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Gramophone Award-winning choir Polyphony and their inspired conductor Stephen Layton appear set for further prizes on the strength of their latest Hyperion release, and anthology of choral works by William Walton issued to mark the composer’s centenary and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. This disc, which opens with Walton’s Fanfare for Elizabeth II and Coronation Te Deum, is distinguished throughout...
Every generation delivers an outstanding talent with the vision and commitment necessary to produce refreshingly individual, totally convincing interpretations. Stephen Layton's readings of Walton's choral music on this tremendous disc are without equal, supported by the high-octane, stylish singing of Polyphony and one of the finest recorded sounds I've heard for years. Layton sets a stately...
Performance *****Sounds *****
This collection of Walton's smaller choral works includes the four carols omitted from the recent Naxos issue with the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, and gets off to a resounding start with the short Queen's Fanfare from 1959, leading unauthentically but seamlessly into the Coronation Te Deum. In its original scoring with brass, organ and percussion, this...
William Walton made his reputation in the first instance with his film scores, of which he wrote very many, especially for films made by the War Office. The suite “The First of the Few” is one of the best known. But he's also famous for his choral music, which is unique in its splendid style. This is a superbly performed and recorded disc from Polyphony, one of Britain's leading choral groups,...
This disc is a tribute to two anniversaries – the centenary of English composer William Walton's birth and the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth. Featuring Walton's Coronation Te Deum and a fine selection from his other choral works, the singing is quite extraordinary. Gramophone award-winning Polyphony and The Wallace Collection combine with breathtaking ability under the directorship of...
When it came to pomp and circumstance, Oldham's William Walton was a kind of Elgar with attitude, perfectly capable of conjuring the grand, ceremonial gestures needed on state occasions, but with a sharper edge, and the creeping cynicism of a later generation. Thus the Coronation Te Deum (1953) which gives this disc its title virtually approaches parody in places, so brazen are the juxtapositions...