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KG 0035
Bruckner: Mass in E minor / Motets
Label Catalogue Number:
KGS0035-D
KGS0035-D
Running Time: 57:06
Release Date: October 2020
Originally recorded in June 2019
Originally recorded in June 2019
Genre:
Choir
Classical
Choir
Classical
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About
Bruckner’s E Minor Mass and a selection of his profoundly beautiful motets were selected by Sir Stephen Cleobury as his last album at King’s, recorded only a few months before his death. Perhaps the deepest and most spiritual of Bruckner’s masses, the Mass in E minor is unusual in its scoring for choir, wind and brass. It is recorded here by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in King’s College Chapel.
The album is accompanied by a specially-commissioned Appreciation for Sir Stephen, written by Professor Iain Fenlon, as well as Shades of the Past in Bruckner’s Sacred Music – another commissioned essay on Bruckner’s works by Dr Martin Ennis.
“For many, Bruckner’s oeuvre is made up of nine fixed stars, the numbered symphonies, orbited by lesser bodies. One could, however, argue that sacred works such as those presented here take us to the heart of Bruckner, man and musician. Many of the pieces were commissioned; most are ‘Gebrauchsmusik’, in the sense that they served specific liturgical purposes. However, all reflect the composer’s deep commitment to his faith. Bruckner planned to dedicate his final, unfinished symphony to his ‘dear God’. The same dedication could stand at the head of any of the pieces heard on this album, the final recording of Sir Stephen Cleobury, another faithful servant of the church, whose legacy is a lasting ornament to King’s College, Cambridge.” —Dr Martin Ennis.
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Reviews
“…This program offers the second of Bruckner’s three numbered Masses … plus a half dozen shorter works… Every one is a gem, music of heavenly beauty and divine inspiration… The choir of King’s College, Cambridge lives up to its lofty standards with its immaculate intonation, perfect attacks and releases, evenness of tone throughout the range, and ethereal pianissimos. The engineering is as remarkable as the singing. A long reverberation time combined with distant microphone placement give the listener the impression that he or she has just entered a grand cathedral and is hearing an unseen choir from the far end of the nave. The effect is one of awe, reverence, and mystery… a superlative release.
Robert Markow – Fanfare – March/April 2021
Performance ***** Recording ****
Michael Tanner - BBC Music magazine - January 2021
“… A feature that sets Cleobury’s version apart from most other recordings is the use of boys’ voices for the soprano and alto parts, heard immediately in the haunting a cappella opening of the Kyrie, the trebles sounding strikingly pure and radiant...Another feature of Cleobury’s recording is the fleetness of the interpretation...I never felt that the performance was too fast, however, the choice of tempos throughout in keeping with the freshness of the approach and the modest scale of the forces employed. Cleobury prefaces the performance of the Mass with a stirring account of Ecce sacerdos magnus … with five other motets following after. These are performed with a similar combination of vitality and dedication, and the recording throughout is first class.”
Christian Hoskins - Gramophone magazine - December 2020
Nominee in Choral Category
International Classical Music Awards 2021
“Among his admirers, Bruckner’s choral works are regarded very highly, and this monumental new reading of his Mass in E minor will be catnip to Bruckner aficionados. It’s hard to imagine a more persuasive reading, particularly in this wide-ranging recording, under the late Stephen Cleobury.”
Barry Forshaw – cdchoice.co.uk – 8 November 2020
“…In addition to his love of art, Bruckner was a devout Catholic, and it is in his smaller-scale religious works that we find a level of universally praised beauty and genius unlike any other of his contemporaries, a point reinforced by this recording of the Mass in E Minor and motets by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Recorded shortly before the death of conductor Stephen Cleobury, this striking survey of Bruckner’s religiosity and skill is also a testament to the devotion and dedication of the man who led the King’s College choir for so many years… This is music to soothe the soul in troubled times such as our own.”
Matthew Whitfield – thewholenote.com – 2 November 2020
“…It’s refreshing to hear this music sung with the urgent energy of boys’ voices, the textures almost raw. Their Locus iste soars gloriously in the King’s chapel acoustic…”
Fiona Maddocks – The Guardian - 31 October 2020
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