The UA Blog - Press Centre

Men and Angels - new album from The Ramsey Singers releasing with Ulysses Arts on 26 May 2023

8/2/2023

Click above to download from iTunes with digital booklet or stream on Apple Music

The first two decades of the 21st Century witnessed an exciting new wave of compositions - many from women - which have rejuvenated the great choral music tradition with a huge range of individual styles. The Ramsey Singers have performed many of these album pieces on their visits to English cathedrals during the past 20 years, as well as commissioning significant additions to the repertoire. This album brings together some of the best works from this new tradition, mostly recorded for the first time, including music by Philip Stopford, Kerena Briggs, James Lavino, Lucy Walker, Alec Roth, Ben Ponniah, Jeremy Woodside, Sarah MacDonald and Jonathan Rathbone.

The Ramsey Singers

Founded in 1987, The Ramsey Singers have performed in many of England’s most famous cathedrals and churches including Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Singers come from all over England and meet twice a year. Directed by Mark Fenton, the choir has undertaken tours to Belgium, The Netherlands and France and has recorded albums of works by Henry Purcell and Pelham Humfrey (Priory) and Arnold Bax & Percy Whitlock (ASV). The Ramsey Singers have championed the works of contemporary composers and the choir celebrated its 30th anniversary by commissioning a piece by James Lavino.

Mark Fenton

Born in London in 1965, Mark Fenton won a Scholarship in History at Cambridge University. He sang with the choir of St. Catharine’s College under the direction of Peter le Huray and Owen Rees with whom he took part in recordings of choral works by George Dyson, Herbert Howells and Benjamin Britten. After graduating with First Class Honours, he joined the choir of Chelmsford Cathedral where he participated in numerous BBC broadcasts, recordings and tours. As founder and Director of The Ramsey Singers, Mark has conducted at Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London and at Sacre Coeur in Paris. After a distinguished career in education - including fifteen years as Headmaster of Dr Challoner’s Grammar School - he returned to working in music, taking up a post as a Bass Lay Clerk at Worcester Cathedral where he has sung in BBC broadcasts and in the Three Choirs Festival.

Lucy Walker, Occuli Omnium, on Apple Music playlist New in Classical

Sarah MacDonald, Crux Fidelis, on Apple Music playlist Women in Classical Music

James Lavino, Light, on Apple Music playlist Contemporary Classical

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts

Verdi Requiem, orchestrated by Richard Blackford, with The Bach Choir and David Hill, released by Nimbus Records on 7 April 2023

7/2/2023

NI6437: Verdi Requiem – Richard Blackford

Verdi Requiem orchestrated by Richard Blackford, for SATB Choir, Two Pianos, Organ and Percussion.

In collaboration with the renowned Bach Choir conducting by David Hill this recording features a sound that is distinct from the original Requiem, while still retaining the heart of the piece.

'Who would not wish to perform Verdi’s Requiem in the composer’s masterful original orchestration? The astonishing range of orchestral colour, from the moments of high drama to the most tender, give Verdi’s masterpiece its unique power and aura. When David Hill suggested that I create a new orchestration for two pianos, organ and percussion for The Bach Choir, I immediately saw the potential of an orchestration that would have a distinctive sound world of its own, not a watered-down reduction of Verdi’s original. Such an orchestration would also make the work accessible to choirs who either could not afford the full orchestra, or would not have the space to accommodate it.

Further discussions with David, who had the previous year commissioned me to write Prelude and Passacaglia for organ solo, gave valuable insights into how the organ could replicate a great range of orchestral colours that would contrast and augment the dynamic brilliance of the pianos and percussion. As work progressed, I found more and more ways of realising Verdi’s intentions with these minimal resources, such as replicating Verdi’s frequent string tremolandos by overlapping the piano tremolos in a way that, rather than cancelling each other out, produce a strange pianistic murmuring. Having six keyboard hands available generally meant that Verdi’s contrapuntal writing, especially in the Sanctus, is fully reproduced, unlike a single piano reduction. The percussion part, by virtue of being one player, requires the player to switch energetically from timpani to bass drum, and reassuringly few notes of the original were sacrificed in the course of doing so.' Richard Blackford

PHILLIP COOKE, FOUR MARIAN ANTIPHONS - CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR AND BENEDICT PREECE - RELEASING ON 31 MARCH 2023

21/1/2023

Pre-order on iTunes or stream pre-add tracks on Apple Music

Ulysses Arts releases the première recording of Phillip Cooke's Four Marian Antiphons on 31 March 2023, performed by the Caritas Chamber Choir directed by Benedict Preece.

