Rare, unaccompanied choral music on this award-winning 1997 disc, sung with full and vivid tone by a choir whose vocal values are somewhat different from those of the more reserved Anglican tradition. The Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) is probably better known on the continent than in the UK. His chaste yet darkly passionate Mass for double choir was written in 1922-26, though so personal was its significance to the composer that he withheld it from performance … mehrfor nearly 40 years. This powerful and expressive piece receives a fluent and articulate reading under the direction of James O'Donnell, who also plays Martin's Bach-inspired organ Passacaglia of 1944--a stern yet undeniably impressive statement. Even more unusual is the Requiem (1922) by Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968), a leading member of an interesting yet sadly neglected generation of Italian composers. This masterly work reveals his genius for choral writing, as does the smaller De Profundis, conceived as a peace-offering to fellow-composer Gian Francesco Malipiero, whom Pizzetti had offended. In every instance these little-known pieces turn out to be extremely worthwhile, while the performers prove excellent advocates for them. --George Hall weniger
1 - Mass for double choir - Martin
2 - Messa di Requiem - Pizzetti