A Spotless Rose The Purcell Singers

• Paul Mealor (b. 1975): 4 Madrigals on Rose Texts:
• 1 Mealor: 4 Madrigals on Rose Texts: No. 4, A Spotless Rose 04:52
• Will Todd (b. 1970): My Lord Has Come:
• 2 Todd: My Lord Has Come 03:45
• Sarah Cattley (b. 1995): Ave Maria:
• 3 Cattley: Ave Maria 03:56
• James MacMillan (b. 1959): Ave maris stella:
• 4 MacMillan: Ave maris stella 03:57
• Jonathan Dove (b. 1959): The Three Kings:
• 5 Dove: The Three Kings 04:53
• Kerry Andrew (b. 1978): All Things Are Quite Silent:
• 6 Andrew: All Things Are Quite Silent 04:23
• John Rutter (b. 1945): 3 Shakespeare Songs:
• 7 Rutter: 3 Shakespeare Songs: No. 1, O Mistress Mine 01:53
• 8 Rutter: 3 Shakespeare Songs: No. 2, Be Not Afeard 03:19
• 9 Rutter: 3 Shakespeare Songs: No. 3, Sigh No More, Ladies 01:57
• Total Runtime 32:55

Info for A Spotless Rose

"A Spotless Rose" a thrilling collection of choral works by leading contemporary British composers including James MacMillan, Jonathan Dove, John Rutter, Kerry Andrew and more, from the award-winning vocal ensemble The Purcell Singers, conducted by Jonathan Schranz & Mark Ford.

This digital only album takes listeners through a journey of themes of arrival and the sea, with Christmas themed texts and poems, Marian hymns and folksong. A Spotless Rose culminates in the premiere recording of John Rutter’s Three Shakespeare Songs. The work is dedicated to the Purcell Singers and conductor Mark Ford, an acknowledgement of Rutter’s long and fruitful relationship with the ensemble, and issued to celebrate the composer’s recent 80th birthday, completing a rich and rewarding album.

The title track is Paul Mealor’s setting of the 14th century Christmas text A Spotless Rose, the emotional heart of his madrigal cycle ‘Now sleeps the crimson petal‘, a meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation, in which the metaphorical rose unfurls with gradually building textures and a staggering range of tessitura. Will Todd’s carol My Lord has Come, from his own poem, is a favourite amongst choirs and audiences alike. At the climax of the piece, ‘his love will hold me’ bursts out of the preceding tranquillity. Jonathan Dove’s The Three Kings is a true modern classic, with text by Dorothy L Sayers, telling the story of the magi.

In the eight-part Ave Maria by award-winning composer Sarah Cattley, upper and lower voices are frequently treated as two separate choirs, combining for added harmonic tension at key moments; Sir James MacMillan’s setting of the medieval Marian hymn Ave Maris Stella is in just four parts, harmonising a strikingly simple soprano melody in increasingly inventive ways. In a contemporary contrast Kerry Andrew’s atmospheric setting of the folksong All things are quite silent was originally written to perform using a loop station music device, gradually layering the sounds of the sea with fragments of a tune they found in an old book of English folksongs about a girl who loses her love to the sea.

Sir John Rutter’s Three Shakespeare Songs draw inspiration from settings by Finzi and Vaughan Williams. O mistress mine takes the form of a jazz waltz, Be not afeard uses expansive harmony and deep textures to create a mysterious aural landscape and Sigh no more, ladies brings the set to a cheerfully energetic conclusion.

One of London’s leading chamber choirs, The Purcell Singers, formed in 1994 by conductor Mark Ford, has performed extensively in the UK and internationally. The group has a wide repertoire, ranging from Gibbons to Tavener, via Bach, Howells, Poulenc, Barber and Britten, and has developed a particular reputation for championing unusual late romantic works, notably those of the German composer Georg Schumann. The Purcell Singers are also active in session work, and have recorded several discs for film and television.

The Purcell Singers

The Purcell Singers
One of London’s leading chamber choirs, The Purcell Singers was formed in 1994 by conductor and organist Mark Ford. The group has performed extensively in London venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark and St Paul’s Cathedrals, St John’s Smith Square, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as outside London in Birmingham Symphony Hall and St Albans Cathedral, and at the Brighton, Hurst and Howden Festivals. Internationally, they have been invited to perform in Langen, Germany, in Perugia, Italy, and several times in Northern France in Rouen and Amiens. The choir has been awarded ‘Best Classical Performance’ at the Brighton Festival. The choir’s President is Sarah Walker CBE. The group has a wide repertoire, ranging from Gibbons to Tavener, via Bach, Howells, Poulenc, Barber and Britten, and has developed a particular reputation for championing unusual late romantic works, notably those of the German composer Georg Schumann.

The choir has so far recorded six classical albums, including two première discs of works by Georg Schumann, the first of which was Gramophone Magazine’s Critics’ Choice in January 2002, and the second also described as a “hugely impressive disc” (Gramophone). Its recordings have been frequently broadcast on the radio, and the group has appeared on television.

The Purcell Singers are also active in session work, and can be heard on the cast album of Mary Poppins (the original West End production) and the RuneScape Dragonwilds soundtrack. They have recorded several discs for film and television at Angel Studios, as well as numerous film trailers at Abbey Road and Air Studios, and Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for Madagascar 2.

Booklet for A Spotless Rose