Accentus: Transcriptions

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Music reviews of Accentus: Transcriptions

Music Review: A Fabulous Choir in Less Than Clear Sound
Rating: 4 Stars

As to the performances themselves, they are nothing short of sensational. The program starts with Barber's own transcription of his 'Adagio for Strings' (itself a transcription of a movement from his string quartet) to the words of the Agnus dei. Then we have an impressive and moving choral setting by Gerard Pesson of the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony; it is set to words of August von Platen.

There are two Chopin transcriptions by Franck Krawczyk: 'Lacrimosa,' from the Op. 10, No. 6 Etude, and 'Lulajze, Jezuniu' ('Sleep, little Jesus') set to the Largo from Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58. They are both quite beautiful.

The main transcriber on this disc is Clytus Gottwald who not only set the Adagietto but six other pieces including Ravel's 'Soupir,' Wolf's 'Die verlassene Maegdlein' and 'Auf ein altes Bild,' Berg's 'Die Nachtigall,' Debussy's 'Les Angelus.' He tends to use the overlapping choral technique pioneered by Gyorgy Ligeti which creates a kind of aural haze. This is very effective in the impressionistic pieces (and in the second of the Wolf songs), much less so in the German transcriptions. Least successful, by far, is the transcription by Gottwald of 'Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen' from Mahler's Rueckert-Lieder, which, no matter how beautifully sung, becomes a muddy mess obscuring both the melody line and the words.

Finally, there is a gorgeous piece based on Bach's 'Komm, suesser Tod' ('Come, sweet death') transcribed by the Norwegian master, Knut Nystedt. It, the Barber and the Mahler Adagietto are, for me, the high points of this fascinating disc.

A word about this terrific choir. They sing with a distinctively French sound--that is to say, with clarity, lightness, absolute purity of sound--and their dynamic range has to be heard to be believed. The tonal core does not waver or spread even at the softest dynamic or the extremes of vocal range and, in spite of the distortion in the recording, one can hear that they never produce an ugly tone even at their loudest. I am eager to hear more of their recordings and, who knows, maybe even hear them perform in person some day.

Scott Morrison

Description of Accentus: Transcriptions

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