Four Marion Anthems

1. Ave Regina Caelorum
2. Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae
3. Alma Redemptoris Mater (pre-release on 24 February)
4. Regina Cœli (pre-release on 17 March)

Phillip Cooke

Released in partnership with Platoon.

Blessed Among Women, Weeping: Sacred Choral Music of Father Ivan Moody, from Coro Volante conducted by Brett Scott, released by Ablaze Records on 24 March 2023

20/1/2023

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Fr. Ivan Moody

Fr. Ivan Moody was born in London in 1964. He studied music and theology at the Universities of London, Joensuu and York (where he took his doctorate). He studied composition with Brian Dennis, Sir John Tavener and William Brooks.

He has worked with soloists and ensembles of world renown, such as the Hilliard Ensemble, Singer Pur, Trio Mediaeval, the Tallis Scholars, the English Chamber Choir, Cappella Romana, New York Polyphony, the Regensburger Domspatz, Singcircle, Lumen Valo, Tapestry, Cappella Nova, Ars Nova Copenhagen, the Taverner Consort, Fretwork, the Raschèr Quartet, Raphael Wallfisch, Suzie Leblanc, Artur Pizarro and Paul Barnes. Over the years he has written a series of substantial choral and choral-instrumental works, including Passion and Resurrection (1992), Revelation (1995), Akathistos Hymn (1998), The Dormition of the Virgin (2003), Passione Popolare (2005), Ossetian Requiem (2005), Moons and Suns (2008), Stabat Mater (2008), Qohelet (2013) and Stephans-Weihnacht (2019). Instrumental music includes a series of concertante works for viola, cello, recorder, double bass, piano, harp, tuba, bass clarinet and marimba, and many works for chamber ensembles (notably the piano quartet Nocturne of Light, from 2009) and solo instruments.

Ivan Moody is also a conductor and musicologist; his book Modernism and Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Music was published in 2014. He is a Researcher at CESEM—Universidade Nova, Lisbon, and a priest of the Orthodox Church.

Neil Wright, Tota Pulchra es - Caritas Chamber Choir conducted by Benedict Preece - releasing on 27 January 2023

17/1/2023

Stream on Apple Music or download in iTunes - click above

Tota pulchra es is a 1,600 year old Roman Catholic prayer, meaning 'You are completely beautiful', referring to the Virgin Mary. It glorifies her immaculate conception, and takes its text from the Bible's Book of Judith and Song of Songs.

It has inspired great composers for centuries, from Guillaume du Fay and Heinrich Isaac in the late Middle Ages, through Schumann, Bruckner, Pablo Casals, Duruflé and Gorczycki to contemporaries such as Sir James MacMillan and Ola Gjeilo: Neil Wright's new settting revels in the opportunity for musical beauty and spiritual yearning.

Tota pulchra es is Wright's debut commission and recording with Caritas Chamber Choir. Studying the Royal Northern College of Music, as an organist, composer and improviser, he has performed throughout the UK (including Cadogan Hall; Westminster Central Hall) and in Germany (Dresden Cathedral, Stuttgart-Schondorf Orgelnacht, Friedenskirche Potsdam, Maria Laach Abbey), USA (Carmel Valley California), Italy (Tagliacozzo Festival, Cremona Cathedral), Finland (Åland Orgel Festival) and France (Vannes Cathedral, Eglise de La Trinité Paris).

Neil Wright

Caritas Chamber Choir with Benedict Preece

Caritas Chamber Choir, based in Canterbury, UK, is one of the world's leading commissioners of contemporary choral music, performing frequently around the UK and Europe, directed by Benedict Preece, a Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar.

