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Dream a Little Dream – Just Released!
Maxine Thévenot directs Las Cantantes, the acclaimed Women's Choir of the University of New Mexico. This CD includes premiere recordings of works by Robert Nelson and Bradley Ellingboe, plus pieces by Imant Raminsh, Eugene Butler, Richard Kidd, Gabriel Fauré, Leo Delibes, Nicholas White and Jean Langlais. The title piece, Dream a Little Dream, is arranged by Glenda Tippett. Las Cantantes is accompanied by Anne Laird and Maxine Thévenot, pianists, and Iain Quinn, organist.
Click here to order this CD from Raven. |
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Fiesta!
Maxine Thévenot plays the Reuter organ at the Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico. This CD includes world premiere recordings of works by Fredrik Sixten and Gerald Bales and also includes the Boëllmann Suite Gothique, Pietro Yon's Humoresque, Simon Preston's Alleluyas, and works by Gigout, Langlais, Messiaen, Vaughan Williams, and Vierne.
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| The Albuquerque International Balloon Festival is held for nine days every October. William T. Van Pelt, executive producer and program annotator for this recording, observes that the same air that fills and lifts those magnificent, colorful balloons into the deep blue New Mexico sky is the same air that quickens the thousands of pipes in the organ of the Cathedral of St. John. Maxine Thévenot, associate organist-choir director at the cathedral, presents a delightful, varied program of mostly short pieces that awakens a festive, joyful spirit. Composers include Fredrik Sixton (Toccata festival, premiere recording), Gerald Bales (Three Short Pieces, Toccatina), Pietro Yon (Humoresque), Derek Bourgeois (Serenade for Organ), Vaughan Williams (Rhosemedre), Simon Preston (Alleluyas), George Andrix ("Patterns" from Three Pieces for Organ), Jean Langlais ("Nazard" from Suite française and "Chant de paix" from Neuf Pièces), Messiaen ("Joie et clarté" from Les Corps glorieux), Gigout (Scherzo), Vierne ("Berceuse" from 24 Pièces en style libre and "Allegro vivace" from Première Symphonie), and Boëllmann (Suite gothique). Dr. Thévenot demonstrates her solid muscianship throughout, performing with technical security and poise, often choosing relaxed, leisurely tempos that allow for clarity and a natural flow. She uses the large, colorful instrument well. The room is not greatly reverberant, yet the sound blooms. Nevertheless, this is a most enjoyable program, beautifully performed, full of light and color, like hundreds of vividly hued balloons in the bright New Mexico sky. |
James Hildreth – The American Organist (May 2010) |
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...the popular setting of (Vaughan Williams') Rhosymedre is well-paced. ...Preston's Alleluyas gets one of the better interpretations with appropriate registration and pace for the various sections of the piece. ...The Vierne pieces are very well performed and interpreted. |
Donald Metz – American Record Guide (Nov./Dec. 2009) |
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| Recorded during the annual International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM, in 2008, Maxine Thévenot's largely European-sourced recital puts Reuter's Op. 2210 (installed in the city's Episcopal cathedral in 2002) through its paces to entertaining effect. Full of character and charm, it is an attractive, light-toned, flexible and subtle instrument, with Thévenot clearly relishing its ability to encompass delicacies by Vaughan Williams, Messiaen and Derek Bourgeouis, the imposing Suite gothique of Boellmann and a first recording of Frederick Sixten's bright, buoyant Toccata Festival. |
(****) rating – Michael Quinn – Choir and Organ (Nov./Dec. 2009) |
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L'Orgue Magnifique
This recording from Girard College Chapel, Philadelphia, includes world premiere recordings of organ works by John Burge, Jeanne Landry, and Martin Stacey. The disc also includes Louis Vierne's Third Symphony in F# minor, Sur le Rhin, Stèle pour un enfant dèfunt, and Méditations.
