Hymnos: Purcell Realizations and Canticles by Benjamin Britten David Munderloh, Edward Rushton & Edward Rushton

• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695) & William Fuller (1608 - 1675):
• 1 A Morning Hymn, Z. 198: "Thou wakeful shepherd" (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 03:21
• Henry Purcell & Henry Heveningham (1651 - 1700):
• 2 If Music be the Food of Love, Z. 379a (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 01:59
• Henry Purcell & John Dryden (1631 - 1700):
• 3 King Arthur, Z. 628, Act 2 Scene 2: No. 16, "How blest are the shepherds" (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 02:58
• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) & Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644):
• 4 Canticle I "My beloved is mine", Op. 40: "Ev’n like two little bank-divided brooks" (Andante alla barcarola) 07:37
• Henry Purcell & John Dryden:
• 5 Oedipus (Incidental Music), Z. 583: No. 2, Song, "Musick for a While" (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 03:29
• Benjamin Britten:
• 6 Canticle II "Abraham and Isaac", Op. 51: "Abraham, my servant, Abraham" 15:59
• John Weldon (1676 - 1736) & Anonymous:
• 7 Alleluia (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 02:11
• Benjamin Britten:
• 8 Canticle III "Still Falls The Rain", Op. 55 (Slow and distant) 11:47
• Henry Purcell & Jeremy Taylor (1613 - 1667):
• 9 Let The Night Perish, Z. 191, "Job's Curse" (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 05:38
• Henry Purcell & Henry Heveningham:
• 10 If Music be the Food of Love, Z. 379c (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 03:51
• Henry Purcell & William Fuller:
• 11 An Evening Hymn, Z. 193: "Now, now that the sun hath veil’d his light" (Version with Solo Piano - Realization of Piano Part by Benjamin Britten) 04:19
• Total Runtime 01:03:09

Info for Hymnos: Purcell Realizations and Canticles by Benjamin Britten

Without doubt, Benjamin Britten (1913-76) left an indelible impression on all genres of 20th century English music. His vocal repertoire in smaller instrumentations is particularly fascinating. With three of Britten's "Canticles" as well as a selection of his best "realizations" (or "arrangements", if you will) of songs by Henry Purcell (1659-95), this recording provides an insight into the mature phase of the renaissance of the English song. The "Canticles" (Nos. 1-3) presented on this recording are masterful, morally charged pieces. They require the singer and pianist to pay careful attention to the text, which Britten uses as a starting point for all his works. The "Purcell Realizations" further illustrate Benjamin Britten's genius. Benjamin Britten creates the ideal balance between an incredibly captivating music and the service of the text without overburdening its message. This recording illustrates Britten's outstanding position among the song composers of the 20th century.

David Munderloh, tenor
Alex Potter, countertenor
Edward Rushton, piano
Olivier Picon, horn

David Munderloh
American born Swiss tenor David Munderloh completed three years as a Fulbright Fellow earning a Masters Diploma in early music performance and theory at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. David Munderloh has studied with Hans-Joachim Beyer (Leipzig) and Gerd Türk (Basel). Invaluable has been his close work with Anthony Rooley; work which continues to guide his interpretation of English Lute Songs.

The sought after tenor is regularly called upon for his dramatic interpretations of the major Cantata and Oratorio works, the Handel Oratorio roles holding a central position in his repertoire. Mr. Munderloh has appeared in concert and on recordings with, among others, “Hesperion XXI” and “Le Concert des Nations” (Jordi Savall), “Collegium Vocale Gent” (Philippe Herreweghe), and the Ricercar Consort (Philippe Pierlot); “The Harp Consort” (Andrew Lawrence-King), Le Poème Harmonique (Vincent Dumestre) , "American Bach Soloists" (Jeffrey Thomas), the "J.S. Bachstiftung" (Rudolf Lutz); and with the Baroque orchestras "Capriccio Basel," "Die Freitags Akademie," and “B-Rock Orchestra".

As a member of Chanticleer (Grammy award - 2000), David Munderloh appeared with many renowned Orchestras - St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (Christopher Hogwood and Hugh Wolff), San Francisco Symphony Orchesta and the New York Philharmonic (Emil de Cou), and has sung concerts in some of the world's most notable venues: The Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), New York's Lincoln Center, London's Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebauw in Amsterdam.

