Other Choirs, Singers, Musicians that you like

[fan_de_LoK]

Thank you Yorkie for bringing that Tallis recording by King's to my attention, I really like it

Thomas Tallis
Mass 'Puer natus est nobis' - Gloria.mp3



As I had difficulties to keep following the flow of the latin words, I drew for myself a time chart.
Perhaps it may help other people too

[Surpinto]

Thank you for this link and the time break down. I am familiar with 2 of the 3 masses (Byrd and Tye) but not this one by Tallis! Fortunately all is available on YouTube and Amazon for free listening or purchase.

I really enjoyed this.

[fan_de_LoK]

Thanks Surpinto

I forgot to mention, the lines in red correspond to words I am not able to recognize in the song.
I mean, the words are liturgical and of course they can not be changed or altered, but despite knowing what the words are supposed to be, my ears are not able to understand them in the song

Overall, I feel the sound of this piece from Thomas Tallis surprizingly modern for something composed in the middle of the 16th century

[Surpinto]

I have listened to some of those sections and the reason for the confusion with wording is because the different voice parts of the choir overlap various lines from the traditional, and as you say, unalterable liturgical text. Some vocal parts repeat a previous line; while others go on to the next one. This is of course done to create the polyphony effect that characterizes compositions of that time period and which Libera, through Robert Prizeman, also makes great use of - albeit in a different manner.

[filiarheni]

I forgot to mention, the lines in red correspond to words I am not able to recognize in the song.
despite knowing what the words are supposed to be, my ears are not able to understand them in the song

Only one example to help, because when you know where exactly it is, recognition is easier: "Propter magnam" can be heard from 1:25 - 1:29 from the alto, I believe, and then from 1:33 - 1:41 with a repetition. Ear phones will make it easier as well.

I have listened to some of those sections and the reason for the confusion with wording is because the different voice parts of the choir overlap various lines from the traditional, and as you say, unalterable liturgical text. Some vocal parts repeat a previous line; while others go on to the next one. This is of course done to create the polyphony effect that characterizes compositions of that time period and which Libera, through Robert Prizeman, also makes great use of - albeit in a different manner.

Right - and interesting: The word "polyphony" is used differently in English and German. Polyphony in German stands for the indepence of all voices, a predominant feature of the renaissance epoch, whereas Libera's music is not polyphone in this strict sense. And so it was interesting to see that "polyphone" in English includes the mere existence of several voices, regardless of either a reference to equality or to a main voice with the others being subordinated. Something learnt today.

[filiarheni]

Last week, on Ascension Day, I took my most spontaneous decision ever, buying a concert ticket for the 5. Knabenchorfestival (5th Boys Choirs Festival) in Bad Tölz exactly 20 hours before a 7 hours trip to a matinee concert the next day to return home after that concert. And I was SO lucky! The concert on Friday evening which I also had been flirting with, but was sold out still during Friday morning, was it not anymore on Friday afternoon when I arrived and asked there again: Some tickets had been returned, and so I suddenly had two concerts instead of only one - just as I had wished!

And they both were really, really worth coming, I am super glad that I did it - if not, I'd have missed so much, most of all two marvelous, breathtaking performances by the Escolanía de Montserrat, who I now long for to see again all the more. Actually, the Escolanía had been my reason to think about going. I've been following them for a while now and since I love Spain and have friends in Barcelona, I intended to connect that at the next opportunity. However, they beat me to it by coming to Germany sooner.
So, no wonder when this report features them.

Both concerts were split into the performances of the Spanish choir, the Tölzer Knabenchor, who hosted the Festival, and the Austrian choir Wiltener Sängerknaben. I had never dealt with the latter one before, but I was curious for the Tölz Boys Choir, after I recently listened to their recordings of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, St. John's Passion and some more. Before, I wasn't really aware of German or Austrian boys choirs singing sacred music (apart from Christmas songs, and I do not enjoy them singing these).

