Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Mass in E-flat Major, Op. 109, IJR 75 “Cantus Missae” (1878)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Three Psalm Motets, Op. 78
Psalm 100: Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt, MWV B 45 (1844)
6 Sprüche, Op. 79, IFM 111
Josef Rheinberger
Abendlied (from 3 Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69, IJR 33)
Netherlands Radio Choir / Benjamin Goodson
rec. 2022/23, Muziekcentrum van der Omroep, Studio 1, Hilversum, The Netherlands
Texts & English translations included
Pentatone PTC5187039 [56]
The Netherlands Radio Choir is a professional ensemble. It’s a substantial choir – just over 70 singers are listed in the booklet. The British singer and conductor Benjamin Goodson has been their Chief Conductor since 2020 and this is their first CD together. Goodson, a former pupil of, amongst others, Sir Colin Davis and Paul Spicer, has worked with a number of crack choirs, both in the UK and in Europe. In addition to his conducting activities, he teaches conducting at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.
Writing in the booklet, Goodson says that the Rheinberger Mass has been one of his favourite works since childhood and he recalls singing it at St Albans Cathedral where he had his first professional job – as a tenor lay clerk – after leaving university. By contrast, the Mendelssohn works were unknown to him until he started work on this CD. I think he brings equal commitment and attention to detail to the music of both composers.
Rheinberger’s E-flat setting of the Mass is, like all the music on this programme, an a cappella work. It is scored for two SATB choirs and this recording differentiates very effectively between the two groups of singers. Katy Hamilton tells us, in her very helpful notes, that Rheinberger wrote this Mass in the year following his appointment (in 1877) as Hofkapellmeister of Munich, a post which meant he was in charge of the choir at the Catholic Alterheilige-Hofkirche; the E-flat Mass was his first composition for the choir. It’s a very fine piece. The Kyrie is full of luxuriant writing for double choir; the vocal lines are long and lyrical. In the Gloria I greatly appreciated the way that the performance – and recording – allows the listener to appreciate Rheinberger’s use of contrast between the twin choirs in the movement’s exuberant opening. The textures are rich and the music is largely celebratory in nature: the ‘Quoniam’ is stirring, as is the contrapuntal writing at ‘Cum Santo Spiritu’.
Rheinberger’s setting of the Credo is very fine. There’s slow, expressive music in the section beginning at ‘Et incarnatus est’. The concluding section, commencing with the Resurrection and Ascension, is a confident and energetic expression of faith; oddly, the rest of the text after ‘et homo factus est’ is missing from the booklet. I like the way in which Rheinberger builds the Sanctus, starting quite quietly and gradually growing to a jubilant setting of the ‘Hosanna’; hereabouts, great play is made of the fact that two choirs are involved. The Benedictus is calm and lyrical. Katy Hamilton aptly describes the Agnus Dei as a “touching journey from heartache to optimism”. The optimism is in evidence in the contrapuntal music for the ‘Dona nobis pacem’.
Goodson and the Netherlands Radio Choir treat is to a very fine account of this Mass. The singing is magnificently accomplished and shows Rheinberger’s music in the best possible light. By coincidence, in a few months’ time, one of the choirs with which I sing will be preparing a performance of this work; hearing this distinguished performance has really whetted my appetite.
Katy Hamilton rightly points out that whereas the Rheinberger Mass was composed for the Catholic liturgy, the music by Mendelssohn which is included on this programme very much springs from the Lutheran tradition. The music which Benjamin Goodson has selected is all expertly crafted and also very effective as settings of the various texts. This should surprise no one who is familiar with the stream of fine choruses in Elijah.
The Three Psalm Motets, were not composed as a set. Rather, as Katy Hamiton reminds us, they were composed at divers times and gathered together for publication only after Mendelssohn’s death. The first of the Motets, ‘Warum toben die Heiden’ (Why do the heathen rage?), sets Psalm 2 for two choirs. Much of the music is vigorous and, in these episodes, I greatly admired the incisive, energetic singing. There are short episodes in which Mendelssohn provides excellent contrast through the use of eight solo voices, four from each choir. These contrasting passages really make their mark here. The third Motet, also for double choir with soloists, is ‘Mein Gott, warum hast Du mich verlassen’ (My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?) This setting of Psalm 22 is the longest of the three. It’s also the most dramatic. Mendelssohn makes telling use of solo voices on a number of occasions. The text of the Psalm expresses a wide range of emotions and Mendelssohn responds well with music that is imaginative and varied. The present performance is superb.
Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt, a setting of Psalm 100, is much simpler in structure and utterance but still receives the same attention to detail and the same level of engagement from Goodson and his singers.
The six Sprüche (Sayings), Op. 79 were completely unknown to me. I’m indebted to Katy Hamilton who explains in her notes that these ‘Sayings’ “are taken from the newly revised Prussian liturgy of 1829, overseen by Friedrich Wilhelm IV and based on older Lutheran practices”. The individual pieces, composed between about 1843 and 1845, are succinct – only one of them lasts for longer than two minutes – and each one is intended for a specific liturgical season. All the pieces are for eight-part choir.
The first is an Advent piece in which words and music express joyful anticipation of the Saviour’s birth. The Christmas piece is, as you might expect, jubilant; both music and performance are full of vitality. Perhaps surprisingly, the New Year ‘Saying’ is not another extrovert celebration. Instead, the text is pensive in nature and Mendelssohn sets the words to slow, thoughtful music. There follows a ‘Saying’ for the season of Lent in which a solo quartet alternates with the full choir. The piece for Good Friday is expansive and homophonic. The set ends with a celebratory, energetic ‘Saying’ for Ascension. As I said, these short pieces were new to me but I’m glad that I’ve hear them, and in such fine performances.
Benjamin Goodson closes his programme by going back to Rheinberger and the piece which is, perhaps, the composer’s best-known. I’ve heard the lovely ‘Abendlied’ many times but I hadn’t appreciated until I read the booklet that Rheinberger first drafted the piece when he was just 15, subsequently revising it into the form in which it was published in 1873. It’s a warm, glowing composition and I think Katy Hamilton’s comparison with some of the motets of Bruckner is apt.
This disc offers a marvellous exhibition of unaccompanied choral singing. The Netherlands Radio Choir offer performances which are as committed as they are accomplished. I enjoyed and admired everything I heard. The recording has been engineered by Tom Peters and produced by Adrian Peacock. They have presented the choir in the best possible fashion: the sound is rich yet never less than clear. Excellent documentation is the icing on the cake.
This is a most auspicious recording debut for Benjamin Goodson with the Netherlands Radio Choir. I hope we shan’t have long to wait for a follow-up disc.
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