Balfour Gardiner: Piano Music

1. Prelude(s) for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

2. Pieces (5) for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

3. Humoresque for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

4. Salamanca for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

5. Joyful Homecoming, The, for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

6. Michaelchurch for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

7. Noël for piano (or 2 pianos)
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

8. Shenadoah for piano
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

9. Mere
Composed by Henry Balfour Gardiner
with Peter Jacobs

Tracks:

Miserere Mei, Deus
Deutsche Messe D.872: Sanctus
Hear My Prayer, Oh Lord
Timor Et Tremor
Videntes Stellam
Psalm 13, OP.27
O Salutaris Hostia
Salvette Flores
Evening Hymn
L'enfance du Christ: Shepherd's Farewell
Ave Maria
Advent Responsory
Ave Maria OP.93
Edi Beo Thu, Hevene Quene
Missa Cum Iubilo (Gregorian Chant): Kyrie
Missa Cum Iubilo (Gregorian Chant): Gloria
Missa Cum Iubilo (Gregorian Chant): Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa Cum Iubilo (Gregorian Chant): Agnus Dei
Requiem: In Paradisum
Agnus Dei

Tracks:

Nunc Dimittis
Mass In G: Agnus Dei
Ave Verum Corpus Op. 65 No. 1
O Ignis Spiritus Paracliti
Hear My Prayer
Ave Maria
Panis Angelicus
Eternal Father
Vom Himmel Hoch
Ave Maria
Messe basse: Kyrie
Messe basse: Sanctus
Messe basse: Benedictus
Messe basse: Agnus Dei
Rejoice, Rejoice
Salve Regina, Op. 67 No. 1
Ave, Verum Corpus
Laudi Alla Vergine Maria
Tenebrae Facta Sunt
O Sacrum Convivium

Customer Reviews:

Heavenly.......2007-03-29

This is the most uplifting music I have encountered. The angelic sounds of this choral group help me stay sane on California highways!

The Holy Grail of Choral Recordings.......2006-07-03

This was the first choral CD I've ever purchased when I started becomming involved with choir during my senior year of high school five years ago. My director was telling the choir that he had finally found his copy at a music store and referred to it as the "Holy Grail" of choral recordings. So, I went out to find my own copy and I'm still blown away by it today. I've even given copies as gifts. The music is certainly relaxing and such, but what I most value from it is the spiritual magic. The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge (then and now my favorite choir in the world) brings every composition to life in such a way that's pure, elegant, and deep. Listening to this music and enjoying this choir has allowed me to set my own standard of singing and compositional excellence.

One Small Correction.......2004-03-06

I keep finding new things to love on this CD, including the fact that it has the first recording I found of Gabriel Faure's beautiful Soprano (or Soprano/Alto) duet Ave Maria., Opus 93. The same recording appears on another CD where the singers are named. The above description of this selection unaccountably adds a baritone. Incidentally, Faure also composed a shorter SATB Ave Maria, which John Rutter has recorded.

I only wish the recording included the complete text of Psalm 50/51 from Gregorio Allegri's Miserere Mei Deus. This might come from John Rutter's recently edited score, published by Oxford Press, if I'm not mistaken. I, for one, do not find this selection (or indeed the entire recording) too long and I believe that the embellishments at the end (mentioned in another review) are probably correct when considering performance conventions of the time of its composition.

Gorgeous music, gorgeous performances.......2003-06-19

I am a semi-professional singer with a BA in Music, and I bought this CD with some trepidation because it looked like one of those dreadful "pop classical" compilations that are everywhere lately. But it had lots of great repertoire all in on place, so I decided to risk it, and I was not disappointed! In fact, this is now one of my favorite choral CDs.

As usual, the Choir of Trinity College delivers stunning performances, and the music itself is just gorgeous. Lots of "church" favorites from a wide range of musical periods. The mood of the CD is definitely on the mellow side, but it's perfect for those quiet moods. I love this CD -- highly recommended!

Stunning collection suitable for music nuts or newbies alike.......2002-03-18

Even as an avid fan of classical music with very picky tastes, there was just so much good music packed on these two (cheap!) discs for me to take in at once!
The perfectly balanced and locked chords can really give you chills.