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Maxine Thévenot, like several of the rising stars of the younger generation
of organists, is Canadian-born, though she currently resides in New Mexico,
where she is associate organist and choir director of the Episcopal Cathedral
of St. John in Albuquerque and a member of the faculty at the University
of New Mexico. On this recording she has included compositions by two fellow
Canadians, Jeanne Landry and John Burge, as well as an Englishman, Martin
Stacey, and several works by Louis Vierne. All of these are performed on
the magnifi cent Ernest M. Skinner organ in Girard College Chapel in Philadelphia, which is, of course, an academy or high school rather than a “college” in the usual American sense.
The first piece, Martin Stacey’s Totentanz, was commissioned by the British
periodical Choir & Organ as a memorial to the Czech organist Petr Eben. It is
dedicated to Dr. Thévenot, and she gave the fi rst performance in 2008 on the organ in Royce Hall at UCLA. This is the premiere recording of the work. It is an
intense and majestic piece—not exactly the normal conception of a dance, whether of the dead or otherwise—and though very appealing in a number of ways, not exactly displaying a great deal of influence of Petr Eben, to my ears at least.
The second piece on the compact disc is my favorite of the three original
compositions that are given their fi rst performance here: Hesychia by
Jeanne Landry, a former student of Nadia Boulanger. The title comes from
the Greek for stillness, and refers to a form of meditative prayer practiced
by the Hesychasts, a monastic group within the Eastern Orthodox Church
who pursued a solitary existence in the desert. It is a haunting aria-like composition played on the harmonic flute and accompanied on the strings. There is a certain timeless quality about it and the Skinner organ provides the perfect medium for its performance.
The third track, the first recorded performance of Dance by John Burge, is not
unlike the first in being impassioned and dignified, though I did not find it particularly dance-like either. It has some slightly more virtuosic elements than the Totentanz, and there are several passages on the Tuba, which, so far as the Skinner at Girard College is concerned, is something that is always welcome.
The rest of the compact disc is devoted to a number of compositions by
Louis Vierne. The first of these, one of Vierne’s Pièces de fantaisie, is the color
piece Sur le Rhin, which displays the richness of the Skinner diapasons to very
good effect. It is evocative of the slow-running yet majestic waters of the Rhine.
The pathos of the following piece, Stèle pour un enfant défunt (“Tombstone of a dead child”), from Vierne’s Triptyque of 1936, is evident; the strings and harmonic flutes are again used very effectively. This was the piece that Vierne had just finished playing when he died in 1937. The third of the shorter Vierne compositions on this compact disc, Méditation, was actually originally one of three improvisations recorded on a gramophone record in 1928 and subsequently transcribed by Maurice Duruflé.
The remaining five tracks of the compact disc are devoted to Vierne’s Symphonie No. 3 in F-sharp Minor, op. 28. While the Final from the Symphonie No. 1 has always been a favorite composition, and the symphonies of Widor have enjoyed considerable popularity of late, it is unfortunate that Vierne’s equally fine symphonies have largely been ignored. The third symphony is a particularly fine one, perhaps the finest of the lot, and so it is good to have such an excellent performance of it here, and also to have it performed on such a magnificent instrument. This symphony in particular makes the compact disc well worth its purchase price. |
John L. Speller – The Diapason (Feb. 2010) |
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Our colleague Maxine opens with first recordings of three striking contemporary works and concludes with a series of less familiar music by Louis Vierne. The first is the Totentanz: Hommage à Peter Eben by the British-born Martin Stacey; it was commissioned by Choir & Organ magazine for internet publication and dedicated to Maxine. The work is energetic and virtuosic, displaying influences of Eben (whom Stacey admired) combined with original elements. A complete contrast is the Hesychia (Greek for peace or stillness) by the Canadian Jeanne Landry, a study in meditation and—on the part of the performer—exquisite control in continual pianissimo. The extended Dance by Canadian John Burge is, again, rhythmically intense and virtuosic. All of these pieces are well served by the IV/108 E. M. Skinner organ of 1931-33 in Girard College Chapel, Philadelphia. (The same instrument served Peter Sykes admirably for his transcription of Holst's The Planets, reviewed here in November 2006.)
