Stephen Layton - Cecilia McDowall- Sacred Choral Music (2021) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Released to celebrate the British composer’s 70th birthday, this recording surveys Cecilia McDowall’s substantial choral output, most of it written in the past two decades. She could scarcely have a better group to sing it than Stephen Layton’s Trinity College Choir. They latch instinctively onto the vibrantly ululating textures in the six-part setting of Alma redemptoris mater which opens the disc, and in the contemplative eight-part O Oriens expertly sift the overlaying harmonies, hitting tight intervals with pinpoint accuracy.

Layton adeptly knits together the discrete sections of Standing as I do before God (Anita Monserrat the eloquent soloist), adroitly interweaves the choir and four soloists in Adoro te devote and gently distils the deeply felt emotions of the ‘Ave Maria’ from Three Latin motets. He consistently prioritises warmly blended tone and refinement of delivery, occasionally at the expense of spontaneity and vigour.

TRACKLIST

1. Stephen Layton - McDowall: Alma redemptoris mater (2010)
2. Stephen Layton - McDowall: O Oriens (2012)
3. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: Standing as I Do Before God (2013)
4. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: Adoro te devote (2015)
5. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: Deus, portus pacis (2009)
6. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: God Is Light (2017)
7. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: Love Incorruptible (2017)
8. Stephen Layton - McDowall: 3 Latin Motets (2004): I. Ave regina
9. Stephen Layton - McDowall: 3 Latin Motets (2004): II. Ave Maria
10. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: 3 Latin Motets (2004): III. Regina caeli
11. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): I. O Sapientia
12. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): II. O Adonai
13. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): III. O Radix Jesse
14. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): IV. O Clavis David
15. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): V. O Oriens
16. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): VI. O Rex gentium
17. Alexander Hamilton - McDowall: O Antiphon Sequence (2018): VII. O Emmanuel
18. The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge - McDowall: The Lord Is Good (2012)



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