Tracks:

O Thou, The Central Orb
Almighty and Everlasting God
My Eyes for Beauty Pine
Where Thou Reignest
Locus Iste
Lord, I Trust Thee
Holy Is the True Light
Solus ad Victimam
God Be in My Head
Pray that Jerusalem
When To the Temple Mary Went
Thou Knowest, Lord
Ave Verum Corpus
Awake, Thou Wintry Earth
O Quam Gloriosum
Nolo Mortem Peccatoris
Crux Fidelis
Evening Hymn

Customer Reviews:

A fine collection.......2002-03-14

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, present on this disc a survey of music from the "New Church Anthem Book" - new, at least, in 1996 - which contains some of the most accessible and well-crafted music in the repertoire of the English Church. Since the book was designed for use by parish church choirs, it follows that most of the music is quite simple, and the Christ Church Choir make it sound easily achieved, but it is still enormously effective and makes a good sequence of music. The extremely close acoustic of Christ Church Cathedral (the driest cathedral acoustic in England, I believe) lends an impression of what such music might sound like in the parish church context.

Some of the all-time favourites are here, as one might expect: Charles Wood's magnificent "O Thou, the central orb"; "Locus iste," arguably the most famous of Bruckner's motets; Purcell's solemn funeral sentence "Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts"; William Byrd's poised yet anguished setting of "Ave verum corpus"; John Rutter's gem-like and highly effective setting of the beautiful Sarum Primer prayer "God be in my head." These are certainly to be heard from time to time at all the great cathedrals in England, but are no less at home in English parish churches and make for absorbing listening.

Other items fit more obviously into the cathedral tradition. Orlando Gibbons, whose career ended with a brief tenure as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, enriched the worship there and in other great houses of prayer with his anthems and music for the liturgy, and his motet "Almighty and everlasting God" is a noble example of his calmer polyphonic writing. Also from the Tudor period is the dignified account of Simeon witnessing the Christ-child in the temple and declaring his faith and readiness to die in that faith in Johannes Eccard's "When to the temple Mary went." Thomas Morley produces an intense restraint in "Nolo mortem peccatoris" with its weaving vocal lines. The Renaissance is well represented in the lush motets of Victoria (his evocative setting of "O quam gloriosum") and King John IV of Portugal (the popular "Crux fidelis," often to be heard during Passiontide).

Two interesting items are extracts from baroque cantatas, sung in English: "Awake thou, wintry earth" comes from Bach's Cantata 129 and features a chorale (with unmistakable harmonies) set above a continuous organ part that makes colourful use of trumpet stops; meanwhile, "Lord I trust thee" is adapted from Handel's lesser-known oratorio "Der für die Sünde der Welt" - this also has a busy organ part with flowing chordal statements by the choir above it. In like manner, Stanford's anthem "Pray that Jerusalem" consists mainly of organ, with the choir singing the verses of a hymn broken into two-line fragments, sometimes left unaccompanied to provide relief and contrast from the otherwise continuous tone colours. Meanwhile, Schubert's "Where thou reignest" is an adaptation of a partsong, of which the composer was an acknowledged master, with lyrical if at times angular melodies and soft, warm harmonies.

Four anthems represent the twentieth century in its subtlest colours. Herbert Howells is best known for his canticles, most of which are beyond the capabilites of a parish church choir, but in "My eyes for beauty pine" there is an example of his more straightforward writing - this is mostly unison, with the briefest of excursions into four-part harmony. Despite its simplicity it is no less distinctive than his more celebrated works; the same could be said for the wonderful setting of "Holy is the true light" by William Harris, in which (as the liner notes put it) he manages to condense the effect of his famous double choir motets "Faire is the heaven" and "Bring us, O Lord God" into a single choir piece lasting a little over a minute and a half. Kenneth Leighton's works are often difficult, his style being the most 'contemporary' of the composers presented here, but in "Solus ad victimam" (actually in English despite the Latin title!) he shows his ability to make that style accessible and open to singers (and listeners) even of only amateur standards. The programme ends with a real war-horse: Henry Balfour Gardiner's "Evening Hymn," which is sung here in Latin ("Te lucis ante terminum") but was also set with an English metrical translation. It has a quasi-Victorian brand of sweetness and gusto that may not be to everyone's taste, but it is perfectly poised, evocative of the text and leaves one feeling spiritually replete.