On Friday afternoon I was very lucky to hear, for an extended amount of time, the Tölz boys rehearsing for next morning's concert, which I truly enjoyed. Nice of them to leave the door open for interested listeners.

1st concert: Evening concert "Sakrale Sternstunden" ("Sacred magic hours"), Mühlfeldkirche
Friday, 31st May 2019

The Wilten boys were the first choir to perform. I was quite upset I sadly have to say. This may partly have been due to their set list selection, as they exclusively sang songs by Heinrich Schütz, and somehow I lack access to his music. But I don't think so, as their main feature simply was: They were loud! Their voices sounded forced, the choir's as well as the soloist's voices, and this resulted in sort of a stiff tone or in other words a tone which was not formed anymore, and so for me it didn't live. They left me with anxious hope for the next day in different acoustic conditions.

Their set list:

"Aller Augen warten auf dich, Herre"
"Bringt her dem Herren"
"O hilf, Chrriste, Gottes Sohn"
"Das Blut Jesu Christi"
"Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied"
"Ich bin die Auferstehung"
"Von Gott will ich nicht lassen"
"Ist Gott für uns"
"Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt"

The choir left through the aisle in a row, but no real order, and there was a tiny boy between two very tall members who had to run every once in a while to keep pace, that was cute.

They were followed by the Tölz Boys with

"Fürchte dich nicht" by Bach
"Virga Jesse" by Bruckner
"Jauchzet dem Herrn" by Mendelssohn

They were really good, clear, bright voices, all fine, except for some insecure entries of individual voice groups, something I had also heard at the rehearsal: They seemed overly careful and needed a tiny moment to find their note. Nothing of that could be noticed the next day at the matinee, here everything was great. Strange. But they continued in perfect pitch all along. They also have very good soloists, and while the Wilten soloists come to the front to sing from there, the Tölz soloists keep their position within the choir.
Interestingly, they have a dual leadership one of which is Christian Fliegner, former member and boy soloist in this very choir, who conducted the Bach piece, while Clemens Haudun conducted Bruckner and Mendelssohn.

My overall highlight of the Tölz boys performances was Bruckner's "Virga Jesse"! I hadn't been familiar with this one and while I was enjoying the piece, I started wondering why so many choirs, when it comes to Bruckner, only focus on "Locus iste" and neglect this one. They should not.

Then it finally was time for the choir I had impatiently been waiting for: The Escolanía boys came in. And OMG - how gentle was their singing and how enjoyable was the listen! To forestall it: My enthusiasm has nothing to do with my anticipation. In fact, I had been excited before, but had also maintained a quite neutral attitude of expectation, as I knew from Youtube that they are very good, but I also own a CD which I'm a bit disappointed about, due to a vibrato in their voices, something I do like in soloists, but less in choirs as a whole, let alone boys choirs. So I had been highly curious how they actually sound in the end. And indeed: They captured me right away! Directly when they started, the difference to the sound of the other two choirs was striking: Here the bright, polished, strong sound, bringing energy to me - there a wondrous sensitivity and softness, which directly hit me into the heart, and this feeling went on an on for all of their five pieces. I didn't know any and liked all of them.

"Germinans germinabit" (Gregorian)
"Inperayritz" (14th century)
"Salve d'ecos" by Cererols
"Magnificat" by Viola
"Moreneta en sou" by Rodamilans

The Gregorian chant was sung in perfect pitch throughout. I explicitly admire that because unison pieces are the most risky ones regarding intonation. The set list continued in strictly chronological order. For the 3rd piece, "Salve d'ecos", four boys were sent up to the gallery on the opposite side and in the following minutes I was completely carried away by how they performed the song. Now imagine the choir singing from the front and then the gentle responding by the quartet you cannot see, just hearing their voices from behind, above, tenderly floating-sinking through the room. Like feathers. It was incredibly enjoyable, almost too much for me to bear.

