Sheppard, J
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The line-up might play safe, but it’s all exquisitely done, collegiate smoothness and blend to the fore. And what blend! The harmonic voicing is immaculate yet always sensitive to the imperatives... —
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Sweet tuning and subtle dynamic distinctions mark James MacMillan’s Ave maris stella, with gleamingly pure-toned contributions from the soprano…Technically the most difficult piece is probably... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2018, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, May 2018
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2018, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Finalist - Choral
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Winner - Choral
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Gramophone Awards, 2019, Finalist - Choral
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2018, Winner - Vocal/Choral
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Sheppard (c.1515-58) was certainly an ingenious and interesting composer as this revelatory recording amply demonstrates…[The Missa Cantate] is performed here with clarity, poise and excellent... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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Contrapunctus really knows what to do with these pieces and from the very first item...the tuning is superb and the ensemble rock solid. Moreover, Owen Rees's interpretations are revelatory... —
Awards:
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Sunday Times, 2015, Albums of the Year
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2015, Choral & Song Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2015, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2015
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One doesn’t often find Thomas Tallis, Edward Elgar and John Tavener sandwiching Massive Attack, but the lovely Teardrop works astonishingly well in this mixed programme devoted to the concept... —
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Sublime music of relinquishment and rejoicing prefaces the six-part Missa Cantate, directed with magisterial spaciousness by Martin Baker. The recording offers a nave’s-ear perspective. —
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Already in Gibbons’s Drop, Drop, Slow, Tears there are numerous indications of the elevated artistry of Paul McCreesh and the 22 singers of his Gabrieli Consort. —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2012, Disc of the month
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the performance of Tallis's Lamentations is majestically dark and intense, displaying this group's famous sensitivity toward musical structure, as well as their exquisite harmonic control...Only... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, March 2018, Recommended Recording
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The Sweetest Songs: Music from the Baldwin Partbooks III
Alice Hulett, Ruth Provost, David Gould, Contrapunctus, Owen Rees
They are in cracking form here, with no discernible weak link in the ensemble: honey-toned and purposeful sopranos, assertive countertenors and everything on down to match. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2021, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Early Music
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