One might think that setting the Gloria and Magnificat texts would call forth stylistically quintessential works from a composer, but oddly enough the John Rutter settings recorded here are, by the composer's own admission, not typical. Rutter, in an interview in the enclosed booklet, candidly describes his usual sound as "honeyed," but these are more festive and flamboyant works -- actually likely to be surprisingly attractive for those who've never been very enthusiastic about Rutter, but perhaps not to the taste of those ...
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One might think that setting the Gloria and Magnificat texts would call forth stylistically quintessential works from a composer, but oddly enough the John Rutter settings recorded here are, by the composer's own admission, not typical. Rutter, in an interview in the enclosed booklet, candidly describes his usual sound as "honeyed," but these are more festive and flamboyant works -- actually likely to be surprisingly attractive for those who've never been very enthusiastic about Rutter, but perhaps not to the taste of those wanting a sunny-sweet Gloria. The Magnificat, written in 1990, draws on several exotic traditions -- showing once again Rutter's broad range of acquaintance with British music as well as literature, it evokes the flirtation with jazz in the music of composers like Malcolm Arnold and William Walton. Rutter even describes the bombastic "Fecit potentiam" movement as "thoroughly nasty," and the work as a whole has more energy than one is used to with Rutter. Other choral movements are...
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