Streaming and download links:

Released in partnership with Platoon.

Caritas Chamber Choir - John Kelley, When You are Old - world première recording released by Ulysses Arts on 30 December 2022

21/12/2022

John Kelley's When You are Old is an atmospheric setting of W.B. Yeats’ famous poem: its retrospective nature is a perfect work to precede the New Year, performed by the Caritas Chamber Choir conducted by Benedict Preece.

American composer John Kelley studied at Yale University and is a lay clerk at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. His setting of When You are Old won the 1997 National Award for Schirmer’s Young American Choral Competition; it is performed annually by Redhot & Blue, Yale University’s world-renowned mixed a capella ensemble.

Caritas Chamber Choir

Links to listen or download on digital service providers will be posted here on 30 December.

John Kelley

Benedict Preece

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR RELEASES 'CHRISTMAS WITH CARITAS' ALBUM ON 25 NOVEMBER 2022

9/11/2022

Ulysses Arts releases Canterbury-based Caritas Chamber Choir's first Christmas album, directed by Benedict Preece, on 25 November 2022. Christmas with Caritas features traditional carols in new arrangements with première recordings of contemporary works by Phillip Cooke, Sarah Cattley, Graham Patterson, Anthony Esland, Eric Choate, Stewart Duncan and Simon Beattie.

Click to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Christmas with Caritas is preceeded by two singles from the album:

Phillip Cooke, I Sing of a Maiden - 28 October
Sarah Cattley, What Child is this? - 11 November

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Download on iTunes on stream on Apple Music.

Album Details

Tradition (arr. Benedict Preece), O Little Town of Bethlehem
Lyricist: Phillips Brooks

Sarah Cattley, What Child is this?
Lyricist: William Chatterton Dix

Graham Patterson, Sweet was the Song
Lyricist: Anonymous/Graham Patterson

Traditional (arr. Benedict Preece), Ding Dong Merrily on High
Lyricist: George Ratcliffe Woodward

Sarah Cattley, The Robin Carol
Lyricist: Sarah Cattley/Traditional

Phillip Cooke, I Sing of a Maiden
Soloists: Christina Bosanko, Christina Astin, Peter Ellis, Graham Titus
Lyricist: Anonymous

Phillip Cooke, Susanni
Soloists: Catherine Futcher, Bob McKay
Lyricist: Traditional

Franz Gruber (arr. Phillip Cooke), Silent Night
Lyricist: Joseph Mohr, John F. Young

Sarah Cattley/Michael Praetorius, A Spotless Rose
Soloist: Peter Ellis
Lyricist: Traditional, Catherine Winkworth

Graham Patterson, Balulalow
Lyricist: Wedderburn brothers

Anthony Esland, The Bee Carol
Lyricist: Carol Ann Duffy

Traditional (arr. Eric Choate), Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
Lyricist: Anonymous

Stewart Duncan, There is no Rose
Lyricist: Anonymous

Lewis Redner (arr. David Conte), O Little Town of Bethlehem
Soloist: Sally-Anne Hanson
Lyricist: Phillips Brooks

Simon Beattie, Advent Calendar
Lyricist: Rowan Williams

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR AND BENEDICT PREECE - THE ASH GROVE - RELEASING ON 26 AUGUST 2022, CHOATE, BELOVED LET US LOVE, 16 SEPTEMBER, CARLSSON, UBI CARITAS, 14 OCTOBER, COOKE, I SING OF A MAIDEN, 28 OCTOBER AND CATTLEY, WHAT CHILD IS THIS?, 11 NOVEMBER

28/7/2022

The Caritas Chamber Choir and Benedict Preece's recording of traditional Welsh song The Ash Grove releases on all major digital service providers on 26 August 2022, followed by Eric Choate, Beloved, Let us Love, on 16 September, Mikael Carlsson, Ubi Caritas on 14 October, Phillip Cooke, I Sing of A Maiden on 28 October, and Sarah Cattley, What Child is this? on 11 November. These singles are a prelude to Caritas' Christmas album, released on 25 November 2022.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

