Signum Classics: Tenebrae — Allegri Miserere (Audio CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Signum Classics (Signum Records)
• Performer: Tenebrae
• Conductor: Nigel Short
• Catalogue Number: SIGCD085
• UPC / Barcode: 0635212008522
• Release Year: 2006
• Genre: Classical
• Style: Sacred choral, a cappella

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Total runtime: approx. 71 minutes
• Recording: DDD, 24-bit digital
• Made in the United Kingdom

Overview

Allegri's Miserere sits at the centre of this record, and everything around it leans toward the same emotional weight — longing, entreaty, hope, faith. Tenebrae built the programme from the heart of their concert repertoire, and it spans centuries: Renaissance polyphony beside twentieth-century English choral writing beside Russian Orthodox hymnody.

Tenebrae are one of Britain's finest vocal ensembles, and the reason is audible in the first few bars. The blend is seamless, the intonation close to flawless. Founded and directed by Nigel Short, a former King's Singer, the choir brings the precision of that tradition to a far wider range of music.

The selection is generous. John Tavener's "Song for Athene" and "The Lamb," Rachmaninov's "Hymn to the Cherubim," Britten's "Hymn to St Cecilia," Kodály's "Esti Dal," Holst's setting of Psalm 148, and William Harris's radiant "Faire is the Heaven" — thirteen pieces that move from stillness to soaring. Allegri's famous Miserere, with its impossibly high treble line, anchors the second half.

At 71 minutes, it's a full and carefully shaped journey. The recording captures the acoustic and the choir's bloom beautifully.

Interesting Facts

• Tenebrae was founded in 2001 by Nigel Short, who had previously sung with The King's Singers; the choir takes its name from the candlelit Holy Week services of the same name.
• Allegri's Miserere was for centuries the exclusive property of the Sistine Chapel, and copying it was forbidden — the famous story has the teenage Mozart transcribing it from memory after a single hearing.
• The programme reaches across more than four centuries, from Allegri (1582–1652) and Lotti (1667–1740) to living composers John Tavener and Paweł Łukaszewski.
• Track 11, "The Dying Soldier," is a traditional piece arranged by conductor Nigel Short himself.
• Count Alexander Sheremetiev (1859–1931), represented here by "Now ye heavenly powers," was a Russian aristocrat and patron of sacred music — an unusual inclusion that widens the album's Orthodox dimension.
• The disc was recorded in 24-bit digital sound and released by Signum Classics, the UK independent label known for its choral and early-music catalogue.

Track Listing

1. John Tavener — Song for Athene — 6:11
2. John Ireland — Ex ore innocentium — 4:05
3. John Tavener — The Lamb — 3:51
4. Sergei Rachmaninov — Hymn to the Cherubim — 4:39
5. Count Alexander Sheremetiev — Now ye heavenly powers — 3:42
6. Benjamin Britten — Hymn to St Cecilia — 10:59
7. Paweł Łukaszewski — Ave Maria — 3:57
8. Antonio Lotti — Crucifixus (8-part) — 3:39
9. Gregorio Allegri — Miserere — 11:59
10. Zoltán Kodály — Esti Dal — 3:08
11. Trad. arr. Nigel Short — The Dying Soldier — 4:34
12. Gustav Holst — Psalm 148, Lord who has made us for Thine own — 4:53
13. William Henry Harris — Faire is the Heaven — 5:23

Publishers

Released by Signum Records (Signum Classics) in 2006, catalogue SIGCD085. Signum Records Ltd, Perivale, Middlesex, United Kingdom. © 2006 Signum Records.

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