The English composer Bob Chilcott has written more extensive choral works than these small anthems and arrangements, but he has turned to music like this at various points in his career, and it's worth considering as a whole in this relaxed, lovely recording by the small Tenebrae Consort (drawn from the larger choir Tenebrae). Much of the music consists of folk song arrangements; there are a few of Chilcott's own limpid anthems, and a few pieces drawn from popular music. The texts are in English, French, Spanish, and even ...
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The English composer Bob Chilcott has written more extensive choral works than these small anthems and arrangements, but he has turned to music like this at various points in his career, and it's worth considering as a whole in this relaxed, lovely recording by the small Tenebrae Consort (drawn from the larger choir Tenebrae). Much of the music consists of folk song arrangements; there are a few of Chilcott's own limpid anthems, and a few pieces drawn from popular music. The texts are in English, French, Spanish, and even Japanese and Finnish in a couple of cases, with a few famous pieces (Shenandoah, The Gift to Be Simple, Fascinating Rhythm) mixed in amidst less familiar material. Chilcott has written arrangements for the Swingle Singers and the King's Singers in the past, and most of the pieces draw on the styles of those groups, with simplified versions of the main text refrains given to the voices in rhythmic harmony as accompaniment to the tenor or soprano melody line. It can sound formulaic, but...
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