Customer Reviews

Tavener: Lamentations & Praises

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises is almost indescribably perfect in its premiere recording by Chanticleer. As Chanticleer was the co-commissioner of this work, they have a great understanding of the music and the words. Their voices are grouped SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and bass/baritone, as is common in many liturgical choral pieces. The soprano voices of Matthew Alber, Christopher Fritzsche, and Ian Howell are simply amazing in their range and clarity. Not to take away from the other soloists in the lower ranges, but to hear male voices singing at such high octaves is nothing short of wondrous!

If you are new to Tavener, Lamentation and Praises is an excellent introduction to the "modern" period of his compositions that really started with Eternity's Sunrise, composed and performed in collaboration with the Academy of Ancient Music. Tavener has been composing from a very young age, and recording since the mid to late 1960s, when Tavener recorded The Whale on the Beatle's Apple label. It was an unqualified and riotous success. Tavener then and since has made frequent use of tape playback, unusual voicing combinations, Eastern and Byzantine vocal modalities, as well as a mix of contemporary and classical compositional forms to write simple and complex works for voice, chamber ensembles, and solo strings (most popularly his solo cello concerto, The Protecting Veil, is literally his most successful piece and has been recorded several times over by many cellists and orchestras.)

If you are familiar with Tavener's music of the past 15 years or so, then you will hear references in Lamentations and Praises to earlier works. For him a composition might undergo years of re-working, or he might borrow a motif or sound mode and bring it to a newer piece. For example, the melismatic vocal style heard here is found in his superbly dramatic sacred "cantata", We Shall See Him As He Is, recorded in a live performance at London's Proms circa 1989. That work is also divided into sections he called Ikons, each one a depiction of a significant event in the life of Christ. The melisma is also heard strongly in his dirge, Eis Thanaton, and in the stunning Innocence, recorded in collaboration with Martin Neary, Director of Music at Westminster Abbey. He also used tape playback on Tears of the Angels, as well as Eis Thanaton, among several others. The use of Asian/Eastern modes is also heard on last year's Total Eclipse, which also made us of melisma and Byzantine vocal modalities.

Tavener's use of the Ison or drone sound is found in many of his works as he uses it to represent the continuous or eternal/omnipresent existence of God. This is most evident in his work with the Tallis Scholars called Ikon of Light, where a continuous vocal line through the ENTIRE piece is used to represent God, who manifests his presence through the physical medium of light. In Lamentations you hear the Ison at different volumes and in different sections, not continuously, so it's not always apparent.

So many of these disparate elements are what make EXPERIENCING Tavener on disc so special, as you can return to those moments or Ikons that resonate most deeply within your psyche or your soul. For every person I truly believe Tavener's work speaks differently, but with great power to inspire all of us to greater and deeper contemplation.

Much comment has been made of Teldec (Warner Music) and Chanticleer not providing more information in the CD's booklet. While the liner notes are scant, they do give you some useful insight into how Lamentations is structured. If you want an in-depth knowledge of Tavener's compositional process, I'd very highly recommend two books: The Music of Silence: A Composer's Testament and Visions of Paradise. The first book is a series of discussions between Tavener and a music writer, the interviews having been conducted over several months. Visions of Paradise is a biography and offers a thorough and interesting survey of both the work and life of the composer, which are really one and the same for Tavener. Lastly, I found the photos in the Lamentations booklet to be both appropriate and beautiful, enhancing the overall packaging.

This CD is one of Tavener's greatest works!

A powerful piece of music, with the characteristically beautiful performance that Chanticleer is famous for. The subject is not a happy one, and the music conveys the sense of dread and anguish that was probably Tavener's intent. This music is emotionally evocative, but will surely darken and make more somber whatever mood you start listening with, so let the listener take heed! I appreciate the brilliance of the performance, but I can't really say I *like* the music. Recorded in techologically pristine fashion, as we have come to expect from Chanticleer.

Just to respond to the comments about the lack of liner notes: When this work was recorded, the music was still wet on the page. Indeed, Tavener had approved several changes very late in the game, as you might expect. When you do a world-premiere recording of a brand new piece, you can't exactly round up the nearest musicologist and ask for a detailed essay about the music (as you might for, say, Josquin)!

Anyway, I found the piece quite moving, and the performance here is flawless.

Every day a new Tavener recording is released it is like Christmas for me. I have been captivated by his music ever since I bought a cd that contained his string quartet, "The Last Sleep of the Virgin." What Tavener is writing now is filled with "beauty and truth." I consider his latest works "Eternity's Sunrise," "Total Eclipse" and "Fall and Resurrection" to be among his best, and this recording definitely ranks with those. On "Lamentations" the sound is pristine. I think that this album would give someone who is unfamiliar with Tavener an excellent introduction to his unique yet traditional Orthodox voice. So purchase this album, turn off the lights, light a candle next to your favorite religious icon, and let this music draw you into eternity...

