Cover: Sacred and Profane Love (c1515) by Titian (c1488-1576)
Hyperion CDA67140 · March 2001
Britten - Sacred and Profane & other choral works
Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor)
- GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER
- DIAPASON D'OR
- DIAPASON D'OR DE L'ANNÉE
- GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
Press
Gramophone Magazine2001AMDG presents as formidable a challenge to its singers as any of Britten's compositions for unaccompanied choir. In fact that is sometimes suggested as the reason why, having written it for an expert group in 1939 and realising…Read the review 
Diapason France2001Après un formidable récital Cornelius (chez le même éditeur), Stephen Layton revient en Angleterre pour fêter Britten. Encore chosit-il un Britten moins connu qu’à l’ordinaire dans ce programme essentiellement consacré à la…Read the review 
American Record Guide2001This collection of some of Britten’s a cappella choral music is wide-ranging, from the Hymn to the Virgin (1930) composed at the age of 16 to the late cycle of medieval poems, Sacred and Profane (1975) composed shortly before…Read the review 
Music Web International2001A crack choir who sing with immaculate intonation and a sure sense of internal balance … I was left wishing there could be moreRead the review 
The Age, Melbourne2001Polyphony’s exceptional energy, technical prowess and expressive flexibility make the most of every word and mood throughout this hour-long programme. This engrossing anthology of words and music comes highly recommendedRead the review 
Cathedral Music2001A valued possession … highly recommendedRead the review 
BBC Music Magazine2001Performance Sounds Polyphony’s brand of singing, clean as a whistle, rhythmically wonderfully alive, impeccably tuned and voiced, polished yet always fervent, is justly renowned and on this disc, under the direction of Stephen…Read the review 
International Record Review2001Almost the only criticism I have of this superb programme is that in Sacred and Profane, Britten's late group of settings of early English poems, Polyphony employ the sort of studied `authentic' pronunciation that one associates…Read the review - Amazon.co.uk2001This disc containing the major part of Britten's mixed-voice a cappella repertoire (the Hymn to St Cecilia is the only substantial omission) could hardly be a better showcase for the virtuosity of Polyphony and the increasingly…Read the review
Recorded: April 2000
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: March 2001
Total duration: 61 minutes 10 seconds
Track list
- Five Flower Songs Op 47: To daffodils Fair daffodils, we weep to seeBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'01
- Five Flower Songs Op 47: The succession of the four sweet months First, April, she with mellow showersBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'13
- Five Flower Songs Op 47: Marsh flowers Here the strong mallow strikes her slimy rootBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'09
- Five Flower Songs Op 47: The evening primrose When once the sun sinks in the westBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'47
- Five Flower Songs Op 47: Ballad of green Broom There was an old man liv'd out in the woodBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'15
- A.M.D.G.: Prayer I Jesu that dost in Mary dwellBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'23
- A.M.D.G.: Rosa mystica In the gardens of God, in the daylight divineBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)3'43
- A.M.D.G.: God's grandeur The world is charged with the grandeur of GodBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)3'03
- A.M.D.G.: Prayer II Thee, God, I come from, to thee goBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)3'03
- A.M.D.G.: O Deus, ego amo te O God, I love theeBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'46
- A.M.D.G.: The soldier Yes. Why do we all, seeing a soldier, bless him?Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'13
- A.M.D.G.: Heaven-Haven I have desired to goBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'31
- A Hymn to the Virgin Of one that is so fair and brightBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)3'20
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Time Yes he is TimeBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'26
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Concord Concord, Concord is hereBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'22
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Time and Concord From springs of bountyBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'27
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Country girls Sweet flag and cuckoo flowerBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'01
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Rustics and fishermen From fen and meadowBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)0'55
- Choral dances from Gloriana version 1954: Final dance of homage These tokens of our love receivingBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'29
- Chorale after an old French Carol Our fathers whose creative will askedBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)4'44
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: St Godric's Hymn Sainte Marye VirgineBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'32
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: I mon waxe wod Foweles in the frithBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)0'35
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: Lenten is comeBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'06
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: The long night Mirie it is, while sumer ilastBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'13
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: Yif ic of luve can Whanne ic se on RodeBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'46
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: Carol Maiden in the mor layBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'37
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: Ye that pasen byBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)1'56
- Sacred and Profane Op 91: A death Wanne mine eyhnen mistenBenjamin Britten (1913-1976)2'34
Recording details from Hyperion Records.