The Ash Grove on Apple Music's Classical New Releases playlist

NIMBUS ALLIANCE RELEASES EMMA JOHNSON SONGS OF CELEBRATION - 2 SEPTEMBER 2022

8/7/2022

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Releasing on 2 September 2022
Emma Johnson, Songs of Celebration
Nimbus Alliance NI6431

Emma Johnson, clarinet, John Lenehan, piano
Gloucester Cathedral Choir, directed by Adrian Partington

The Pied Piper, by Jonathan Dove, for Narrator, Clarinet, Recorders, Children’s Voices and Piano:

'There are many theories about the meaning of this story: it might relate to the plague, to a natural
disaster, emigration, or a dancing mania. The piper might be a shaman, a recruiting agent, or Death. Robert Browning’s popular 1842 poem tells the mediaeval tale in lively rhyme and in 2009, Emma Johnson approached me with an enticing idea: she would become the Pied Piper, using her clarinet as the pipe, could I set Browning’s poem to music? I suggested that it could be even more exciting if she were to narrate the poem herself if I could write gaps into the clarinet part, allowing her just enough time to speak.' Jonathan Dove

'In recent times girls have been invited to sing in church and cathedral choirs. It was with this in mind that I considered writing a Christmas song for clarinet and higher voices setting one of my favourite medieval poems: the 15th century I Sing of a Maiden that is Makeless. The poem tells of the miracle of the divine birth and always brings to mind music I heard once in a Coptic Christian church in Cairo. I have retained their original Middle Eastern flavour, giving us a glimpse of how the earliest church music might have sounded. Towards the end of the song, clarinet and voices climb higher and higher to express the poet’s joy at the birth of Christ. I became so fascinated with composing for clarinet and upper voices that I found myself writing three more songs, all celebrating the Christmas story, grouped under the title, Songs of Celebration.

It was very gratifying to see the children in Gloucester cathedral choir singing with gusto, relishing its beat boxing and glissandi which felt at once incongruously modern and yet perfectly apposite in the cathedral surroundings. Carol of the Bells takes nuggets of the famous Ukrainian Carol by Mykola Leontovich and transforms them into a peal of bells ringing. It demands virtuoso singing from the choir and I am in awe at the panache with which these young singers perform it. Coventry Carol is from the mystery play traditionally performed in Coventry, England, in the 16th century (author unknown). Herod has ordered the slaughter of all male children under the age of two years old and the carol is a lullaby sung by their mothers. This has to be the most disturbing story in the Bible. In my setting the clarinet part is intended to evoke Rachel weeping for her children "and refusing to be comforted because they are no more".

Silent Night regularly tops charts of best loved carols and was written in 1818 by the Austrian musician Franz Xaver Gruber with lyrics by Joseph Mohr. To create an atmosphere of calm, I invited the children to sing the carol softly, like a lullaby, accompanied by rocking, running notes from the clarinet which could represent a cradle swinging to and fro. Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring from 1723 completes this album’s celebration of the Christmas story. The English translation is by Robert Bridges but the German lyrics, Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Jesus remains my joy) perhaps give more of the sense of sheer happiness in his faith expressed by Bach in this chorale, with its continuous bouncing triplets lapping around a noble theme.' Emma Johnson

Electronic press kit available for review use.

Pre-release single from The Pied Piper:

Emma Johnson (© Frances Marshall)

Gloucester Cathedral Choir

John Lenehan (© Robert Piwko)

Jonathan Dove (© Marshall Light Studio)

Pied Piper Recorders

LYRITA RELEASES RICHARD BLACKFORD, MIRROR OF PERFECTION AND VISION OF A GARDEN ON 6 MAY 2022 - Elizabeth Watts, Roderick Williams, Ikon Singers, Britten Sinfonia / Stephen Gadd, The Bach Choir, Philharmonic Orchestra, David Hill

24/3/2022

Lyrita Records releases Richard Blackford's Mirror of Perfection, with soprano Elizabeth Watts, baritone Roderick Williams, the IKON Singers and Britten Sinfonia, and Vision of A Garden, with baritone Stephen Gadd, The Bach Choir and the strings of the Philharmonia Orchestra, both conducted by David Hill, on 6 May 2022 (SRCD.406 Dolby Atmos recording). This is the first recording of Vision of a Garden, and the second of Mirror of Perfection.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Vision of a Garden was first performed by The Bach Choir, baritone Gareth Brnmor John and Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by David Hill, on 24 October 2021 at London's Royal Festival Hall, and recorded for Lyrita at St Augustine's Church, Kilburn. The work is based on Bach Choir member Professor Peter Johnstone's experience of serious illness with COVID-19.