To get an impression, here is an older "Salve d'ecos" (please remember it's only Youtube live recording quality - what we got to hear in Bad Tölz, was stunning).




I also loved the "Magnificat" - I loved all their pieces! - with a wonderfully sung duet.

The only point: They are so very serious. Libera with their joy of singing are such a joy again for me, and It makes me wonder how comfortable the Escolanía boys actually feel. They are not told not to smile, as I learned from some parents. In their opinion it's due to the concentration. But the boys remained serious also when they were listening to the other choirs. Only once I saw one of them smile in the churches. Could it be their "home" environment, the monastery, the tradition which makes the singing a task to be done in seriousness? Whatever it is, I hope with all my heart that they are happy!

The Escolania de Montserrat choir sound was the nearest to what I would ever call angelic. Their performance even mady me sleep well that night and wake up with a deeply pleased, enriched feeling.


2nd concert: Matinee "Sacred choir music from the Renaissance until now", Stadtpfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt
Saturday, 1st June 2019

Set list:

Tölzer Knabenchor
Missa brevis in D by Britten

Escolanía de Montserrat
"Salve Regina 'Germinans'" by Segarra
"Angelus Domini" by Just
"Salve Regina" by Vivancos

Wiltener Sängerknaben
"Nunc dimittis" by Pärt
Super flumina Babylonis by Palestrina
Kyrie and Agnus Dei from Mass for five voices by Byrd
"Vater unser" by Pärt
"The Deer's Cry" by Pärt

Tölzer Knabenchor
"Te Deum" by Heiller

All three choirs
"V'amo di core" by Mozart

The Tölz Boys delivered a solid performance like the day before, but, as mentioned, without the small unevennesses in the entries. Their voices really shine! Except for the Mozart canon, they sang everything from the gallery in the back, which sounded good, but it was too bad not to see the boys while they were singing.

Hearing Escolanía was the same enjoyment for me as the night before, although I secretly wished for more solos today. I had liked Friday's music selection better, but the ending part of "Save Regina" was a crown jewel. It's a unique interweaving with the voices echoing and taking over from one another, and that sounded just great! And then the echoes stop and the piece ends on one long unison note, starting already piano, then evenly fading out into the nothing. How excellently they managed that and what a huge effect! It felt like the piece didn't actively end, but as if at some point it just wasn't there anymore.
From the reactions around myself, I take it that others had also been holding their breath in awe of such a marvelous, magic performance!

The Wilten Boys sounded very good today! That coarse sound of last evening was entirely absent now, except for one or two solo bits coming close to it again, but today it didn't disturb. The fact that there are so many men - 21 out of 49 attendant members - makes the choir sound full, round, beautiful, and a special treat were some veeery deep notes.
I had been looking forward to Pärt's "Vater unser", and the boy did sing it well, this entire solo song in front of a big audience, but ... I'm sorry, I know it shouldn't be, but it is so hard to resist being biased when you have that fabulous interpretation by Lluís Travesset in your ear.

For the final Mozart, the Escolanía and Tölz positioned themselves on the left and the right side of the church to the back, while Wilten stood directly before the first row. As I was sitting in the second row (yes, such lucky me!), that was pretty close ... So the choirs practically formed a triangle. It may have been due to where I was sitting, but in my ear they were not always synchronous. Perhaps the acoustics were to blame; perhaps I'm wrong and the acoustics deceived me. Then the concert was over - sigh.

The only negative was my seat neighbour. First he annoyed me, among more, with derogative remarks about Libera, but he disqualified himself at the latest when he stated that they sing almost no sacred music! Plus he didn't stop talking. There was an official speech at the beginning and my neighbour in fact commented on it permanently, with low voice, but loud enough to be heard around us. And he just kept talking so that I feared he would talk into the music what he thankfully did not, but between the songs ... His behaviour in general was impolite, to say the least.