The remainder of the program is devoted to works of Louis Vierne, beginning with three short pieces. Sur le Rhin is one of the less familiar of the 24 Pièces de Fantasie and not one that especially appeals to me, though it does express the mighty Rhine as it flows toward the sea. The Stèle pour un enfant dèfant (the last piece Vierne played before his fatal heart attack) and the Mèditation (from Trois Improvisations) are more familiar; they receive especially sensitive performances here.
The major work is the Third Symphony in the unusual key of F-sharp minor (I can think of only a few other works in this daunting key other than, of course, those in the WTC). Dating from 1911, a particularly turbulent period in the composer's life, it combines anger and passion with a search for consolation – ending in a triumphant blast at the final conclusion. Maxine plays with authority, solid technique, and an evident sympathy for the idiom. In my experience, this is one of the less frequently heard of the Vierne symphonies, and it is gratifying to have it in such a fine performance.
The liner includes notes by David Gammie, a biography, an extensive discussion of the Girard organ and its connections with Skinner, session photos, and a stoplist. The recorded sound is clean and true. |
Victor Hill, Ph.D. – The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians (Nov. 2009) |
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Girard College, Philadelphia, was the gift of an exceptionally wealthy man. Stephen Girard, a financier, bequeathed $5 million for a school for fatherless boys, which opened in 1843. By 1933, it had acquired a large new organ by the eminent American builder E.M. Skinner, celebrated for Romantic, orchestral instruments of power, delicacy, technical sophistication, and expressiveness. The instrument as it now found is not quite in its original state, but it is still very largely to Skinner's original design. There is no case; the organ speaks from ceiling grilles, just as the large Compton organ of Wolverhampton Civic Hall dominates a great space without being visible. The Canadian organist and conductor, Maxine Thévenot, on the faculty of the University of New Mexico, presents an original programme, with the works of three living composers, and, with some separate pieces, perhaps the most tragically compelling of Louis Vierne's symphonies, number 3 in F# minor, O. 28. The three new pieces, all 'world premier recordings', are characterful, and I particularly admired Jeanne Landry's Heyschia. Landry was born in 1922 and studied piano with Nadia Boulanger. This piece, the title refers to the Eastern Orthodox tradition of Hesychasm, or inward contemplation, is a delicate and appropriately meditate piece for the softest of colours. Dance does everything you might expect: percussive, rhythmic, syncopated writing, with graffit-like splashed from high-powered reeds, all played with zest. Lively, to be sure, it does not to my mind convey a particularly distinctive voice.
But listeners may well turn first to the performance of the master work on this disc. Vierne's third symphony, from 1911, is embedded with the composer's feelings about the end of his marriage, the death of his mother, and the promotion above him of Gigout as Alexandre Guilmant's successor at the Conservatoire. It is easy to read autobiography into music, and it is worth remembering the Irish poet W.B. Yeats' observation on a fellow writer about the difference between life and imagination: John Keats' 'art is happy,' Yeats said, 'but who knows his mind?' This is an admonishment all the more apt for music. Nevertheless, this powerful, half-bitter, almost angry, and certainly angular work is hard to imagine separately from Vierne's fretful life. I'm not too convinced by the vast swelling of sound in the Final with those left-hand chords; this is close to being both vertiginous and vulgar. And the great opening, Allegro Maestoso, with all its vexation and almost table-thumping anger, feels a little underpowered and unexciting to me. But the swirling sound of this magnificent organ, speaking uninhibited into a deep space, thrills as much as it makes one envious. Here are performances both brave and fortifying, with an organ that is, literally, above them both. |
