Charles Villiers Stanford: Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs in Bloomington, MN

Conductor
Harry Christophers
and his ensemble
The Sixteen
(here slightly bulked up to 18 singers) seem to have undertaken championing this small-choir music of
Charles Villiers Stanford
out of genuine enthusiasm; the music is a far cry from the large choral works for which
Stanford
is genuinely known. This release follows on an earlier album of
Stanford partsongs
, and this new one, appearing in conjunction with the centenary of
's death in 2024, made classical best-seller lists in the summer of that year. The partsongs are the best thing again here; the texts are by
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
(great-grandniece of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
), and the settings -- with harmonic complexities to rival those in
's larger works -- are impressively sensitive. Both albums might be adduced in support of the contention that the partsong is the most unjustly neglected genre of 19th century music. Sample "The Haven," whose economical six lines of poetry are matched by marvelously subtle colors. The rest of the material, consisting of two sets of Irish folksong settings and one group of
Six Elizabethan Pastorals
(the texts of these are by various writers), are catchy rather than sublime, but everything is listenable and fun, a word not often applied to
's music. Stick around for the bonus track, titled "Emer's Farewell to Cucullain," otherwise known as the
Londonderry Air
or, for U.S. listeners,
Danny Boy
. This album provides impressive new testimony to the ability of
to deliver convincing performances in a variety of idioms. ~ James Manheim