On stage David Munderloh has received acclaim for his portrayal of the Madwoman in Benjamin Britten's "Curlew River," as Acis as well as Damon in Handel's "Acis and Galatea," Palide in "Oreste" (Handel), Aeneas in "Dido and Aeneas" (Purcell) and as Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni" (Mozart). Mr. Munderloh has also sung Rameau’s “Pygmalion” (Pygmalion) and “Anacreon” (Bathylle) with L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra under Michi Gaigg.

Mr. Munderloh’s debut solo CD was released on the ARS label in summer 2014 with lute songs of John Dowland and a second solo CD with songs from Herny Lawes garnered critical praise in July, 2018. Also upcoming in Munderloh’s calendar are recitals and recordings of Benjamin Britten's Canticles due out in the fall of 2020 and a recording of Schubert’s Schöne Müllerin with Joshua Rifkin at the fortepiano.

Alex Potter
Described as a "rising star of the countertenor world", Alex Potter is a sought-after interpreter of seventeenth and eighteenth-century music. He has performed with conductors including Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Jordi Savall, Jos van Veldhoven, and Peter Neumann. Alongside numerous performances of works by Bach, Handel and other established composers, he takes particular interest in seeking out and singing lesser known repertoire in concerts and recordings under his own direction.

After beginning his musical career as a chorister at Southwark Cathedral, Alex Potter was a Choral Scholar and read Music at New College, Oxford. He then went on to pursue further study in singing and baroque performance practice at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Gerd Türk, taking additional classes with Evelyn Tubb.

Recent performances of note include Bach’s B-Minor Mass with the Concertgebouw Orchestra/Philippe Herreweghe, Handel’s Israel in Egypt in the Konzerthaus in Vienna with Concerto Copenhagen/Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and a concert of works by Bach and Telemann with Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen at the Wigmore Hall in London.

Alex Potter has a large discography with a number of different ensembles. His CD Fede e Amor with Viennese Baroque Music for alto voice and obbligato trombones was released in 2014 on the Ramée label. A new CD featuring solo-cantatas by Telemann will appear this year on the CPO label.

He lives in the Lüneburger Heath region of Germany with his wife and two daughters. When not singing he also enjoys baking bread, restoring his half-timbered house and growing vegetables in the garden with varying degrees of success.

Edward Rushton
studied piano (with Renna Kellaway) and composition at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, before going on to read Music at King's College, Cambridge. After graduation in 1994 he took the MMus degree in composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, while being increasingly active as an accompanist, working with student singers and instrumentalists. In his second year in Glasgow, Edward held the post of Broadwood Junior Fellow in Accompaniment. In 2001 he graduated with distinction from Irwin Gage's masterclass in Lied interpretation at the Zurich University of Applied Arts. He has been teaching piano accompaniment at the Musikhochschule Luzern since 2000.

He has played numerous song recitals in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Italy and Greece with such singers as Juliane Banse, Sybille Diethelm, Melanie Forgeron, Annina Haug, Jeannine Hirzel, Kathrin Hottiger, Lena Kiepenheuer, Theresa Kronthaler, Yvonne Naef, Robin Adams, Richard Burkhard, Michael Mogl, René Perler, Jakob Pilgram, Lázsló Polgár, Jonathan Sells and Simon Wallfisch. He plays regularly with a variety of chamber music partners including Harry White, saxophone, Raphael Wallfisch, cello and Alison Cullen, piano.

His love for Lieder and song led him in 2015 to found, together with a group of like-minded singers and pianists, the company "Besuch der Lieder" ("The Company of Song") in order to further the performance of Lieder in private spaces in Switzerland.

His discography includes CDs for Nimbus, BIS, Resonus, CPO, Delphian, Guild, Musiques Suisses and Musicaphon with singers Robin Adams, Sybille Diethelm, Valentin Johannes Gloor, Annina Haug, Jeannine Hirzel,, René Perler, Kate Symonds-Joy, and Simon Wallfisch, as well as with cellist Raphael Wallfisch, saxophonist Harry White and pianists Fabienne Romer and William Vann. → Discography

Edward is also in demand as a composer, with recent works performed and commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Leeds Lieder, Orchestra of the National Theatre Mannheim, London Symphony Orchestra, Counterpoise, The Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Harry White Trio, Gemischter Chor Zürich, Origen Festival, University of Zurich, Zürcher Singakademie. His operas have been performed throughout Switzerland, Germany, the UK, and in Philadelphia. Composing for voice and piano also forms a core part of his oeuvre, and he has already written over twenty song cycles and individual works in this, one of his favourite genres. He was awarded the Werkjahr stipend of the City of Zurich in 2013.

For his achievments he has been awarded the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Foundation prize in 2020.

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