Francis O'Gorman, music critic – Organists' Review (August 2009) |
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| New works by Martin Stacey, Jeanne Landry and John Burge make an arresting and stunning opening to this CD with their adventurous harmonies and rhythmic energy, recalling Eben and Guillou. The better known pieces by Vierne, including the Third Symphony, receive excellent performances from Thévenot with well-judged tempos. The 4-manual, 99-stop Skinner organ is a typically grandiose Romantic affair. Its location in the chapel’s ceiling does mean that quiet passages are occasionally a little too distant. However, the well-blended tutti is thoroughly convincing and perfectly suited to the late-Romantic/modern idiom of Thévenot’s programme. |
(****) rating – Christopher Nickol – Choir and Organ (July/August 2009, p. 65) |
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American pipe-organ builder E. M. Skinner (1866-1960) crafted instruments ideal for the symphonic-organ repertoire of his day, but his legacy was distorted when many were cruelly 'improved' during the 20th century Baroque revival. This disc highlights one of the few to escape artistic fire and sword: the noble instrument in Philadelphia's immense Girard College Chapel. It remains a veritable orchestra of one for those able to master it. Fortunately, Thévenot—Associate Organist-Choir Director at Albuquerque's Cathedral of St. John—is one of the elect. As earlier Raven recordings have shown, her technique is formidable and her musical instincts good, and she gracefully plays both large-scaled and intimate repertoire here. She projects Louis Vierne's brooding, thickly chromatic "Symphony No 3 in F-sharp minor", boring in the wrong hands, with unusual clarity, while "Sur le Rhin" from Pieces de Fantasie exudes sun-shot nobility through its wall of dark, massive sound. The introspecitve "Meditation" and touching "Stele pour un enfant defunt" give Thevenot the chance to reveal and revel in the instrument's quieter, rainbow-hued palette. Martin Stacey's 2007 "Totentanz" (Hommage à Petr Eben), dedicated to Thévenot, proves to be a cacophonic yet persuasive dance of devilish delight, stunningly played. Raven's technical staff keep the chapel's ponderous acoustic on a judicious rein; but even so, this one will put your speakers to the test.
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Craig Smith – Pasatiempo, Santa Fe New Mexican (Mar. 27, 2009) |
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My Dancing Day – Music for Christmas
Christmas joy radiates from Las Cantantes, the Women’s Choir of the University of New Mexico, directed by Maxine Thévenot, in beautiful traditional favorites, most in recent or new arrangements including three which are recorded here for the first time. The choir is joined by organist Iain Quinn, harpist Lynn Gorman DeVelder, oboist Claudia Giese, and percussionist Jeff Cornelius.
Click here to order this CD from Raven. |
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Just as sleigh bells conjure images of Christmas, so the sound of a women's chorus evokes angels — and so a Christmas album would seem like a good idea for a women's chorus. Las Cantantes is a vocal ensemble at the University of New Mexico, and it sounds very good. Only occasionally, when pitch sags slightly or confidence seems to waver, are we aware that these are singers in training. Thanks to Director Maxine Thevenot's good work, those moments are few and brief.