Nevertheless, that has been a fantastic trip to the very pretty small Bad Tölz and I can't wait to see the Escolanía de Montserrat live again! I was hoping to like them and I'm so happy that I do. They did have an inclination bonus from me upfront, this I admit, but still, I am not bribable.

P1000117 Escolania - Tölz - Wilten zh.JPG (4.46 MiB) Viewed 6242 times

P1000117 Escolania - Tölz - Wilten zh.JPG (4.46 MiB) Viewed 6242 times

[john45]

Thanks for the very interesting review. I attended a concert by the Tolzer Knabenchor in the Kurhaus about 8 years ago. They were very good. I have always promised myself that one day I will also visit Montserrat to hear the Escolania.

The only negative was my seat neighbour. First he annoyed me, among more, with derogative remarks about Libera, but he disqualified himself at the latest when he stated that they sing almost no sacred music! Plus he didn't stop talking. There was an official speech at the beginning and my neighbour in fact commented on it permanently, with low voice, but loud enough to be heard around us. And he just kept talking so that I feared he would talk into the music what he thankfully did not, but between the songs ... His behaviour in general was impolite, to say the least.

I wonder if this was the same person who sat next to me at the Vallendar concert? He was apparently well known in choral circles and was treated with some deference by the sisters (full of self importance too). He talked a lot and was very critical of Libera’s performance and did not stay for the second half of the concert.

[Surpinto]

Last week, on Ascension Day, I took my most spontaneous decision ever, buying a concert ticket for the 5. Knabenchorfestival (5th Boys Choirs Festival) in Bad Tölz

Your ability to write reviews is practically unrivaled here. So happy to have read of your positive concert experiences and your enjoyment of the choirs. I have heard of all of those choirs but have never listened to them live; now it's a must.

[maartendas]

The Escolania are on my wish list too. Somehow when I hear their recordings it's as if I can hear that they have their home in a chapel in the mountains - there is a quality to their sound which is uniquely grand and mysterious.

[filiarheni]

I wonder if this was the same person who sat next to me at the Vallendar concert? He was apparently well known in choral circles and was treated with some deference by the sisters (full of self importance too). He talked a lot and was very critical of Libera’s performance and did not stay for the second half of the concert.

Talking without end and being very critical certainly fit in. However, he asked me whether I had noticed the drop out of the sound system "in the last song, Veni Creator Spiritus". I'm confused, because he should have been present to hear the last song, but the failures of the sound system at that concert did not hit, as far as I remember, this song nor Libera, which was linked to it. He called others experts (in contrast to himself) and did not seem to be well-known. So I think your neighbour in Vallendar was someone different. To be honest, I do not think that Vallendar was one of Libera's best sung concerts, although I enjoyed it, but he was so ignorant of some basics about them and in some points just wrong.

The Escolania are on my wish list too.

I have heard of all of those choirs but have never listened to them live; now it's a must.

I have always promised myself that one day I will also visit Montserrat to hear the Escolania.

Do!

[TrebleVoices]

Last week, on Ascension Day, I took my most spontaneous decision ever, buying a concert ticket for the 5. Knabenchorfestival (5th Boys Choirs Festival) in Bad Tölz...

That's a great review. I was also at the Knabenchor Festival. In fact I was there from the Thursday so I got to hear both Platzkonzert and the Mass on Sunday by the Tölzer Knabenchor.

I agree with you entirely about the Wiltener Sängerknaben. They were quite poor on the Friday evening concert. I was very disappointed, and I wasn't particularly impressed by the Tölzer either for that concert. But thankfully both were better on the Saturday morning. I especially enjoyed the Tölzer Knabenchor singing Britten's Missa Brevis, which I had snuck in to the church to hear them rehearse the previous day!

The replacement for the Wiltener Sängerknaben in the Gala concert on the Saturday evening were great. A small choir but a very good sound, the Knabenchor Capella Vocalis. They also won the football tournament on the Sunday evening, so there is all-round talent there!

