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The idea of putting Dering and Philips together is obvious enough: two English composers who landed up on the Continental mainland and produced
Catholic music in a style that is an odd mixture of English and Italian. Thirty years ago Stephen Cleobury with King’s College, Cambridge, did just that, cleverly juxtaposing settings of the same text or something similar. And more recently the Rose Consort of Viols did so again, with a focus on their consort music but also joining up with The Choir of King’s College, Aberdeen. But what the choir of Gonville & Caius College (just under 30 voices, though with women as well as men) offer is something rather different. They have joined forces with the mixed consort In Echo, brainchild of the astonishing cornettist Gawain Glenton, with cornetts, trombones and bowed instruments.
Under the marvellously well-judged direction of Matthew Martin, they perform almost everything with full forces, lots of seriously attractive embellishment and even more evidence of sheer musical fun. But the main feature of their performance is that there is so much space around the phrases: everything seems fresh and vital. Alongside the Latin motets of both composers (never in fewer than five voices and often in eight) there are consort works by the two. There is also a pavan by Dowland, which is not explained, though perhaps the connection is that he too spent ome years abroad. In any case, In Echo perform it with such infectious joy that one could not for a moment regret that decision. The disc comes with an informative booklet note by Jeremy Summerly. |
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