The Oxford Choir does itself and conductor Stephen Darlington credit: the trebles make a rich sound that easily complements the strength of the choral scholars and lay clerks (amongst whom, it appears, there were a few guest singers, including the tenor Andrew Carwood of Westminster Cathedral and the Finzi Singers). Stephen Farr, now Director of Music at Guildford Cathedral, accompanies with clarity and care, although his registrations are at times unimaginative. The brief but informative liner notes are by Lionel Dakers, a former Director of the Royal School of Church Music and editor of the "New Church Anthem Book."

This is an interesting slant on the "English Anthem" collections by St. Paul's Cathedral Choir on Hyperion and the "Great Cathedral Anthems" sung by a variety of English and American Cathedral Choirs on Priory, and is quite recommendable.

Tell the rock band at your church to pack their bags!.......1999-10-26

This is what church music SHOULD be. Buy this CD, and the book that goes with it, and present it to your church Choir Director and Pastor. If you're tired of all that "contemporary" TRIPE that is being shoved down your throat on Sunday mornings....buy them this cd and recreate the days when we tried to aspire to God's level......instead of bringing Him down to ours!

Average customer rating:

One of my Favorite CDs
Melodious Shakespeare

Songs to Shakespeare
John Addison , John Addison II , William Aikin , Thomas Arne , Sir Henry Rowley Bishop , Benjamin Britten , Geoffrey Bush , John Clifton , Henry Balfour Gardiner , Franz Joseph Haydn , Mervyn Horder , Herbert Howells , John Ireland , William Linley , John Major , Sir Charles H.H. Parry , Roger Quilter , John Christopher Smith , Charles Villiers Stanford , Michael Tippett , Ralph Vaughan Williams , Graham Johnson , and Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000002ZP7
Release Date: 1993-11-19

Tracks:

You Spotted Snakes
No More Dams I'll Make For Fish
On A Day, Alack The Day
She Never Told Her Love
O Mistress Mine
Lawn, As White As Driven Snow
If Love Make Me Forsworn
O Happy Fair!
If Music Be the Food Of Love
Farewell, Thou Art Too Dear For My Posessing
When In Disgrace With Fortune And Men's Eyes
Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?
The Rain It Raineth Every Day
Orpheus With His Lute
Come Away Death
Fear No More The Heat o' The Sun
Take, O Take Those Lips Away
It Was A Lover And His Lass
Winter
When Daffodils Begin To Peer
Under The Greenwood Tree
Songs For Ariel - I. Come Unto These Yellow Sands
Songs For Ariel - II. Full Fathom Five
Songs For Ariel - III. Where The Bee Sucks
Who Is Silvia?
Francie
Sigh No More Ladies

Customer Reviews:

One of my Favorite CDs.......2004-02-19

In this wonderful collection of Shakespeare settings, Mr. Rolfe-Johnson creates a magical atmosphere using his unbelievable musicality and gorgeous, gorgeous voice! The songs themselves range from the sweet and charming "No more Dams!" to the heavenly interpretation of "She Never Told Her Love", but for me the high point of the whole CD is his incredible performance of the early version of Vaughan Willams' "Orpheus with his Lute"...this song alone is worth the price of the album! Mr. Rolfe Johnson is truly one of the worlds most exquisite tenors! A must have for every fan of English Song!

Melodious Shakespeare.......2001-01-24

This CD consists of a collection of settings of Shakespearian lines by composers ranging from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries. It is an ideal vehicle for finding a new way to enjoy these writings of Shakespeare and also experience the work of a number of British composers, some well-known and some not so well-known

Average customer rating:

Balfour Gardiner: Piano Music

Manufacturer: Continuum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003X0T
Release Date: 1993-08-25

Average customer rating:

Oh Dear! What Can The Matter Be?