The fine harpist Lynn Gorman DeVelder is heard in a number of selections. The choir is also accompanied ably by organist Iain Quinn, oboist Claudia Giese, and percussionist Jeff Cornelius. |
Barry Kilpatrick – American Record Guide (Nov./Dec. 2009) |
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| This debut recording by Las Cantantes, the women’s choir of The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, is a little gem in many ways. First off, the group itself, which had 19 members during the 2007-2008 academic year, sounds well schooled and well prepared, and the actual singing laid down during the May 2008 recording sessions is solid for an amateur/student ensemble. More... |
Craig Smith – Pasatiempo, Santa Fe New Mexican (Dec. 12, 2008) |
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| This 19-voice, four-part treble ensemble has a fresh and sweet tone, and their program offers some admirable repertory. One of the highlights is the St. Luke Service of Evening Canticles by Frederick Frahm. He is described in the liner as “a Post-Modern American composer,” a phrase that sounds oddly contradictory (or else pretentious) to me; given that “modern” means “of or pertaining to present and recent time,” it seems logical that anything “post-modern” must be still in the future! It would be more informative to characterize the style of these delightful canticles as tunefully eclectic. The settings are fluent, generally simple in style, but thoroughly convincing; the organ part provides gentle support. The music for the Balulalow by Antony Baldwin is bright, enlivening the 16 th century Scottish text. Bradley Ellingboe’s highly imaginative and expressive Magnificat, like the Frahm and Baldwin, receives its first recorded performance on this disc. It is scored for soprano solo, chorus, organ, oboe, and marimba. Oboist Claudia Giese has supple phrasing and nice tonal inflections; percussionist Jeff Cornelius is adroit and supportive. The soprano soloist is not identified by name, but she has ingratiating lyricism. The largest work on the disc is the cycle Dancing Day of John Rutter, which has come to be a welcome change from the wonderful but ubiquitous Britten Ceremony of Carols, clearly the inspiration for Rutter’s work. Harpist Lynn Gorman DeVelder is eloquent here and in a solo arrangement of Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming. It sounds like a refreshing breath of spring, which is also suggested by the photo of the dancer on the front cover— somewhat seasonally incongruous to this New Englander, but certainly reflecting the joy of Christmastide.A Christmas Lullaby with text by Malcolm Dalglish incorporates a charming Scottish Folk melody and would grace any Christmas concert or worship service. Works of Praetorius, Langlais, and Fauré, along with two idiomatically sung folk song arrangements and two old standards complete the program. (I confess that I detest Have yourself a merry little Christmas, but at least Ellingboe brings the freshness of his Magnificat into his pleasantly restrained setting.) Much to my approval, publishers are credited in the liner, which also contains program notes, personnel, biographies, and full texts. The Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque provides a sympathetic acoustic for the singers and the Raven recording team. |
Victor Hill, Ph.D. – The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians (April 2009) |
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Missa Omnes Sancti
Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque, NM
Cathedral Choir
Iain Quinn, Director of Cathedral Music and Organist
Maxine Thévenot, Associate Organist-Choir Director
Iain Quinn: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis *
Philip Moore: The Song of Christ’s Glory
Peter Hallock: The Lord is my light
Philip Moore: He that is down needs fear no fall
Anthony Piccolo: O how amiable *
David Briggs: O Lord, support us *
Malcolm Archer: Missa Omnes Sancti *
Simon Preston: Alleluyas (Maxine Thévenot, organ)
* First recording
Click here to order this CD from Raven. |
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Here's another first-rate recording of sacred works by living composers from one of America's finest church choirs; they're also one of America's foremost standard-bearers for Episcopalian church music. All of the works here—as in the previous album I reviewed from this group (Missa Orbis Factor) have some sort of special connection to the cathedral, either via commission or performance history. All of the works are for organ-supported choir, save for Simon Preston's " Alleluyas', a stirring virtuoso piece for solo organ.
The album's title piece—Malcolm Archer's Omnes Sancti Mass—is a compact, but supremely effective setting of the standard mass, sans Credo. The emphatic opening Kyrie immediately revealed distinct French stylistic echoes, bringing Vierne's Solemn Mass to mind. After the bright Gloria, the brief, light-hearted Sanctus leads directly into the like-toned, but even lighter Benedictus. The hushed Agnus Dei is especially sweet and pastoral.
Before that, we hear very inspiring and accomplished shorter pieces by five other composers. Quinn's own rarefied settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are heard first. Two fine pieces by Philip Moore follow: his bright and triumphant 'Song of Christ's Glory' and the mostly quiet and stately (until its final climax) 'He that is Down Needs Fear no Fall'. Between them we get Peter Hallock's delicate and dreamy Evensong piece, 'The Lord is My light'. Anthony Piccolo's delightful 'O How Amiable' starts out as a sort of celestial dance, maintaining an irresistible, often lilting flow to the end. Well-known organist-composer David Briggs contributes 'O Lord, Support Us', a marvel of gentle, yet intense entreaty (another good Evensong number). In addition to the title piece, the works by Quinn, Piccolo, and Briggs are recorded here for the first time.