This CD is everything I would have expected out of the Tavener/Chanticleer combination. If you've heard any of their other collaborations (Village Wedding, A Christmas Round/Today the Virgin) and have liked those, you will likely appreciate this recording. Those expecting a traditional Chanticleer release from this album, prepare to be surprised. Tavener's Eastern Orthadox influences are extremely prevalent in this work. Tavener fully utilizes the very Eastern tonalities which make this a very un-ordinary(un-Western) sound. This album is not for everyone, but for those looking to go a bit beyond the norm of western choral music, this is a great place to start. Tavener fans won't be disappointed, either. This is such an ethereal-sounding album, and I can't say that I've ever heard an album quite like this. I only give it four stars because I know that there will be people that won't get into this type of music. It is a 5-star performance from Tavener, Chanticleer, and the Handel & Haydn Socities of Boston, in my opinion.

Tavener's "Lamentations" may well be the crowning masterpiece of the greatest living composer of choral works, but the CD is not quite satisfying. No, the musical performance by Chanticleer is astounding, the quality of the Teldec recording is tops, but the lack of documentation about this monumental work is what is so exasperating. Gramophone devoted more than two pages to Chanticleer's world premiere recording of this work plus a special review of the disc. Teldec, however, however, chose just to give the purchaser of the CD four measly paragraphs about the composition, a wrap-up of the "storyline" of the piece and eight pages of rather fluffy photographs to serve as background. Chanticleer's earliest recordings came with booklets packed full of information about each and every selection, Teldec has put out recordings in the past with equally satisfying booklets, yet both fell down with this release. If the classical recording industry is going to do something to rejuvenate the business and spark interest in new, modern compositions, they're going to have to do much more to educate the listener. In the meantime, I'll just hang on the Feb. 2002 issue of Gramophone for in-depth information about this marvelous piece. If the booklet had been up to the usual standards, this would have been a five-star review.

It's safe to say that I don't regret buying this CD. This is one of John Tavener's masterpieces. According to the composer, this "liturgical drama" is sung and played in an "Orthodox Byzantine Style," and it includes the Tibetan bowl and the Byzantine Monastery bowl, which are stuck every twenty beats from beginning to end. This isn't your usual Mozartian Requiem, or your typical Rachmaninov Vespers; this is purely non-Western choral music.

Some people may not like it, but I do. It's nice to try different sorts of classical music. This one, which is part of the "minimal, 20th century choral" category, ranks high on my 20th century classical list. In my opinion, it's very inspirational music. The minimal melodies and Byzantine-like choir helps beat my writer's block when I'm writing an essay or a short story. I don't know if that's unusual or not, but yes, the music helps me write.

I can't decide whether to listen to "Total Eclipse" or "The Protecting Veil" next, but I guess I'll make up my mind sooner or later.

Grade: A

This would not be one of my favourite Tavener CDs, being a kind of Byzantine/Tavener hybrid but without the input of the english choral tradition which is evident in a lot of Tavener's work. Like all Tavener music, it is highly meditative and evocative, it smells and taste of the East and of transcendence but it does not quite have the hearftelt quality of the Veil of the Temple. It is definitely to be recommended if you are a Tavener fan. If you are new to Tavener, then pick up some of the Naxos CDs instead.

I'm quite serious about the accent. Chanticleer's personnel are typically all Americans, and the solo voices in this performance are distinctly USA... even, if your ear is attuned to it, Californian. Believe me, that is NOT a put-down. In fact, it's a kind of praise for Chanticleer's honesty and involvement in the music. The guys in Chanticleer mean what they're singing; the group has a sincere commitment to expressing a 'modern' religious sensibility in music. I have some insider's knowledge here; the founder of Chanticleer, Louis Botto, was a friend and colleague, I was a member of the Chanticleer board of directors in its early years, and I'm proud to be a patron still. The amazon editorial review declares: "Perhaps only listeners who share Tavener's own deep spirituality can fully enter into his musical world." I have to agree. I have personally never entered Tavener's musical world without trepidation, but I can and do respond to this recording precisely because Chanticleer enters that world so devoutly.

This is not, contrary to other reviews, a flawless performance. There were some less-than-world-class voices among the ensemble when this recording was made. There are some moments when the sound recording technology is doubtful. But in a way, the roughness adds to the affect of 'spiritual' neediness. Tavener's music is always an amateur's music, a distant and painful effort to replicate the spiritual resonance of Byzantine, Orthodox chant. Tavener is an amateur at spiritual certainty, however skilled he may be as a composer. That's what makes Chanticleer's so-American performance touching; they have no roots in Byzantium except their longing for epiphany through music.

This is truly one of Sir John Tavener's most ambitious, challenging, and unusual commissions to date. Chanticleer offer us some of their best singing in a performance that is well focused, deeply spiritual, hauntingly beautiful, and extremely intense. The sound quality of this recording is superb; both voices and instruments combine to create the most amazing sonic atmosphere of mysticism. Having said this, I would also have to agree with the previous reviewer and take Teldec, (or whoever is responsible), to task for the sparse cd booklet notes. A piece this monumental deserves far more detailed program notes. For such an incredible effort from composer, performers, and recording engineers, it makes absolutely no sense to me to cut corners on the cd's layout. Yes, the music is austere but that doesn't mean that the program notes should follow suit. However, I'm sure that there will be numerous magazine reviews of the recording and concert reviews of the West Coast and East Coast premieres of this work to make up for the paucity of information regarding the composer and the ensemble.