Manufacturer: Direct-to-Tape
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000009MG4
Release Date: 1997-03-01

Tracks:

Felix Swinstead: O Dear! What Can The Matter Be?
Haydn Wood: Moods. Suite for Pianoforte
H. Balfour Gardiner: Five Pieces
Billy Mayerl: Autumn Crocus
Liza Lehmann: Cobweb Castle. Six Pianoforte Sketches
Billy Mayerl: Four Aces Suite
Hubert Bath: Cornish Rhapsody

Album Description

This very enjoyable program is a selection of music written by English composers during the first half of the 20th century. It falls into the category of "British Light Music" and can be enjoyed by both "classical" and "pop" listeners.

Average customer rating:

Profoundly Inspiring
excellent disc
Recommended, but with some reservations
Exquisite treatment and an interesting choice of pieces
This is one everyone should own.

Allegri-Miserere

Manufacturer: Conifer
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Choral Moods

ASIN: B0000024CQ
Release Date: 1994-02-15

Tracks:

I Was Glad
Deutsche Messe, D. 872: Sanctus
Ellens Gesang III - Hymne an die Jungfrau, D. 839: Ave Maria
Agnus Dei
Nunc dimittis
Cantata 129, Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott: O Lord, We Sing Thy Praise
Hear My Prayer
Miserere mei, Deus
Evening Hymn
God Be In My Head
L'Enfance du Christ: The Shepherds' Farewell
Panis Angelicus
Hear My Prayer, O Lord
Hail, Gladdening Light
Ave verum corpus, K. 618
Ave Maria
Old Hundredth
O Taste And See
Jerusalem

Customer Reviews:

Profoundly Inspiring.......2003-08-19

This recording by The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge is one of my favorite choral CDs. Only the Cambridge Singers rival Trinity in clarity and purity (so if you own one of their CDs then you need this to expand your horizons a hint). Anglican choristers will know most of the songs on this album so, in a way, this is a greatest hits performance of church music. This contains the best recording of the Parry "I was glad" that I have ever heard and their treatment of the Barber "Agnus Dei" is legendary. Although the frighteningly near perfect Allegri Miserere is worth noting, the equally beautiful Gardiner "Evening Hymn" is alone enough to purchase this album. Find a time when you can be uninterrupted for an hour and a half, throw this disc in the CD player, and relax as Richard Marlow's Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge takes you all new levels of awe.

excellent disc.......2003-03-20

Trinity College choir has a gorgeous sound. This CD is excellent for relaxing to. The more "forceful" pieces left a bit to be desired - not as "big" as they could have been. However, the loveliness of Barber "Agnus Dei" makes up for it. Good work from one of the handful of mixed-voice English collegiate choirs!

Recommended, but with some reservations.......1999-12-07

Exquisitely sung disc, with a mix of old favorites and some lesser-known works. The choir seems especially well suited to the quieter, more reflective works, such as "God be in my head" and "Shepherd's Farewell". I was. however, very disappointed with the more rousing works, particularly "Jerusalem" and "Old Hundredth", which on this disc are given very matter-of-fact, verging on moribund, treatments at inordinately slow tempi. Most enjoyable otherwise.

Exquisite treatment and an interesting choice of pieces.......1999-01-27

I received this CD as a Christmas gift, mostly to have a nice version of Allegri's Miserere. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the other offerings as well, including Jerusalem. Agnus Dei is a particularly nice treatment. It seemed this piece was used in the baptism scene in the film Jesus of Nazareth. No matter from which period of history, each work will draw the listener's heart and mind upward toward the ultimate Subject and inspiration of these masterpieces.

This is one everyone should own........1998-12-09

I just listened to this cd two days ago for the first time. I borrowed it from someone so I could hear Allegri's Miserere. I was very impressed with the choir's tuning and the delicacy they use in their pieces. The other impressive song on that recording that stuck in my mind is Barber's Agnus dei. I've heard many recordings of that piece and it is never done to my liking. Grant it, it is a very difficult piece to attempt, but here the Choir of Trinity College does it superbly. The best I've heard.