3:00]
17 Scene III The Chorus of the voiceless Infants [2:15]
18 Scene IV The Chorus of the Parents of Judaea [2:49]
19 Scene V Mary and Joseph Appear to Herod [2:49]
20 Scene VI Jesus Appears to Herod [5:35]
   
Total running time: [60:16]

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