Finally I have to say my favourite choir to attend the Knabenchor Festival were the Escolania de Montserrat, their sound was fantastic in every concert. Very happy to have heard them!

By the way, there was a bonus concert available in Southern Munich. The Münchener Knabenchor were hosting the Maitrise des Chartreux on the Saturday afternoon and it was a really enjoyable concert. In fact I would rate both of them above the Wiltener for the performances I heard that weekend!

[TrebleVoices]

The only negative was my seat neighbour. First he annoyed me, among more, with derogative remarks about Libera, but he disqualified himself at the latest when he stated that they sing almost no sacred music! Plus he didn't stop talking. There was an official speech at the beginning and my neighbour in fact commented on it permanently, with low voice, but loud enough to be heard around us. And he just kept talking so that I feared he would talk into the music what he thankfully did not, but between the songs ... His behaviour in general was impolite, to say the least.

Definitely not me by the way

Although, I have a slight idea I know who it is...

I utterly abhor people who make noise during the performance. That includes official photographers! I very nearly got up during one of the choir changes to say something during the morning matinee to one of the photographers who felt it was fine to constantly tromp up and down creaky wooden pulpit!

[filiarheni]

In fact I was there from the Thursday so I got to hear both Platzkonzert and the Mass on Sunday by the Tölzer Knabenchor.

You were there, too! What a pity not to have known that to say hello from Libera fan to Libera fan! (And imagine that non-Libera fan having to face a superior power of two Libera fans. )

[...] the Knabenchor Capella Vocalis. They also won the football tournament on the Sunday evening, so there is all-round talent there!

I like it very much that they don't only have the opportunity to sing together, but also have some time to share some more activities together.

Finally I have to say my favourite choir to attend the Knabenchor Festival were the Escolania de Montserrat, their sound was fantastic in every concert. Very happy to have heard them!

Same here and I did regret not to have heard "El cant dels ocells", which I saw listed in the gala concert programme, and their other songs as well.

The only negative was my seat neighbour. [...]

Definitely not me by the way

Phew, so glad you confirm that.

Although, I have a slight idea I know who it is. [...] I very nearly got up during one of the choir changes to say something during the morning matinee to one of the photographers who felt it was fine to constantly tromp up and down creaky wooden pulpit!

Seems there were some more to disturb ... Oh well, my neighbour was enough for me.

[TrebleVoices]

You were there, too! What a pity not to have known that to say hello from Libera fan to Libera fan! (And imagine that non-Libera fan having to face a superior power of two Libera fans. )

There is a lot of snobbery amongst traditional choral fans towards Libera. I have a friend who regularly attends lots of choral concerts but he consistently refuses to acknowledge that they are worth listening to. I did however manage to change his opinion slightly, when he heard "I Saw Three Ships".

Libera do have a different sound, but then that's what makes them who they are. I cannot listen to the same style over and over, I need variety. Hence I am quite happy to have Libera in the mix with traditional cathedral choirs, church choirs from other nations and more modern choirs.

Yes, it would have been nice to say hello to a fellow Libera fan, but I was dashing around a lot! I only caught a bit of the rehearsal of Missa Brevis because I was by chance next door rapidly downing a Weissbier and Obazda and could hear the singing from my table! But I didn't stay long in the church, because I also somewhat foolishly had decided to do sketches for three of the Tölzer boys who sang solos in the street concerts.

Clipboard.jpg (702.08 KiB) Viewed 6113 times

Clipboard.jpg (702.08 KiB) Viewed 6113 times

[filiarheni]

At Youtube, you can now find portraits of the four choirs who participated in this 5th Knabenchorfestival, all of which give very interesting insights in plenty of different aspects of the choirs.

Unfortunately, only the Escolanía de Montserrat video was recorded in English, while the others are fully in German and don't have English subtitles available. However, as they may receive them in the future, I found it fine to post them all together already at this point.


capella vocalis



Escolanía de Montserrat



Tölzer Knabenchor



Wiltener Sängerknaben