Orlando Gibbons: Anthems; works by Marco Galvani, Cecilia McDowall, Nicola LeFanu, and Will Todd. ORA Singers conducted by Suzi Digby. Orchid Classics. $16.99.
Songs in Ladino, Hebrew & Yiddish. Shira Karmon, voice; Rainer Maria Nero, guitar. Gramola. $19.50.
The human voice, individually or in a group, has always had unique power to express emotions – to assert joy, sorrow, hope, belief and more. Composers have harnessed the voice since the early days of what is now considered classical music, and one who did so with particular skill was Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625). For the 400th anniversary of his death and the 10th anniversary of its own establishment, the early-music choral group ORA Singers had the intriguing idea of recording Gibbons’ Anthems while also inviting contemporary composers to comment musically upon them. Like other projects of this sort, this is a limited-appeal production whose expected audience needs to be interested both in Gibbons’ creations and in modern harmonic and rhythmic explorations of them. The 10 surviving Anthems by Gibbons, some heard as they have come down to modern times and others reconstructed by David Skinner, form the backbone and centerpiece of this Orchid Classics CD, which also includes hymns from Gibbons’ Hymnes and Songs of the Church as well as 21st-century material based on or responding to the 17th-century material. It is all a bit much to take in from an intellectual standpoint – again, this is scarcely a CD for a wide audience – but the sheer beauty of Gibbons’ work and the excellence with which the ORA Singers present it make it possible simply to listen to the disc for the pleasures and uplift it delivers and only then, perhaps in a later hearing, look into just how the whole thing has been put together. It is useful to remember that much of the material here is not presented in its original form – not even the pieces traced directly to Gibbons. Harry Baker has arranged The Song of Moses for soprano solo, choir and piano; The Song of Angels for choir and piano; The Lamentation of David over Saul and Jonathan for vocal soloists, choir and piano; The Song of Hezekiah for choir and piano; and Veni Creator Spiritus for choir and piano.
James Weeks is the arranger of Who’s this, that leaning on her friend, for soprano, choir and piano, and of Arise thou North-winde from the North for soprano, tenor, choir and piano. Although inauthentic on their face, these are all sensitively made arrangements that allow use of a modern accompanying instrument and preserve the basics of Gibbons’ music, in several cases accentuating elements through the solos. The purely choral material in Gibbons’ original settings is simply wonderful: Hosanna to the son of David; Almighty and everlasting God; Deliver us, O Lord; O clap your hands; Lift Up Your Heads; O Lord, how do my woes increase; O Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not; a brief Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis; O Lord, I Lift My Heart to Thee; I am the Resurrection; and O Lord, in thee is all my trust. Throughout, the beauty of the voices brings forth the meaningfulness of the words, inviting listeners to engage with higher realms and producing a feeling of exaltation even in our much more secular age. As for the commissioned contributions of contemporary composers, these include a “reflection” on Hosanna to the son of David by Marco Galvani (born 1994) that is attractively upbeat; a “re-imagination” of O clap your hands by Cecilia McDowall (born 1951) with distinctly modern rhythms and an up-to-date sense of jubilation; a “reflection” – called Be still, my soul – on O Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not by Nicola LeFanu (born 1947), which harnesses considerable dissonance and moves to eventual peacefulness; and another “reflection,” this one on Veni Creator Spiritus, by Will Todd (born 1970), which concludes the CD with a slower pace than Gibbons’ original and comes across as genuinely reflective of the text. Everything is sung impressively and with great sensitivity, and listeners with a strong disposition to material of this sort – and this vintage – will find much to admire, and much to respond to, in this carefully thought-through assemblage.
The time span from the Middle Ages to the 21st century is explored vocally in a very different way on a Gramola release offering 21 songs in three languages: Ladino (the language traditionally spoken by Sephardic Jews), Hebrew and Spanish. Music originating in time periods from that of medieval Spain to modern-day Israel – and including Eyal Bat’s setting of soprano Shira Karmon’s poem “About Rachel” – is here arranged by flamenco guitarist Rainer Maria Nero in ways that produce an aurally attractive blend of voice and instrument. The sound is often quite distinctive, the blending of Karmon’s voice with Nero’s guitar emphasizing the emotional expressiveness and rhythmic structure of these brief songs. The Ladino and Hebrew languages will likely be largely unfamiliar to most listeners, emphasizing the narrow targeting of the release – like the Gibbons-focused CD, this is very definitely a niche product. Nevertheless, there is an accumulation of feeling as the disc progresses that can sweep audiences along to worlds that they may never have visited but that showcase attractive levels of emotional connection. The arrangers and composers here will scarcely be familiar to many, but the consistency of Nero’s arrangements and the engaging involvement of Karmon in each piece pull listeners effectively into the small worlds on display. Among the composers included on the disc are Matti Caspi, Achinoam Nini (Noa), and Simon Laks, with poems by Ibn Gabirol, Ehud Manor and others – plus many traditional songs enlivened and rendered highly expressive through Nero’s accompaniments. Many of the pieces actually begin with a guitar solo that sets a mood that Karmon picks up, explores, and extends. The CD is an exploration of Jewish heritage extending over many centuries, speaking to an audience that finds music to be a unifying force whose power has changed but scarcely diminished during hundreds of years and despite unending sociopolitical upheavals and dislocations. The newer material, especially the songs by Caspi (1949-2026), is especially attractive from a strictly musical point of view, its Brazilian and Latin influences brought to the fore by Nero’s guitar. The older, traditional songs provide a contrasting sonic landscape that Karmon and Nero explore with care and understanding, and the disc as a whole will be attractive to listeners tied to the material by their own religious and cultural backgrounds or interested in exploring some less-known musical material reflective of a particular ethnic group.
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