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'Stephen Layton's feel for the inner line and structure melts the heart, as does the impeccable, unforced singing of Polyphony. Their music-making remains in heavenly realms throughout the virtuoso Madrigali: pure choral gold'
Conventional choral wisdom suggests that the American Morten Lauridsen is a one-work wonder and certainly O magnum mysterium is wonderful, with vocal lines that arch out like fan vaulting. With this new recording Stephen Layton and Hyperion are clearly out to prove that Lauridsen's gifts are not just for Christmas but for all seasons too … now the jury is back: the choir and Layton have acquitted...
'The music has freshness and an affecting emotional pull to it that explains its popularity with singers and audiences across the pond. Stephen Layton's Polyphony, whose recent recordings of Pärt, Tavener and others have been revelations of choral singing, brings a comparable firmness, tonal opulence and refinement to this new repertoire, which will undoubtedly gain new admirers as a result'
'Above all, these performances by Stephen Layton's Polyphony are breathtakingly beautiful, powerfully expressive without trace of forced sentimentality. Hyperion's Disc of the Month for March should become one of the year's classical hits'
The Veil of the Temple is a huge conception. The full version plays for 480 minutes, according to the Chester Novello website www.chester-novello.com. I believe the full score consists of 850 pages! What we have here is a recording of the concert version which Tavener made and which was performed by these same forces at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts in London on 1 August 2004. I vividly...
Like most John Tavener works, this one presents itself with an immense sense of spiritual self-importance. Unlike most Tavener, this one lives up to its billing.
Written as an all-night vigil, “The Veil of the Temple” draws on any number of religious musical cultures— from Sufi texts to British Anglican chord structures — in a series of choruses, chants and prayers. Woven throughout is an...