VOCES8: Nightfall
Decca Classics
Hewing to a single theme brings with it one challenge in particular: staying true to the concept whilst ensuring that enough variety is present to sustain interest. Nightfall by the British classical vocal ensemble VOCES8 accomplishes both through smartly considered curatorial choices that present choral performances of pieces by Ludovico Einaudi, Max Reger, Koji Kondo, Caroline Shaw, Sigur Rós, and others. As the hour-long album comes with little supplementary information (track, production, and personnel listings the sole details and liner notes eschewed), the message would seem to be clear: attend to the sounds without letting anything non-musical become a distraction. The album shows that when a vocal ensemble sounds as magnificent as VOCES8 does, nothing more is needed.
Performing on the album are sopranos Andrea Haines and MaryRuth Miller (the recently departed soprano Molly Noon appears on nine songs), altos Katie Jeffries-Harris and artistic director Barnaby Smith, tenors Blake Morgan and Euan Williamson, baritone Christopher Moore, and bass Dominic Carver. Judicious instrumental enhancement is provided by violinist Thomas Gould, cellist Emma Denton, double bassist Sam Becker, marimbist Elsa Bradley, and harpists Lara Somogyi and Lise Vandersmissen. However, as their contributions are limited to three pieces, Nightfall is largely an a cappella recording in its pure form.
A satisfying arc crystallizes as the album progresses, and an equally strong sense of sequence and structure is imparted in having contemplative psalm settings by South Korean composer Jung Jae-il (known for Squid Game and Parasite) open and close the fifteen-track release. After his setting of the liturgical text for Psalm 22.21 establishes a serene tone, the others follow suit with their own night-inspired reflections, and the listener is taken on a nocturnal journey that's immersive and spiritually replenishing. Nightfall truly takes flight with the advent of Sigur Rós's Fljótavík, its material immediately identifiable as the Icelandic group's for its chills-inducing melodies. With the three string players adding to the splendour, the music proves a tremendous showcase for the group's vocal polyphony.
Einaudi's Experience is haunting, with the vocal ensemble in this case singing wordlessly and the cellist, violinist, harpist, and marimbist giving the material insistent thrust. As memorable is Shaw's entrancing and the swallow, which shows why she's become one of today's most sought-after composers. The next time you're trying to get your toddler off to sleep, put on the group's rendering of Koji Kondo's tranquil Zelda's Lullaby (from the Legend of Zelda series of video games) which, with Vandersmissen's harp gently buoying the singing, is guaranteed to induce peaceful slumber. Two world premiere recordings appear, the soaring Stardust by US composer Taylor Scott Davis and transfixing O Nata Lux by British composer Lucy Walker. No less stirring and eloquent are Hugo Alfvén's Aftonen, Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight, Kim André Arnesen's Even When He Is Silent, Dan Forrest's Good Night Dear Heart, Kerensa Briggs's Media Vita, and Frank Ticheli's There Will Be Rest.
As she has on earlier recordings, Haines elevates many a performance on Nightfall with her stunning upper register; that said, the album is more about ensemble singing than individual spotlights. The precise blend the group has perfected over time is the focal point, and the lustrous textures and impeccable control the eight achieve are evident whether they're intoning at a hush or declaiming at maximum intensity. That Nightfall achieves the uniformity it does is also impressive considering that the composers come from multiple countries and from the diverse worlds of film, game, alternative, and contemporary classical music. In creating the album, VOCES8 was faced with the considerable task of following up two terrific collaborations with composers Eric Whitacre and Christopher Tin for Home and The Lost Birds, respectively. In playing to its strengths, the group has met the challenge handsomely with Nightfall.November 2024