Any church composer would be pleased and proud to have first recordings from this superb choir. I'm in love with their exquisitely pure-sounding soprano section, in particular. Excellent sound engineering as well as a serviceable booklet complete a well-nigh impeccable package. |
Lindsay Koob – American Record Guide (January/February 2010)
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Missa Orbis Factor
New Works for the Liturgy
The Cathedral Choir of the Cathedral Church of St. John (Episcopal), Albuquerque, New Mexico, beautifully sings attractive and accessible works of high quality which were composed 1992-2008. For solo organ, the Liturgical Suite on Missa Orbis Factor was composed by Peter Togni in 1985, and is played by Maxine Thévenot on the Cathedral’s fine-sounding 2002 Reuter organ of 65 ranks and are interspersed among the sections of Gerald Near’s setting of the Mass Missa Orbis Factor as sung by the choir directed by Iain Quinn, with Maxine Thévenot accompanying on the organ. Also for solo organ, Iain Quinn composed, and plays on this recording, his Toccata on Victimae Paschali Laudes.
Iain Quinn directs The Cathedral Choir in David Hogan’s beautiful setting of the Magnificat composed in 1985 for the Washington National Cathedral’s completion in 1990 and performed there at the Festival Evensong of Thanksgiving, September 28, 1990, and also directs Stephen Paulus’ New every morning is the love with Maxine Thévenot accompanying.
Maxine Thévenot directs, and Iain Quinn accompanies on the organ, the new works by Judith Bingham and David Arcus.
Click here to order this CD from Raven. |
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Albuquerque's Cathedral Church of St. John serves as both a champion of Anglican and Episcopalian liturgical traditions and a source-via commissions to major composers—of vital new sacred works. Firm evidence of both roles is found in this recording.
The album's centerpiece is a marriage of two different settings of the Missa Orbis Factor, an anonymous Gregorian Latin mass. The choral settings, by Gerald Near (b. 1942), correspond to the Latin texts most commonly set by composers: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. These are interspersed with Peter Togni's (b. 1949) solo organ settings from his Liturgical Suite, based on the same ancient plainchant themes.
Seeking a point of reference online, I found a partial performance of the original Gregorian mass and learned that both composers were very true to their source materials. Near's organ-supported choral arrangements never stray far from the original melodies and rarely lose the limpid, flowing'feel' of plainchant. Yet his imaginative, uncontrived harmonic elaborations and the organ's subtle underpinnings lend the work a distinctly modern aura. Likewise, Togni's organ interludes bear strong, if somewhat more complex allegiance to the original themes. The net effect is quite ethereal and soothing.
Framing the mass at either end, we hear five other modern works. The program begins with a beguiling setting of the classic Magnificat text set by the late David Hogan (b. 1949), followed by 'New Every Morning is the Love'—a very moving piece recently commissioned from Stephen Paulus (b. 1949). Following the mass is Judith Bingham's classic Ave Verum Corpus text. The final choral offering is 'The Head that Once was Crowned with Thorns', a potent anthem by David Arcus (b. 1958). The program ends with Director of Cathedral Music Quinn's own remarkable organ Toccata on Victimae Paschali Laudes.
