Composer William Mathias, active in the second half of the 20th century, composed a good deal of choral music, some of it in his native Welsh. It's quite varied, and although it has been somewhat neglected since later crowd-pleasers came along, it's worth a revival on the evidence here. Best of all are a pair of secular works, the Learsongs of 1988, and the Riddles of the preceding year. The texts, by Edward Lear in the former case and from medieval literature (adapted into modern English) in the latter, are humorous, but ...
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Composer William Mathias, active in the second half of the 20th century, composed a good deal of choral music, some of it in his native Welsh. It's quite varied, and although it has been somewhat neglected since later crowd-pleasers came along, it's worth a revival on the evidence here. Best of all are a pair of secular works, the Learsongs of 1988, and the Riddles of the preceding year. The texts, by Edward Lear in the former case and from medieval literature (adapted into modern English) in the latter, are humorous, but the music, in addition to being witty, thoroughly inhabits the subject matter of the text. These pieces are both world recorded premieres, and it's hard to think of anything they resemble (and they don't particularly resemble each other). They're worth the price of admission by themselves, but the sacred choral works are equally distinctive. They share a general style, with modal and quartal harmonies, but each one -- the joyous A May Magnificat, Op. 79, No. 2, the Mozartian Ave verum...
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