Bath Mozartfest: Gabrieli Consort and Players

Gabrieli Consort & Players

Bath Mozartfest

This programme, bringing together two of England's greatest composers, showed us not only two different periods of our musical heritage, but their interconnectedness and a marked contrast in approach.  Purcell, extrovert, joyful and vivacious and Britten – writing during World War II – altogether more introverted and sombre, setting Auden's words to music of graceful gravity.  And, unlike Purcell, he uses no orchestral accompaniment.

Purcell's two Odes, Welcome to all the pleasures and the longer Hail Bright Cecilia, combine period instruments, notably the chittarone, trumpet and woodwind with solo singing and chorus in a profusion of bright colours and lively rhythms.  He is a master of evoking a sense of happiness – it's good to be alive – done with a style and jubilation by players and singers, which lifts the spirits in a performance of high quality, scrupulously accurate and immaculately paced.  The final Hail Bright Cecilia reaches its exultant climax with a paean of triumph which contrasted vividly with the sudden ending of Welcome to all the pleasures, both recreated with brio and panache.

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The Britten Hymn to St Cecilia, sung a capella, brings a more thoughtful, deliberate approach, again combining soloists and chorus in a highly individual tonal synthesis.  The second part, I cannot grow, wonderfully well sung, presto, creates a breathless urgency before the measured refrain, Blessed Cecilia.  The text is a wishful list of how things might be: and a wistful statement of how they are: and the texture has a density and depth which was quite magnificently conjured up, the low bass line reinforcing the sense of impending peril, yet still with hope.  It is a work of arresting power and significance:  as the text puts it: composing mortals with immortal fire.  Paul McCreesh mobilises his superb singers and players with consummate skill in music making of rare excellence:  and the Abbey acoustic responded gratefully. 

(Solo singers were Charles Daniels, Thomas Walker  and John McMunn (tenors): Ben Davies and Jimmy Holliday (bass): Susan Hemington Jones, Alexandra Kidgell, Susan Gilmour Bailey and Ruth Probost  (sopranos): Ruth Gibbins (mezzo): Mark Chambers (counter-tenor))

Peter Lloyd Williams