The Cathedral Choir is first-rate in every respect—definetly one of the better American church ensembles I've heard lately. Raven's vivd sound does them full justice; the booklet is complete and very informative. Episcopalian choirmasters seeking to treat their congregations to accessible and stirring new music are urged to check this one out. |
Lindsay Koob – American Record Guide (March/April 2009)
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Some good Raven CDs have come out of Albuquerque since Iain Quinn and Maxine Thévenot took over the music program at the Cathedral of St. John several years ago, including solo-organ discs by both and the premiere recording by Las Cantantes, a University of New Mexico women's group conducted by Thévenot. This release features Quinn and Thévenot conducting the mostly volunteer cathedral choir and accompanying or soloing at the organ console. The disc's anchor piece is former Santa Fean and noted American composer Gerald Near's sensitive setting of the Gregorian "Orbis Factor" chant as a Mass, plus Canadian composer Peter Togni's organ interpretation of the same chant. Anthems by Stephen Paulus, Judith Bingham, David Hogan, and David Arcus provide other sonic landscapes, and the pieces unroll a sthey would in an actual service. The coral singing is good though not perfect, and Quinn and Thevenot make sure every consonant is correctly placed and most vowels well matched between sections. Brent Stevens' recording and engineering paints a consistent acoustic picture of the cathedral space. No small task: the choral selections were recorded in October 2007 and the first-rate solo-organ performances—Thévenot on the Togni and Quinn on his own multipart, flourish-filled Toccata on Victimae Paschali Laudes—in May 2008. |
Craig Smith – Pasatiempo, Santa Fe New Mexican (Mar. 6-12, 2009) |
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The Church has a long history of commissioning new music for the liturgy, and the Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque is no exception. The central works are two settings of the Missa Orbis Factor: Canadian composer Peter Togni's four interludes from his Liturgical Suite for organ based on themes fom the Mass interspersed with Gerald Near's choral setting. These works neatly dovetail together and are enhanced by clear, expressive singing in the choir and the sympathetically registered organ playing of Thevenot. Accompanying works are by Hogan, Paulus, Bingham, Arcus and Quinn's Toccata on Victimae Paschali Laudes, a powerful work magnificently played by the composer on the cathedral's impressive Reuter organ. There is much to admire here. |
Shirley Radcliffe – Choir & Organ (March/April 2009)
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This disc is subtitled "New Works for the Liturgy"and contains some excellent new repertory, including no fewer than eight first recordings. Our colleagues Iain and Maxine produce, with their singers, an expertly sung and played program of music that adds significantly ito the literature.
The featured work is the Missa Orbis factor of Gerald Near (not one of the first recordings). It is interspersed with selections (Prelude, Offerotay, Communion and Postlude) from the Liturgical Suite of the Canadian composer Peter Togni--itself based on the Missa Orbis factor--to make a full Eucharistic sequence. Near uses the Gregorian melodies as the basis for an attractive Mass setting, enjoyable for singers and accessible to a congregation.
The program opens with the Magnificat from the Mt. St. Albans set of David Hogan and continues with a new setting of New every morning is the love, by Stephen Paulus. Following the Mass is a new Ave verum corpus by Judith Bingham, in which a a repeated rhythmic motif is described by the composer as representing Christ 'dragging the cross to the crucifixion'. Thus rather astringent piece poses some tricky intonation problems, which the choir negotiates adroitly. (under the direction of Thevenot) The program closes festively with a new anthem on The Head that once was crowned with thorns by David Arcus and Iain's stirring Toccata on 'Victimae Paschali Laudes." The liner includes extensive program notes, credits, biographies, and some nice photos. |
Victor Hill – The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians (Dec. 2008)
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Without Boundaries
Maxine Thévenot, organist
Without Boundaries features a broad range of music, including several premieres, for this debut CD released in 2006 on the Raven label.
Click here to order directly from Raven. Canadian customers may wish to click here. |
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Reviews |
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"Listening to this recording on the newly rebuilt Reuter organ at the Cathedral Church of St. John reminds me that the level of organ playing in the United States is truly astounding...to not only have a fine instrument but have the ability to find musicians of the caliber and artistry of Maxine Thevenot......The success of an album like this,....depends obviously not only on the playing involved, but in the arrangement of the pieces and the various moods that they create...the 'rhythm' of the music order....which for me seems to be near perfect.
