Music of the Spheres: Part Songs of the British Isles Tenebrae Consort & Nigel Short

• Herbert Murrill (1909 - 1952): Two Songs from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
• 1 No. 1, O Mistress Mine 01:24
• 2 No. 2, Come Away, Death 03:30
• Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941):
• 3 Autumn, H.24 03:46
• 4 Music When Soft Voices Die, H.31 02:53
• 5 The Bee, H.110 01:13
• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958): Three Shakespeare Songs:
• 6 No. 1, Full Fathom Five 03:21
• 7 No. 2, The Cloud-Capp’d Towers 02:24
• 8 No. 3, Over Hill, Over Dale 00:57
• Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): Four Part-Songs, Op. 53:
• 9 No. 1, There is Sweet Music 04:23
• 10 No. 2, Deep in My Soul 04:51
• 11 No. 3, O Wild, West Wind 03:57
• 12 No. 4, Owls 02:52
• Ernest Walker (1870 - 1949):
• 13 Soft Music, Op. 48 02:04
• Judith Bingham (1952 - ):
• 14 The Drowned Lovers 05:43
• Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 - 1924):
• 15 8 Part-Songs, Op.119: No. 3, The Blue Bird 04:09
• 16 On Time, Op. 142 05:15
• Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012):
• 17 Song of June 04:36
• Bob Chilcott (1955 - ): The Modern Man I Sing:
• 18 No. 1, The Runner 02:34
• 19 No. 2, The Last Invocation 02:49
• 20 No. 3, One’s-Self I Sing 02:14
• Total Runtime 01:04:55

Info for Music of the Spheres: Part Songs of the British Isles

Tenebrae brings you the glories of part song ranging from exquisite miniatures about the natural world and human experience to complex masterpieces marrying text and song. Shakespeare, Shelley, Byron, Tennyson and Milton are the inspiration of renowned composers such as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst and others in this Grammy nominated recording. As with other Bene Arte releases, Tenebrae aims to marry well-known works alongside less-familiar repertoire.

"There’s music in all things, if men had ears; the earth is but the music of the spheres." (George Gordon Bryon)

"This choir’s great strength is their utterly unimpeachable blend, their clear intonation and their unflinchingly musical approach to their texts. Those qualities are all on display at their very finest here, with a richly rounded sound that you’ll struggle to hear bettered elsewhere, helped by a glorious recording in the acoustic of All Hallows Church, which fits them like a glove." (MusicWeb International)

Martha McLorinan, mezzo-soprano
Tenebrae
Nigel Short, conductor

Tenebrae Consort
is an outstanding group of musicians, with singers hand-picked from the award-winning chamber choir Tenebrae. Chosen for their particular expertise in certain areas of repertoire, Tenebrae Consort demonstrates the singers’ skills as soloists and highlights the vocal quality of the individuals who make up the Tenebrae sound. Known for their instinctive ensemble skills, the singers can perform alongside small groups of leading instrumentalists, and are directed by Nigel Short, who leads the group to music making of the highest quality. Focusing on repertoire originally written for consort performance, particularly dedicated to the interpretation of early music, Tenebrae Consort aims to shed new interpretative light on works through the combination of both passion and precision, creating an intimate concert experience.

Nigel Short
began his musical life as a chorister at Solihull Parish Church going on to study singing and piano at the Royal College of Music. He began his career as a soloist in opera and oratorio and as a member of specialist vocal ensembles such as The Tallis Scholars whilst maintaining a regular involvement in church music, firstly as a member of Westminster Abbey Choir then Westminster Cathedral. He joined the King's Singers when he was 27 and stayed with them for seven years.

After a short break of about one ski season in the Swiss Alps he set about founding his own group, Tenebrae, aiming to bring together what he loved best as a singer - namely the more passionate sounds of large Cathedral choirs and the precision of ensembles like The King's Singers - to create a new kind of choral group. Whilst embracing an eclectic repertoire he wanted to have some 'signature' works that would make Tenebrae different, adding a theatrical element that would involve singers moving around as if on stage. To that end he wrote 'The Dream of Herod', with a central role for baritone Colin Campbell, and commissioned Joby Talbot to write Path of Miracles, premiered in July 2005. Since its debut performance in 2001 Tenebrae has given concerts in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, UK, USA and Bermuda.

Nigel and the group have performed and recorded live with The Chamber Orchestra of Europe for Warner Classics and have given several performances with The English Concert. They record regularly with Signum Classics.

Nigel divides his time between directing Tenebrae and giving an ever increasing number of masterclasses and workshops for both professional and amateur vocal groups and choirs throughout Europe.

This album contains no booklet.