Polyphony

One of the UK's finest choirs and a cornerstone of Hyperion's choral catalogue

Garnering comments like "one of the best small choirs now before the public" from The Daily Telegraph and "possibly the best small choir in the world" from Encore magazine, Polyphony might be justified in breathing a sigh of satisfaction. Now a fixture on the British choral scene – with annual, sell-out concerts on London of Bach and Handel – they have also made a string of outstanding, and critically acclaimed, discs for Hyperion.

Timeline

1986 Polyphony is founded by Stephen Layton, then the Organ Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge.

1995 Polphony make their BBC Prom’s debut, with Arvo Pärt’s Passion according to St John and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. 

1995 The first of Polyphony’s, now annual, performances of Handel’s Messiah at St John’s, Smith Square, London.  They, along with the group’s performances of Bach’s St John Passion, are now considered as amongst the highlights of London’s musical calendar.

1996 Polyphony’s first disc, of Percy Grainger’s The Jungle Book is released by Hyperion.

1996 The group give the premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Symphony No. 2 at the Royal Festival Hall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

2001 The CD of Benjamin Britten’s music, 'Sacred and Profane', won both a Gramophone award and a Diapason d’Or.

2004 Polyphony’s recording of Arvo Part’s Triodian won Gramophone’s Choral Award. 

2004 Polyphony premiere several new works by Sir John Tavener, as part of his 60th birthday celebrations at the Barbican.

2006 The group receive a US Grammy award for their recording of the American composer Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna

2007 Polyphony receive a second Grammy for their CD Cloudburst, a recording of the choral music of the young American Eric Whitacre. 

2008 Polyphony's recording of Poulenc Gloria makes it to the final three in the Choral category in the 2008 Classic FM Gramophone Awards

 

Essential Discography

Britten Sacred and Profane Hyperion CDA67140

Included on this disc is the last choral work for professionals which Britten was to complete - Sacred and Profane - a collection of eight medieval lyrics for voices in five parts (SSATB). Also included is the Chorale after an Old French Carol whose text is by WH Auden (a close friend of Britten's). The Chorale's text was part of an unachieved Christmas Oratorio on which Britten and Auden intended to collaborate. The seven settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins entitled A.M.D.G. were never performed in the composer's lifetime and indeed had to wait until 1984 for its first performance. This disc won several awards, including Diapason d’Or de l’Année and Gramophone Critic’s Choice.

 

Lauridsen Lux Aeterna Hyperion CDA67449

At once original and yet reassuringly accessible, the music of Morten Lauridsen has achieved something of a cult status in his native America, and Stephen Layton draws from his musicians ardently lyrical performances on this Grammy-nominated disc.

 

Pärt Triodian Hyperion CDA67375

New works from Arvo Pärt are invariably cherished, and this disc contains no fewer than five world premiere recordings – Dopo la vittoria, Nunc dimittis, Littlemore Tractus, My heart's in the Highlands and Salve Regina. It was recorded in the presence of the composer at the Temple Church, London, and went on to win multiple accolades, including a Gramophone Choral Award.

 

Poulenc Gloria and other choral works Hyperion CDA67623

Poulenc’s Gloria is one of his most enduringly appealing works. In some ways straightforwardly pious, it is also tinged with mischievous irreverence and a sense of rollocking enjoyment. ‘When I wrote this piece’, Poulenc famously recalled, ‘I had in mind those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also some serious Benedictine monks I had once seen revelling in a game of football.’ The other works on this disc, shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards 2008, are perfect miniatures, showing an ingenious sense of harmony and texture. 

 

Walton Coronation Te Deum and other choral music Hyperion CDA67330

Crisp and joyously bouncing rhythms garland this fine collection of classic music from the English Choral repertoire. Nominated for a Gramophone award, it shows Walton’s harmonic and melodic ingenuity to have remained fresh since the day the music was composed.

 

Whitacre Cloudburst Hyperion CDA67543

Something of a sensation on its release, this Grammy nominated disc spent over 50 weeks in the Billboard Classical Music Charts. The music is lush and evocative, painting a varied selection of poetry with a rich harmonic language.

 

Forthcoming concerts

St John's Smith Square, London – April 10

Buy tickets

Bach St John Passion (with James Gilchrist, James Rutherford, Elin Mahanan Thomas, Iestyn Davies, Lukas Jakobski, Thom Guthrie and the Academy of Ancient Music)

 

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Essential discography

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