Brahms, Bruckner: Motets (2015)

performed by Alexander Mason (organ), Clare Wilkinson (alto), Elizabeth Drury (soprano), Geoff Clapham (bass), Greg Skidmore (bass), Helen Vollam (trombone), Jeremy Budd (tenor), Mark Templeton (trombone), Patrick Jackman (trombone), Peter Gritton (alto)
composed by Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms

Maybe the combination of Brahms and Bruckner with the British choir Tenebrae sounds a little strange: the choir has specialized in Renaissance music and generally in music built on that sound ideal. Maybe the combination of the abstract, devout, and technically demanding Bruckner with the friendly and humanist Brahms sounds a little strange, too. But it all works out very nicely. In the 19th century, when choral music was a bigger part of everyday musical life than it is now, this would have been a program any good ... Read More

Maybe the combination of Brahms and Bruckner with the British choir Tenebrae sounds a little strange: the choir has specialized in Renaissance music and generally in music built on that sound ideal. Maybe the combination of the abstract, devout, and technically demanding Bruckner with the friendly and humanist Brahms sounds a little strange, too. But it all works out very nicely. In the 19th century, when choral music was a bigger part of everyday musical life than it is now, this would have been a program any good municipal choir would have loved to present. And Tenebrae bulks up its style a bit. They hit Bruckner's punishing high notes with the requisite perfect chill, and you can sample one of the large motets at the beginning, such as Ecce sacerdos (track three), for the full range of this choir's remarkable technical control under director Nigel Short. In Brahms pieces like the familiar "How lovely are thy dwellings" from the German Requiem, Op. 45 (track 11), the choir might even be called... Read Less