Canticle of the Sun – Choral Works
Sonoro/Neil Ferris et al
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD0686 70:11 mins
PERFORMANCE ★★★★
RECORDING ★★★★
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This very accomplished and enjoyable album brings together choral works of British composer Stephen Dodgson. Born in 1924, Dodgson composed some 250 works across his lifetime, and while his music didn’t necessarily accord with the prevailing wind of 20th-century European composition, his deft, beautiful scores nonetheless stand the test of time. His music is broadly tonal but often only obliquely, and his rich body of choral music reveals a perceptive approach to text.
The album opens with one of Dodgson’s last choral pieces, Canticle of the Sun (2008). The piece features a florid and declamatory text, written in the voice of the sun itself, by the English poet John Heath-Stubbs, and vocal ensemble Sonoro deliver an astute and vibrant account of this celebratory work.
The album’s standout work though is Dodgson’s Four Poems of Mary Coleridge (1987), scored for choir and solo flute. There is a darker edge to this piece which is well-matched by flautist Katherine Bicknell, whose gorgeous velvety tone and sinuous phrasing meet the score’s every twist from light to shade. Jon Stainsby also deserves special mention for his powerful bass solo in ‘Nocturne I (The Fire, the Lamp and I)’, bringing a terrific depth of sound and feeling to this eerie fairytale of a song.
Other works include ’Tis Almost One (1984), a dynamic cantata for mixed voices and organ which features some of the album’s zingiest harmonies, and Lines from Hal Summers (1997) which finds Sonoro on marvellously pliant and virtuosic form, particularly in the tricky ‘Riotous Voices’ that snakes and swells at breakneck speed.
Performed with real commitment throughout, this is altogether a commendable selection that shines a welcome light on Dodgson’s appealing and engaging music.
Kate Wakeling
BBC Music Magazine