Professor Johnson was the first COVID patient admitted to Cambridge's Addenbrokes Hospital's Neurosciences and Trauma Critical Care Unit. He remained in hospital, often unconscious, for 75 days, yet recovered and was able to sing in work's first performance. During his time in hospital, the nurses caring for Professor Johnson left messages of support in a series of 'ICU diaries': he describes these as 'the most heart-warming documents I’ve ever read.'

WATCH THE ICU DIARIES TRAILER

'I have a duty to tell the world what I went through':
how COVID-fuelled visions inspired a new choral work.
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph

Richard Blackford profiled: Gramophone Magazine, April 2022

Robert Hugill interviews Richard Blackford about Vision of A Garden:Planet Hugill

'Cambridge Professor recovers to sing Choral Music': BBC News

'Eine ausdrucksstarke Interpretation, die ihren Eindruck auf den Hörer nicht verfehlt.'
Uwe Krusch, Pizzicato

Richard Blackford comments about re-recording Mirror of Perfection:

Richard Blackford comments on Lyrita's new version of Mirror of Perfection:

'I was delighted when Lyrita agreed to make a new recording of Mirror Of Perfection. Since conducting it myself for Sony Classical in 1997 with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Bournemouth Sinfonietta I have heard it performed dozens of times around the world. Hearing different conductors’ interpretations, with both symphonic and chamber, amateur and professional choirs, I was intrigued by the prospect of Lyrita making a recording that was completely unlike the earlier one.

Encouraged by David Hill, who had already conducted and recorded many of my choral works, I decided that the new recording would be different by choosing a 24-voice professional chorus, the superb Ikon singers. I heard the contrapuntal writing with a new transparency, luminosity and beauty. Whereas in the earlier recording the soloists had to be overdubbed because of scheduling issues, Roderick Williams and Elizabeth Watts were recorded live with the chorus and orchestra, as always intended. The resulting ensemble has a new vibrancy and immediacy - one really can imagine that Williams is St Francis of Assisi, especially in his charming rendition of Canticle of The Birds. Elizabeth Watts brought a heightened sense of drama with her thrilling high notes in Movements IV and VI, when she soars effortlessly over the chorus and orchestra. The stormy third movement In foco l’amore mi mise is unlike anything I had heard previously: tenors and basses articulate their rapid quaver passages with exemplary diction and clarity. In many respects, however, the Lyrita recording is more intimate: the final movement's hushed “Beati quelli che sosterrano in pace” has a stillness and sense of peace that I had never experienced before. In the new recording I had a chance to slightly re-balance the orchestral score, especially the postlude.

Under David Hill, the Britten Sinfonia’s playing is breathtakingly beautiful, especially the interludes in the fifth and seventh movements. The exposed, closing three-horn coda was perfectly tuned and balanced. Hill’s choices of tempo are often a little brisker than those I chose in 1997, and the piece is better for it. The new Lyrita recording's success is the sum of many parts of its brilliant team of musicians and technicians. Hearing the final Dolby Atmos mix in Andrew Walton’s studio was one of the most thrilling aural experiences of my life.'

Mirror Of Perfection received a gala performance in Palma Cathedral, Mallorca by the Orquesta Sinfonica de Baleares conducted by Joan Company on 11 April 2022 in the presence of Queen Sophia of Spain.

Electronic press kit is available: for inquiries, click CONTACT US below.

