Pierre Villette Choral Music

Hyperion CDA67539 Released April 2006

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This pioneering new recording - a showcase for the virtuoso talents of the Holst Singers - presents all fifteen of Villette’s unaccompanied choral works and his two motets for choir and organ.

Pierre Villette might best be regarded as a stylistic bridge between Debussy and Fauré on the one hand and Poulenc and Messiaen on the other. A world rich in the familiarities of Gregorian chant infuses much of his choral output, while ambitious chromaticisms and textural gestures create effects which are at once spiritual and sensuous. This is the music of private prayer set in the context of an incense-filled Gothic über-Cathedral.

Under their long-standing director of music Stephen Layton, the Holst Singers have established themselves firmly at the top of the country’s league of chamber choirs. This new programme can only enhance their justly deserved reputation.

Recorded in The Temple Church, London, on 13–16 May 2005

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Reviews of this recording:

The Holst Singers create great clouds of texture which surge, form and melt before your ears... For a bag of musical bonbons de violette, this disc can't be beaten. BBC Music Magazine, February 2006           Read more>>

I recommend this recording enthusiastically and without reservation. Choral Guide, USA, February 2007           Read more>>

Very few conductors manage this sort of exquisite phrasing, subtle nuance, gleaming sound, and absolute control. American Record Guide, January 2006           Read more>>

The Holst Singers are eloquent and beguiling under the thoughtful direction of Stephen Layton. Choir and Organ, February 2006           Read more>>

Simply gorgeous music International Record Review, February 2006           Read more>>

...it is a cracking CD. Cathedral Music, February 2006           Read more>>

The Holst Singers’ blend, diction, intonation, and ensemble are uniformly up there with the best... Fanfare, USA, February 2006           Read more>>

The Holst Singers have established themselves firmly at the top of the country's league of chamber choirs. HMV, February 2006           Read more>>

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