Kyrie

"There is no choir, nor will you find a recording, that does such full justice to these great a cappella works, each chanson, motet, or Mass movement a miniature yet significant and unique masterpiece. It's difficult to choose specific performance highlights-there are so many moments perfectly demonstrative of some or other virtuosic technical feat or lovely, breathtaking, or otherwise moving expressive musical effect, that the list would amount to citations of nearly every part of every piece".

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"Det er religiøs musik af den mest dybtfølte slags ... Harry Christophers og hans elitekor The Sixteen ... har valgt en ydmyg tilgang til musikken, hvor de enkelte musikalske gestalter fremstilles renfærdigt og ligefremt og vel at mærke med stor autoritet. Der synges oftest vibratoløst, og der moduleres smidigt ... Resultatet er klingende mysticisme ... Alt i alt en fornem udgivelse, hvor Christophers og The Sixteen forløser Poulencs sensuelle franske musik med britisk akkuratesse".

"The Sixteen provide us with beauty in generous quantities, together with elegant phrasing, clear words and immaculate tuning".

"We are not short of fine recordings of Poulenc's sacred music, but this well recorded programme features some of the finest in performances that are idiomatic, and technically accomplished. Rarely have the challenges the composer sets his singers been surmounted with such panace, while the painful beauty of his motets has rarely been captured as purely as here ... This is a fine collection".

"The prevalent mood [in the Poulenc] is one of celebration which St John's Choir captures admirably; there is also a lively engagement with the contrasts which make the Gloria so appealing ... The choir captures the other-worldly atmosphere of the opening [of the Janacek] and mostly navigates the Czech with conviction ... If at times the choir sound is not ideally integrated, as a whole these well-recorded performances are certainly recommendable".

"Denne samling af korværker fra Frankrig, Ungarn og Böhmen er ikke det repertoire, vi normalt forbinder med koret. Men det siger noget om ensemblets drevne musikalitet, at opførelserne her er så idiomatiske, omhyggelige og engagerende ... De hurtige stilistiske og farvemæssige skift i Poulencs messe ... leverer koret stramt og præcist. Især ... drengestemmernes miks og fintfølende nuancering er fantastisk ... [Hos] Janácek ... håndterer koret det tjekkiske sprog imponerende og med utrolig flair ... Det er svært at forstå, at vi lytter til studerende, når vokalsoloerne formes så selvsikkert".