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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Veljo Tormis - Choral music
Holst Singers, Stephen Layton Veljo Tormis is—along with Arvo Pärt—Estonia’s most famous living composer, holding an almost mystic status in his
home country. He is also the passionate and practical torch-bearer for folk-singing revival, and the integration of an
ancient cultural inheritance into thoroughly modern, post-Soviet lives. Interestingly, he trained at the Moscow
conservatoire and was steeped in Soviet instruction during his early musical life. His music is almost all written for
choirs; few composers have ever been so committed to one genre. Tormis’s choral specialism marks him out from
Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams and Grainger, whose pioneering interest in folksong was ultimately less purist given
their use of the tunes alone in instrumental or orchestral works: for Tormis, the words and the music are inseparable. “Here the Holst Singers under the indefatigable Stephen Layton explore this fascinating legacy, a mixture of arrangements of folk songs and original music inspired by the honesty and freshness of their idiom, in performances of characteristic spirit, atmosphere and incisiveness.” The Telegraph, 12th April 2008 “By comparison with the crack Nordic teams, the English voices are admittedly a degree softer-focused in tone and not quite so high-pressure in expression. The composer's compatriots bring even more electricity to the five marvellous songs that make up Livonian Heritage, for example, though the Holst singers find a subtlety and affection that certainly compensates. ” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008 “These splendid performances highlight the music's elemental aspects (not just evocations of forces of nature but the spirit of the country, long suppressed by occupiers), the Holst Singers' commitment bringing out the ferocity of some passages with a quite scary intensity.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Shirley Minty (mezzo Soprano, Martyn Hill (tenor), Thelma Owen (harp), Judith Pearce (flute) English Choral Music, Holst Singers, Hilary Davan Wetton 'With glowing sound and very attractive works for coupling, this is an outstanding bargain issue' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Thomas Linley junior - The Song of Moses
Julia Gooding (soprano), Sophie Daneman (soprano), Robin Blaze (tenor), Andrew King (tenor) & Andrew Dale Forbes (bass) Holst Singers & The Parley of Instruments, Peter Holman Thomas Linley was born in Bath into a highly musical family. Had he not died tragically young in a boating accident it seems likely that he would have won for himself a far greater name. He travelled widely, was a friend of Mozart (who commented that ‘had he lived, he would have been one of the greatest ornaments of the musical world’), and was widely mourned. The Song of Moses was one of his last works. A grand oratorio in Handelian style, it contains a varied range of arias alongside choruses which are at once expertly written and intensely dramatic (something here developed to the full by the Holst Singers). The story is taken from Exodus (Chapter 15) and concentrates on the Israelites’ rejoicing after the Red Sea was closed over the pursuing Egyptian forces—much the same as Handel’s Israel in Egypt. This recording is the work’s first performance since 1778. Let God arise is an earlier work, one of his first surviving compositions of any size, and is a large-scale anthem after the style of Handel or Boyce. Again the choruses have real strength and contrapuntal power, and the arias show a skill rare in one so young. “One of the best finds yet in Hyperion’s English Orpheus series” Gramophone Magazine “Linley might well have been an English answer to Mozart, as this fine short oratorio shows” Daily Mail “Another indispensable release in the English Orpheus series. The adventurous will find their curiosity amply rewarded” Classic CD | 
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| |  | Glazunov - Complete Solo Piano Music, Volume 4
Stephen Coombs (piano) Stephen Layton ‘A series that will surely raise this composer’s status immeasurably’ (Gramophone) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Villette - Choral Music
James Vivian (organ) Holst Singers, Stephen Layton ‘The Holst Singers—Stephen Layton’s ‘other’ great choir—is every bit as skilled, sonorous and sensitive as his better-known group, Polyphony. Very few conductors manage this sort of exquisite phrasing, subtle nuance, gleaming sound, and absolute control that you hear from any of Layton’s choirs. Hyperion records them beautifully and offers its usual complete and classy booklet’ (American Record Guide) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Patricia Rozario Holst Singers & Temple Church Choir, Stephen Layton “The performance is outstanding, capturing the range of colour and expression in Taverner's highly original choral writing to magical effect” BBC Music Magazine, April 2005  BBC Music Magazine
Choral & Song Choice - April 2005 |
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| |  | This have I done for my true lovePartsongs by Gustav Holst, including:
Holst Singers, Stephen Layton | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Holst - Evening Watch and other choral music
Holst Singers & Orchestra, Hilary Davan Wetton | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | The John Tavener Collection
English Chamber Orchestra, Temple Church Choir, Holst Singers, Stephen Layton | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Isobel Collyer (soprano), Joya Logan (alto), Christopher Mercer (tenor), Martin Johnson (bass) Holst Singers, Hilary Davan Wetton | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 weeks. |
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Gramophone Magazine
