“Revoiced”

music for voices and saxophones

Our debut album, in collaboration with the Ferio Saxophone Quartet on Chandos Records.

released on 1st July 2022

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Contemporary works by leading living composers sit alongside a programme of Baroque and Renaissance vocal music uniquely reimagined for voices and saxophones.

Early music by J. S. Bach, J. M. Bach, H. Schütz, G. Gabrieli, A Gabrieli, O. de Lassus.
Contemporary works by Owain Park, Roderick Williams, Sarah Rimkus, James MacMillan.

‘Revoiced’ explores the magical blend of saxophones and voices, bringing new colours to music from the Baroque and Renaissance, recasting contemporary choral works into a fresh soundworld, and inspiring the creation of new music.

TRACKS

Supported by the Genesis Foundation’s Kickstart Fund

WATCH

Two videos produced during our Revoiced recording sessions in November 2021 at St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Filmed by Classical Films
David Hinitt // Tom Mungall // Mike Panayiotis
Sound by David Hinitt // Adrian Peacock

ABOUT

Four of the works on the disc are drawn from Heinrich Schütz’s Geistliche Chor-Music of 1648. In the preface to this collection, Schütz writes that “You can perform some of these pieces […] with an organ or instruments on the choral parts along with a full choir”. He was not, of course, thinking of saxophones, as these wouldn’t be invented for another 200 years, but ‘Revoiced’ gives a fascinating insight into how this music would have sounded on the instruments of the future.

Schütz intended his collection to be a demonstration of good composition without ‘basso continuo’, focussing on contrapuntal techniques as the foundation of compositional technique. It is these contrapuntal techniques that make the music of Schütz and his contemporaries so infinitely adaptable, and perfectly-suited to the treatment of ‘Revoiced’. New transcriptions and arrangements make use of the saxophone’s quasi-vocal timbre to blur the distinction between voices and instruments, creating an intense blend and heightened sense of unity in the ensemble, offering a fresh and exciting route into the Baroque and Renaissance vocal repertory.

Corvus and Ferio have also enjoyed working closely with leading living composers to present four contemporary works, each inspired in its own way by early music. Written specially for the disc and receiving its premiere recording, Owain Park’s Miserere after Allegri is a recomposition of Allegri’s iconic choral work, placing voices and saxophones in dialogue and translating the original music into a rich contemporary soundworld. Roderick Williams gives a similar treatment to a famous work by Byrd in his Ave verum corpus reimagined, here in a brand-new version for choir and saxophones. The disc also features Sarah Rimkus’s refashioning of her beautiful Marian ode Mater Dei, as well as a new arrangement of James MacMillan’s Christus vincit by the Consort’s director, Freddie Crowley.

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Performers

SINGERS

Ailsa Campbell, Rachel Haworth, Hannah Littleton, Danni O’Neill
Izzi Blain, Sophie Overin, Ella Rainbird-Earley
Jack Harberd, Alexander Hume, Matthew McKinney
George Cook, Thomas Lowen, Chris Murphy

CD REVIEWS

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Gramophone Magazine, Fabrice Fitch

“An imaginative programme … I find myself won over … the choir itself sounds particularly confident and sure-footed …”

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Tortoise Media, Matthew D’Ancona

“A bold and fascinating recording … a captivating convergence of modernity and Baroque and Renaissance tradition, in which voices and saxophones alike are deployed to draw fresh colour, emotion and impact from works that – in some cases – are very familiar.”
“… the consort has quickly become one of the most innovative and adventurous vocal ensembles presently performing”

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Tempo Quarterly Review (Cambridge University Press), Roger Heaton

“… this is a hugely enjoyable disc, largely because of the excellent performances, particularly those of the choir.”
“The choir make a wonderful sound — well balanced with the young voices matched and blended … their tone colours vary, depending on what they’re singing, and I like the graininess and occasional grit they use in the lower voices, particularly the tenors.”
“Sarah Rimkus’s Mater Dei … builds to a powerful climax with the choir making a thrilling sound.”
“… it is a gloriously enjoyable noise …”

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BBC Radio 3 Record Review, Andrew McGregor

“The whole album offers intriguing and effective arrangements of music by Schütz, Gabrieli and Bach as well, contemporary reflections from Owain Park, James MacMillan, Roderick Williams and Sarah Rimkus, framed by this beautifully-resonant recording.”
“The intimate way the saxophones and voices interweave and blend is strikingly effective.”

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BBC Radio 3 Record Review Extra, Hannah French

“… a beautiful new album … the 17th century and modern day collide as Freddie Crowley directs the Corvus Consort and Ferio Saxophone Quartet in a recital of new works and beguiling re-imaginings of older ones for voices and saxophones.”

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Yorkshire Times, Andrew Palmer

“This is an ingenious collaboration between the Corvus Consort and the Ferio Saxophone Quartet … It works brilliantly.”
“The saxophone quartet provide a lovely mellow accompaniment when needed, creating the right ambience for the exploration of the repertoire.”
“The lower voices blend well, and the intensity and power of their voices adds a resonance to match the timbre of the Ferio Quartet, each though thoughtfully considering the other’s contribution as they interweave.”
“Sarah Rimkus’s Mater Dei show off the outstanding voices along with James Macmillan’s evocative Christus vincit with its beautifully moving vocal introduction through to its close where the diminuendo from the sax leaves a mark.”
“The vibrancy of both groups on this CD certainly makes an impression.”

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AllMusic, James Manheim

“An undoubted novelty that sheds new light on its repertory and is totally enjoyable on its own terms … it is well worth hearing and even rehearing.”

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CONCERT REVIEWS

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Henley Standard, Sue James

(concert at Chiltern Arts Festival on 26th February 2022)

“Magical night of classical music reimagined for modern instrument … I could not have imagined the standard of musicians or innovation that I was to hear … Corvus Consort and Ferio Saxophone Quartet transport[ed] us to a magical place …”

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The Moorlander, Elizabeth-Jane Baldry

(concert at Whiddon Autumn Festival on 17th September 2022)

“The concert I attended in Drewsteignton Church was unforgettable – atmospheric, haunting, timeless, otherworldly. The acclaimed Ferio Saxophone Quartet joined Freddie Crowley’s vocal ensemble, the Corvus Consort, to perform music from their new joint album, ‘Revoiced’. I loved it! The four saxophones of different sizes gleamed in the autumnal light, reflecting the colours of the stained-glass windows. The youthful voices soared. The rich programme included music from the 1500s to the 21st century performed with a seductive loveliness that pulled the audience in. If you’ve never experienced it, the mesmerizing combination of human voices and saxophone quartet is worth travelling a long way to hear … We drove home in virtual silence, suffused with numinous joy.”

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LISTEN

GALLERY