"spellbinding...supremely musical"

Pierre Villette Choral Music

Hyperion CDA67539
Released April 2006		 buy now

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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

Listen

Preview this album - click a track in the list below, and it will start to play automatically.

Tracks on this album

  • Open track list
    1. O sacrum convivium Op 27   [3'43]
    2. Hymne à la Vierge Op 24   [3'56]
    3. Attende, Domine Op 45   [5'37]
    4. Notre Père d’Aix Op 75   [2'17]
    5. Inviolata Op 66   [5'15]
    6. Tu es Petrus Op 29*   [3'07]
    7. O quam suavis est Op 76   [3'05]
    8. Salutation angélique Op 20*   [2'30]
    9. Strophes polyphoniques pour le Veni Creator Op 28   [5'49]
    10. Panis angelicus Op 80   [2'58]
    11. O salutaris hostia Op 21   [2'55]
    12. Ave verum Op 3   [3'16]
    13. Salve regina Op 5   KATY COOPER soprano [3'06]
    14. O quam amabilis es Op 71   [3'53]
    15. Jesu, dulcis memoria Op 78   [3'28]
    16. Adoro te Op 31   [3'19]
    17. O magnum misterium Op 53   [4'18]

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
 
 
 
I recommend this recording enthusiastically and without reservation.
Choral Guide, USA
 
 
 
Very few conductors manage this sort of exquisite phrasing, subtle nuance, gleaming sound, and absolute control.
American Record Guide
 
 
 
The Holst Singers are eloquent and beguiling under the thoughtful direction of Stephen Layton.
Choir and Organ
 
 
 
Simply gorgeous music
International Record Review
 
 
 
...it is a cracking CD.
Cathedral Music
 
 
 
The Holst Singers’ blend, diction, intonation, and ensemble are uniformly up there with the best...
Fanfare, USA
 
 
 
The Holst Singers have established themselves firmly at the top of the country's league of chamber choirs.
HMV
 
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