John Foulds - A World Requiem (Leon Botstein)

Information

Composer: John Foulds

CD1:

• (01-10) A World Requiem, Op. 60: Part I

CD2:

• (01-11) A World Requiem, Op. 60: Part II

Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, soprano
Catherine Wyn-Rogers, mezzo soprano
Stuart Skelton, tenor
Gerald Finley, baritone

Trinity Boys Choir
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Chorus
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, conductor

Date: 2008
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205058

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Review

First impresssions: an enthralling, epic work that just may become a classic

The gestation period needed to absorb fully this extraordinary World Requiem has simply not been available. So when I admit to sitting utterly enthralled by the sheer scale and impact of John Foulds’s achievement, that includes the proviso that true objectivity will only come with time – but I’m optimistic.

Foulds conducted A World Requiem’s 1923 premiere at the Festival of Remembrance, using 1250 performers. This present performance, the first in more than 70 years, was given on Remembrance Day last year, and aside from a rather unwieldy soprano, is a triumph, with special praise due to baritone Gerald Finley and conductor Leon Botstein.

A World Requiem is the kind of piece that could only have grown from wholehearted sincerity, in this case a very personal and inspired response to the devastating losses and suffering in the First World War. Cast in 20 interlinking sections, much of the work’s musical style emerges off the backs of Requiems by Verdi and Berlioz but what we actually hear is more reminiscent of Busoni, the sombre tread of the opening Requiem, the ethereal, half-lit solos and duets, and the searing climaxes, not to mention the spooky use of quarter-tones. The fifth movement “Audite” includes a stirring summons to “you men of all the continents”, an impressive roll call of nations (individually named) and a plea for universal peace.

The contrast between the sombre-hued close of the first part and the day-bright opening of the second – a celebration of deliverance – could hardly be more telling. From here on, the mood and language become more esoteric and the scoring is often extremely delicate. Sections based on texts from Revelation and the Gospel of St John lead to an affirmation of Christ’s spirit and the work ends in ecstatic joy.

Foulds’s work is as ambitiously all-embracing as Mahler’s Third or Eighth symphonies, and in its way almost as moving as Britten’s War Requiem – though these are spontaneous reactions forged in the light of a first encounter. Posterity’s work starts here but I suspect that her ultimate verdict will be pretty favourable. Calum MacDonald’s booklet-notes serve as an invaluable listening aid.

-- Rob Cowan, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/May08/Foulds_World_chsa5058.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jan/04/classicalmusicandopera.shopping
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=5432
https://www.allmusic.com/album/foulds-a-world-requiem-mw0001419356
https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Requiem-Foulds/dp/B000ZBPPXQ

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John Foulds (2 November 1880 – 25 April 1939) was an English composer of classical music. Foulds was an adventurous figure of great innate musicality and superb technical skill. He was largely self-taught as a composer, and belongs to the figures of the English Musical Renaissance. A successful composer of light music and theatre scores, his principal creative energies went into more ambitious and exploratory works that were particularly influenced by Indian music. Foulds' most substantial compositions include string quartets, symphonic poems, concertos, piano pieces, as well as a series of "Music-Pictures".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Foulds

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Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-born naturalized American conductor, scholar, and the President of Bard College. Botstein’s many books, essays, and articles on music and culture have earned him a reputation as a leading musicologist. As a conductor, Botstein has performed as a guest conductor with many leading orchestras in the world. He also inaugurated an important series of recordings of neglected masterpieces with the Telarc label, using the American Symphony Orchestra and a variety of European orchestras.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Botstein

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