5* Chorzeit Review
English translation:
DVC Chorzeit review, November 2024. Translation by David Boniface
Liz Dilnot Johnson GENTLE FLAME Ex Cathedra (Jeffrey Skidmore)
Playing time 1:12:56
Ensemble sound ***** Interpretation *****
Composer Liz Dilnot Johnson has been composer-in-residence with the multi-award-winning British vocal ensemble Ex Cathedra since 2021 and, this year, celebrates her 60th birthday; two good reasons for the creation of an extraordinary CD.
In the first part of the recording, Ex Cathedra presents a selection of sacred and secular a cappella works written by Johnson over the last 40 years. Depending on the text, the music ranges from easily accessible to folksy, sometimes even daringly avant-garde. The broad spectrum of Johnson's musical language is brought to the fore. The second part shows that she has been strongly inspired by current events, circumstances and global political problems. She composed a Requiem for Refugees when images of Syrian refugees and the destruction of Aleppo was very much in the news. The piece was commissioned by Johnson's home parish in 2017 for the local parish choir and school choirs in the area, and was revised in 2022 with the title When a Child is a Witness for Ex Cathedra. The choral part was expanded and orchestrated for the ensemble. It was premiered in Coventry Cathedral on 26 February 2022, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine and in the same venue as Britten's War Requiem.
In the course of the Requiem sections, Johnson displays great stylistic diversity. A type of gospel based on call-and-response introduces the Requiem Aeternam movement; the solo soprano sings the melody of When a Child is a Witness, which recurs later in the choir. In the second movement, the piano enters unexpectedly for a wild, virtuoso Dies Irae. Most fascinating is the Kyrie Eleison with organ accompaniment, and here Johnson pulls out all the choral stops: whispers and cries that ebb away in glissando, dynamic breaks, atonal clusters, and chords with eight or more voices that make the listener shiver. In the middle section Christe Eleison, Johnson calms the music with a delicately accompanied soprano duet before the harrowing Kyrie Eleison breaks out again and ends in a whisper. The rocking nucleus of the Requiem When a Child is a Witness is in total contrast to this. Here the singers snap, clap and sing out in gospel style with all their soul. Johnson finds a beautiful compositional path for the concluding Lux Aeterna. Here she builds a wide-ranging improvisation model for singers and instruments. Rhythmic and melodic patterns are provided for the individual voices over an organ pedal, which come together to form a densely interwoven soundscape creating a musical evocation of light.
With her music, the composer has found an impressive way to deal artistically with current issues, and you can read her corresponding thoughts in the accompanying booklet. She also gives a touching account of the genesis of Requiem for Refugees and the choice of texts. In addition, it is helpful that all the texts are printed. All in all, this moving work is well worth listening to.