Tavener - Ex Maria Virgine
A Christmas Sequence for Choir and Organ
James McVinnie (organ), Stefan Berkieta (baritone), Simon Thomas Jacobs (organ)
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Timothy Brown
…the singing is strong and enthusiastic, even in the most taxing writing, and the sound is bright and clearly focused…
Tavener - Ex Maria Virgine
A Christmas Sequence for Choir and Organ
James McVinnie (organ), Stefan Berkieta (baritone), Simon Thomas Jacobs (organ)
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Timothy Brown
Purchase product
…the singing is strong and enthusiastic, even in the most taxing writing, and the sound is bright and clearly focused…
About
Admired for the sheer beauty of his meditative and mystical music, John Tavener writes of his Ex Maria Virgine, which was dedicated to HRH the Prince of Wales and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall in joyful celebration of their marriage: “I have set both familiar and less well known texts, and linked them with an expanding and contracting phrase ‘Ex Maria Virgine’. This refers to Mary the Mother of God—‘The Eternal Feminine’—and should be sung with great radiance and femininity.”
The other, mainly unaccompanied, works reveal Tavener’s response to various poetic texts that also praise the Virgin Mary.
John Rutter is the producer, editor and engineer on this disc.
“The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge is secure and precise, delivering the text with excellent diction… Strong direction from Timothy Brown.” BBC Music Magazine
Contents and tracklist
- Stefan Berkieta
- Choir of Clare College Cambridge
- Timothy Brown
- Simon Thomas Jacobs
- Choir of Clare College Cambridge
- Timothy Brown
Awards and reviews
December 2008
…the singing is strong and enthusiastic, even in the most taxing writing, and the sound is bright and clearly focused…
January 2009
Clare College Choir is outstanding throughout with a remarkable security of attack and precise intonation in chord sequences that are sometimes repetitive but never obvious. The acoustic in Norwich Cathedral is a real asset and so is this vivid recording.