NIMBUS RECORDS AND ULYSSES ARTS ANNOUCE PRESS AND COMMUNICATIONS PARTNERSHIP FROM MARCH 2022

4/3/2022

The Nimbus Records Group and Ulysses Arts are pleased to announce a press and publicity partnership, starting in March 2022. James Ross, Ulysses Arts' director, comments:

'I have been listening to recordings made by Nimbus, Lyrita and Prima Voce for many years with pleasure and admiration. It is a pleasure for Ulysses Arts to be working alongside Nimbus and its partner labels to maximise the visibility and appreciation of the imaginative recordings and meticulous work presented in its albums.'

Ulysses Arts will provide electronic press kits for Nimbus and Lyrita recordings, alongside press releases on our website.

CRD Records launches Resurrexi! Easter in Vienna with Mozart and The Haydn Brothers - Choir of Keble College Oxford, Instruments of Time & Truth, Paul Brough on 1 April 2022

7/1/2022

Stream on Apple Music or download with booklet from iTunes - click above

CRD Records are delighted to announce the release of Resurrexi! Easter in Vienna with Mozart and the Haydn Brothers on 1 April 2022. Recorded with the The Choir of Keble College Oxford and Instruments of Time & Truth, the album is conducted by Paul Brough. Resurrexi! is CRD’s third album with Keble, following Ceremonial Oxford (2017) and Ave Rex Angelorum (2020).

Resurrexi!, recorded in 2021 in the Victorian splendour of Keble College Chapel, celebrates Easter in music – a full mass sequence based around Mozart’s Spaurmesse K. 258, interspersed with plainchant and a treasury of Viennese classical sacred music by Joseph and Michael Haydn. The result offers an imaginary recreation of an opulent service that might have been heard at Vienna’s Stephansdom, or at the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg’s court.

Ressurexi!’s soloists are Emily Dickens, soprano, Rebekah Jones, mezzo-soprano, Philippe Durrant, tenor and Graham Kirk, baritone and cantor.

CRD is one of the world’s longest-running record labels, spanning more than five decades and 200 releases, including many first recordings. Following the passing of CRD’s founder, Graham Pauncefort, in late 2021, CRD now is directed by his son and daughter, Tom and Emma Pauncefort: Ressurex! is the first release under their management.

‘Resurrexi! is an enticing opportunity to hear some rarely played music in eager and engaging performances. ... An immensely enjoyable recording.' David Threasher, Gramophone Magazine

'This celebration of Easter ... amply succeeds in giving both spiritual and musical satisfaction.'Brian Robins, Early Music Review

'So sweetly done that you’re immediately tempted to hit the replay button.'
Graham Rickson: The Arts Desk - April 2022

David Truslove, Opera Today: August 2022 - click above for review link

Resurrexi in Europadisc's 2022 Easter Highlights

RESURREXI ALBUM LINKS:

iTUNES

QOBUZ

SINGLE PRE-RELEASE FROM RESURREXI

MOZART, REGINA COELI

JASON REBELLO AND OPUS ANGLICANUM - ADORNA

10/12/2021

Jazz pianist Jason Rebello and English vocal ensemble Opus Anglicanum join forces on their album Adorna, released on 28 January 2022 (UA210140) on Apple Music, Spotify, HDtracks, Deezer, Amazon Music, Qobuz, TIDAL, YouTube and all main digital services, and on CD. The track bearing the album's title name was pre-released as a single on 31 December 2021.

Adorna - album - released on 28 January 2022. Click above to download on iTunes with booklet or stream now on Apple Music.

Adorna - single - released on 31 December 2021. Click above download on iTunes.

Candlemas is the winter day that all the Church’s candles for the year were blessed, and in pre-Christian times, was a festival of the first stirring of spring. In Adorna, ancient monastic chants, sung annually through the centuries in cathedrals and abbeys to mark this feast, are transformed to give a new interpretation of light dispelling darkness.

