Search - Tavener, Westminster Choir, Hill :: Thunder Entered Her

Rare Tavener, strong performances

Mark Swinton | 05/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc stands apart from most other collections of John Tavener's choral music in that it features works that are less well-known than "The Lamb," "Song for Athene" or the "Hymns to the Mother of God." Furthermore, out of the six tracks, three include an organ part in addition to the expected choral forces.Indeed, the opening work in the programme - "Angels" - is the only one of Tavener's recent choral works in which there is a continuous organ accompaniment, although there is an impression (in the dense choral writing) that he would just as happily have written the piece without an organ part. The text was written for Tavener by an Anglican priest, who had commissioned the work for the unveiling of a stained glass window depicting angelic figures; unfortunately, it is a rather poor attempt at poetry but Tavener sets it as if it were a much richer, Orthodox text. The organ part consists of bright trills set over a pedal drone, whilst the choir declaims the text in bold strokes of varying intensity. Calmer moments are provided by an unaccompanied quartet of solo trebles at the mid-point and ending of the work. Despite the text, it is an interesting work and makes a fine beginning to the programme.The title work, "Thunder Entered Her," is described as a 'Divine allegory.' It is a long meditation on the Incarnation, and like the composer's "Innocence" calls for a large ensemble that is divided into distinct groups and separated throughout the performance space. A distant semi-chorus of tenors and basses, accompanied by a single tolling bell, open the piece with a veneration in Slavonic, sung from a great distance and sounding disembodied. Then comes a sudden and shocking entry by the basses of the main choir: the single word "Thunder" on a growling low note, which is taken up by the organ and transformed into spectacular flourishes that 'excite' the resonant acoustics of Winchester Cathedral and create the impression of lightning flashes. The main choir sings the descriptive text in dense block harmonies (with the composer's typical heavy divisi and accompanied all the while by a rumbling pedal note) and alternates with the distant semi-chorus, which gets nearer and nearer until eventually the contrasted sound worlds of the two groups merge into an overwhelming blaze of glory and terror. It is left to a high solo tenor to narrate the final outcome of the text ("The Lamb - bleating as He comes forth") before the basses leave us hanging with one last mysterious allusion to "Thunder." The effect of this work truly has to be felt to be appreciated, but it ranks as one of Tavener's more interesting choral monoliths. The use of the organ - an instrument he can play but no longer likes - partly sustains the interest, although the music remains true to the composer's ideals of static, non-developmental material that 'is,' above anything else.For "The Lament of the Mother of God," Winchester Cathedral Choir is joined by a guest soloist, the mezzo-soprano Solveig Kringelborn. In fact, it is she that carries the bulk of the material in the work: the choir is confined to Tavener's familiar drones or 'isons,' which get higher and higher with each passing verse of the text, capturing the intense emotions of the Mother of God as she weeps at the foot of the Cross. She is symbolised by the soprano, whose material is closely indebted to the chant of the Orthodox Church. It is a gruelling solo, but Kringelborn proves herself worthy of it, shouldering low and high notes with equal effortlessness. The Winchester Choristers deserve admirable mention here also, for coping with extended periods of droning on very high notes, before the ear-shattering cry "Rise O God and judge the earth" that concludes the work."Hymns of Paradise" is an unusual piece, calling for boys voices, violins, and a solo bass. Tavener explores the unusual sonority of high treble tones and even higher violin writing in combination, as if attempting to evoke the singing of angels that hint at the wonder of Paradise. There is some odd word-setting here: for instance, one of the recurring elements is the title word itself, which Tavener sets - in homage to one of his longest-standing favourite works, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" - as a stutter ("Pa- Pa- Para- Para- Paraparaparapara- Paraparaparaparadise!"). This is perhaps the least appealing work in the programme from an aesthetic sense, as it dwells for some ten minutes on at most one musical idea.The other two works on the disc are slightly more familiar. "Annunciation" is one of Tavener's finest concepts, in which an ethereal refrain by a quartet representing the Mother of God - "How shall this be, seeing I know not a Man?" - is set against massive and pungeant statements by the full choir representing the Archangel, delivering the news that she is to bear Christ. "God is With Us" is a Christmas Proclamation, in which the key words ("The people that dwell in darkness have seen a great light") are set as a fanfare-like tenor solo, flanked by a double choir that carries the responses "God is With Us - Hear ye people, even to the uttermost ends of the earth." These are set in typical Tavener fashion, using sliding triads that give a sense of timelessness. The proclamation itself - "Christ is born" - harbours a surprise appearance by the organ, to which is given the final 'shout' of joy.Throughout the programme, David Hill shows exactly how far he is prepared to take the Winchester Cathedral Choir - which has been highly prized under his direction for the past fourteen years. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't: in places the trebles sound as though they are straining themselves in trying for the top notes; in "Annunciation" the counter-tenors have similar problems with sounding forced, although one might argue that this very 'un-Anglican churchy' kind of sound reflects the Eastern styles of singing that inform Tavener's vocal writing. As already hinted at, Winchester Cathedral is one of the best places in Britain in which to hear Tavener: the acoustics are generous (like those of a Russian Orthodox Cathedral) and are thus perfectly suited for his slow-moving (and at times static!) harmonic language.A powerful collection."