★ ★ ★ ★
'The Arcubus Ensemble is a young choir consisting of ex-Oxbridge choral scholars. Nothing unusual in that: the difference is that by day they're City bankers and accountants. You'd never guess that, though, from their precisely calibrated voicing under the direction of Julian Collings.
The fluidity of the plainsong-derived counterpoint of Duruflé's Requiem was admirably achieved, the climaxes of the Kyrie and Sanctus thrilling. Peter Jaekel's accompaniment on the beautiful 2010 Kenneth Tickell organ used its sonorities to excellent effect. Rebecca Hepplewhite was the fine cello soloist in the Pie Jesu, supporting an impassioned soprano solo from Judy Brown. The baritone soloist, Adrian Collister, was equally accomplished.
The choir's composer-in-residence is Russell Hepplewhite, husband of Rebecca. In this concert he was represented by The Everlasting Voices, settings of three of W B Yeats' most lyrically expressive poems. The fluent rhythms of When You are Old captured the sense of passing time, while both this and A Drinking Song were characterised by gently throbbing dissonances suggesting the poignancy of unfulfilled love. The more aspirational mood of the third song, which gives its name to the set, was evoked with no less skill, ending on a note, or rather chord, of eloquent ambiguity.'
EVENING STANDARD, Barry Millington
'The Arcubus Ensemble is a young choir consisting of ex-Oxbridge choral scholars. Nothing unusual in that: the difference is that by day they're City bankers and accountants. You'd never guess that, though, from their precisely calibrated voicing under the direction of Julian Collings.
The fluidity of the plainsong-derived counterpoint of Duruflé's Requiem was admirably achieved, the climaxes of the Kyrie and Sanctus thrilling. Peter Jaekel's accompaniment on the beautiful 2010 Kenneth Tickell organ used its sonorities to excellent effect. Rebecca Hepplewhite was the fine cello soloist in the Pie Jesu, supporting an impassioned soprano solo from Judy Brown. The baritone soloist, Adrian Collister, was equally accomplished.
The choir's composer-in-residence is Russell Hepplewhite, husband of Rebecca. In this concert he was represented by The Everlasting Voices, settings of three of W B Yeats' most lyrically expressive poems. The fluent rhythms of When You are Old captured the sense of passing time, while both this and A Drinking Song were characterised by gently throbbing dissonances suggesting the poignancy of unfulfilled love. The more aspirational mood of the third song, which gives its name to the set, was evoked with no less skill, ending on a note, or rather chord, of eloquent ambiguity.'
EVENING STANDARD, Barry Millington
★ ★ ★ ★
I have had the pleasure of attending numerous Arcubus Ensemble concerts previously so I was already aware of their beautiful ensemble sound and wide ranging programming. However it was a real treat to hear how they have progressed and developed, enhanced by the resonance of Mary-le-bow's acoustic. Julian Collings, the ensembles founder and Musical Director, made good use of this acoustic with expansive phrasing and well judged pauses. The programme, the first in a series of three (they continue 3pm, Sunday 14th May and Sunday 10th September 2017), is also a showcase for the choral music of their composer-in-residence, Russell Hepplewhite.
The programme started with Requiem 'Officium Defunctorum' by Thomás Luis de Victoria. The choir's rich, full bodied and well balanced sound was perfect for this piece. Collings demanded a wide pallet of colours and dynamics from the singers with beautifully crafted phrasing. The seamless legato of the ‘Introit’ also revealed a very balanced and evenly matched vocal ensemble. In the ‘Offetory’ Collings controlled the dynamics allowing each part to take the musical lead when required but tapped into a fuller sound for the ‘Sanctus’ which the choir gave without losing clarity of text, pitch or beauty of tone.
The next offering was Russell Hepplewhite's 'Paradise: In a dream'. Hepplewhite is best know for his superb operas for young people as well as his choral music. This piece, performed by eight of the female choristers, had a fresh and expressive quality with great sensitivity shown to the setting of the text, although the ensembles diction was not as clear as in the Requiem. Hepplewhite accompanied sensitively at the piano and the octet sang with great control and crafted phrasing. Hepplewhite's close harmonies were beautiful, offering a sweet clarity to the text and a very effective contrast to the heavier opening piece.
The final piece in the programme was a Slavic inspired John Tavener composition for cello and choir entitled ‘Svyati’. Rebecca Hepplewhite joined the full ensemble as the cello soloist and gave a superb performance with an extraordinarily beautiful tone. The choir accompanied her sensitively, taking their turn as soloist with great command and echoing her haunting phrasing to an exquisite pianissimo.
This beautiful programme of accessible repertoire ran for a little over one hour and would be as enjoyable for a concert novice as it would a choral music devotee. A printed programme was given to every audience member with a full transcription of the text and background information on the pieces to allow for greater understanding. Highly recommended to all and an uplifting way to spend a cold Sunday afternoon.
REMOTEGOAT.COM, Sue Moore
I have had the pleasure of attending numerous Arcubus Ensemble concerts previously so I was already aware of their beautiful ensemble sound and wide ranging programming. However it was a real treat to hear how they have progressed and developed, enhanced by the resonance of Mary-le-bow's acoustic. Julian Collings, the ensembles founder and Musical Director, made good use of this acoustic with expansive phrasing and well judged pauses. The programme, the first in a series of three (they continue 3pm, Sunday 14th May and Sunday 10th September 2017), is also a showcase for the choral music of their composer-in-residence, Russell Hepplewhite.
The programme started with Requiem 'Officium Defunctorum' by Thomás Luis de Victoria. The choir's rich, full bodied and well balanced sound was perfect for this piece. Collings demanded a wide pallet of colours and dynamics from the singers with beautifully crafted phrasing. The seamless legato of the ‘Introit’ also revealed a very balanced and evenly matched vocal ensemble. In the ‘Offetory’ Collings controlled the dynamics allowing each part to take the musical lead when required but tapped into a fuller sound for the ‘Sanctus’ which the choir gave without losing clarity of text, pitch or beauty of tone.
The next offering was Russell Hepplewhite's 'Paradise: In a dream'. Hepplewhite is best know for his superb operas for young people as well as his choral music. This piece, performed by eight of the female choristers, had a fresh and expressive quality with great sensitivity shown to the setting of the text, although the ensembles diction was not as clear as in the Requiem. Hepplewhite accompanied sensitively at the piano and the octet sang with great control and crafted phrasing. Hepplewhite's close harmonies were beautiful, offering a sweet clarity to the text and a very effective contrast to the heavier opening piece.
The final piece in the programme was a Slavic inspired John Tavener composition for cello and choir entitled ‘Svyati’. Rebecca Hepplewhite joined the full ensemble as the cello soloist and gave a superb performance with an extraordinarily beautiful tone. The choir accompanied her sensitively, taking their turn as soloist with great command and echoing her haunting phrasing to an exquisite pianissimo.
This beautiful programme of accessible repertoire ran for a little over one hour and would be as enjoyable for a concert novice as it would a choral music devotee. A printed programme was given to every audience member with a full transcription of the text and background information on the pieces to allow for greater understanding. Highly recommended to all and an uplifting way to spend a cold Sunday afternoon.
REMOTEGOAT.COM, Sue Moore