Stephen Burrows, alto
David de Winter, tenor
John Bowen, tenor
Roland Robertson, baritone
James Birchall, bass
Jason Rebello, piano

Recorded live in concert in Turner Sims Southampton, University of Southampton, 2020

Jason Rebello and Opus Anglicanum started their professional career recording and performing in the late 1980s. Opus Anglicanum's world – which embraces a cappella Renaissance polyphony and Gregorian chant, folksong, music hall, contemporary classical vocal commissions and readings from literature and poetry, in fact almost everything but jazz - remained totally different from Jason's. Their home has remained great cathedrals, abbeys, stately homes, or tiny mediaeval parish churches. Then their director Roland Robertson booked Jason to compose major instrumental and choral work, and so came to understand the spiritual richness and artistic breadth of Jason's musicianship.

It was obviously immediately that Jason and Opus Anglicanum shared a common goal: to explore together a mysterious, austere and magical zone, following the ancient paths of ritual and procession, in modes ancient and modern, the piano illuminating and complementing the voices, and exploiting the space. Together, with barless scores of square mediaeval notes, and tracts of Latin, they began to experiment. This developed into a concert programme built on chants for the winter feast of Candlemas, first performed in Wells Cathedral. Standing around the nave, empty but for Jason at the Steinway, with five singers in fading January light, the content and setting 'clicked' perfectly. The result is 'Adorna', now enhanced by two original new compositions by Jason, and recorded in live performance.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

WELLS CATHEDRAL: SATURDAY 22 JANUARY 2022
ST MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS, LONDON: THURSDAY 3 FEBRUARY

The St Martin's-in-the-Fields concert is followed by a Crypt Late jazz performance by Jason Rebello and His Trio - Troy Miller, drums and Orlando Le Fleming, bass.

THAXTED FESTIVAL, ESSEX: 27 JUNE 2022, 7.30PM

LISTEN TO ADORNA

QOBUZ

Click to follow JASON REBELLO and OPUS ANGLICANUM on Spotify

PRESS

London Jazz News - interview

London Jazz News - concert review

Jazz Journal, April 2022 (Matthew Wright)

Jazziz Magazine

Classical Music Daily

Jazzwise - April 2022 issue

ADORNA - Pre-Release Single links:

Adorna on Apple Music's New in Classical playlist

Download or stream Adorna (single) from QOBUZ

ADORNA (SINGLE) ON DEEZER

Stream on AMAZON MUSIC

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR AND BENEDICT PREECE RELEASE CROSSING THE BAR - MUSIC FOR REFLECTION AND HOPE

20/9/2021

Released on 19 November 2021:

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music - click above

Crossing the Bar on Apple Music's Classical New Releases playlist

O Nata Lux by Philip Stopford on Apple Music's Sacred Sounds playlist

LISTEN TO CROSSING THE BAR ON YOUTUBE

Ulysses Arts released two singles from Crossing the Bar - Music for Reflection and Hope, performed by the Caritas Chamber Choir directed by Benedict Preece. The first single, O Nata Lux by Philip Stopford, releases on 1 October, followed by Crossing the Bar, by Benedict Preece, on 22 October, on Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify, Qobuz, HDtracks and all other major digital service providers.

O Nata Lux is a world première recording from Philip Stopford, one of the most celebrated contemporary choral composers. It is conducted by Benedict Preece, who featured on Ulysses Arts' 2020 J.S. Bach horn and organ album with Anneke Scott. This calm but powerful work takes us from darkness to light, a theme of Advent, when this piece would normally be sung. It has musical elements that hark back to the familiar version of the same text by Thomas Tallis.

Benedict Preece writes about his motet Crossing the Bar:

'Written in 2016 as a gift to Gothenburg's HagaMotettkör for collaboration with Caritas Chamber Choir, I chose to create deliberately simple hymnlike music to allow this most powerful poem to remain the listener's focus. The 'aw' section, sung by lower voices, is intended to represent the sea. The work builds to an almighty climax: “I hope to see my pilot face to face” before finishing with an echo of the “sea”, this time as a hum, which depicts crossing the bar from this life to what comes next.'

iTunes

Crossing the Bar (album)

O Nata Lux

Crossing the Bar (single)

High definition sound on Qobuz

Crossing the Bar (album)

O Nata Lux

Crossing the Bar (single)

HDtracks

Crossing the Bar (album)