The opening sound of the recording literally explodes from your speakers with a spirited performance of Mulet's Carillon-Sortie, which Dr. Thevenot plays with panache and excitement and which is an excellent beginning.....Acting as a musical center of this well-planned disc is the Prelude and Fugue in G major by Bach, Thevenot plays the piece with audition-winning panache, and this American classic-style instrument handles the music remarkably well.... The Mendelssohn sonata is also beautifully played....the disc concludes with what to my ears is one of the best and most exciting recordings of Dupre's Cortege et Litanie, op. 19 that is available on any recording......For a debut recording by a first-rate artist, with an imaginative program and beautiful playing, this project can be summed up in one word: Brava!" |
David Wagner – The Diapason (Jan. 2008)
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| Maxine Thévenot has been Associate Organist-Choir Director at Albuquerque since 2005 having grown up in Canada. The organ was built in 2002 using part of an instrument dating from 1950. This CD features a number of first recordings as well as several well-known works. Tempi are more mainstream on Maxine Thévenot's disc (than Iain Quinn's recording on the same instrument). The Carillon Sortie by Mulet setting a cheerful note for the whole disc, which is continued by Bach's G Major Prelude and Fugue. Iain Quinn's arrangement of Early One Morning explores some of the organ's softer and pleasing registers. The five Togni Inventions are all in different styles, mirroring the mood of the plainsong upon which they are based and plainsong again features in the Dupré piece, which brings the disc to a fine conclusion. |
Cathedral Music (May 2007) – UK publication for Friends of Cathedral Music |
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| I'm very, very happy! Your performance is superb! A model performance, in fact. You made the music fit the organ exceedingly well (or is it vice versa?), and you caught the style of the piece right on. What I liked best of all is your rhythmic precision, without which the piece doesn't wok. Congratulations! and sincere thanks! Many thanks once again for including my sonata on your CD, and for playing it with such understanding and musicianship. |
Barrie Cabena – Sonata Giojoso (March 2007) |
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Maxine offers the Five Litugical Inventions for Organ of Victor Togni (b.1935), Iain Quinn's brief Continuum, and the Hommage à Messiaen by McNeil Robinson (who was her principal teacher). The Togni works are charming and would fit nicely into service settings as well as recitals. She opens with an unusually solid, unhurried performance of the Mulet Carillon-Sortie and also includes familiar works of Bach, Mendelssohn, and Dupré. The Sonata Giojoso of Cabena and one of Calvin Hampton's Dances complete her program. Maxine has secure technique, clear musical sense of a wide variety of idioms, and creative use of the large three-manual Reuter organ (2002). The recorded sound is spacious and clean. |
Victor Hill – The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians (Jan. 2007)
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This disc was recorded this past April on the Reuter organ in Albuquerque’s Cathedral Church of St. John. The largest pipe organ in the state, the Reuter is both a good instrument for service playing and has the tonal resources needed for concert music from all periods. Thévenot, a Canada native and St. John’s associate organist and choir director, is a musician of experience, taste, integrity, and flair — the kind of admirable player who can be faithful to the spirit of a composition as well as the letter of its score. Her version of Mulet’s energetic Carillon Sortie is broadly conceived, energetic, and fills the cathedral with magnificent sound, while Mendelssohn’s Fifth Sonata is appropriately grave without being stuffy, then explodes into its majestic Allegro fireworks. Iain Quinn’s Continuum — a knotty, probing yet very rewarding work that Thévenot premiered at Notre Dame in Paris — gets a passionate but balanced performance, and Thévenot goes on to give Australian-Canadian composer Harold Barrie Cabena’s Sonata Giojoso just the right kind of joyous exuberance. The interpretation of Dupré’s Cortége et Litanie is one of the most insightful and refulgent I can recall, and a perfect example of the Latin canticle Surge, illuminare — rise, shine, for thy light has come. Special kudos for Raven engineer Peter Nothnagle, who has kept the organ sound clear while being true to the cathedral acoustics. |
Craig Smith – The Santa Fe New Mexican |
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Your CD is splendid!! Bravo on the Liturgical Inventions!!!!! I love what you have done. You have captured the spirit of the chant, and given the music space. You play them with much grace and such a lyrical line. I feel you are singing the chants as you play them. Your registrations are very beautiful, very clean and clear, just the way Dad would have liked it. What a treasure for us to have this very wonderful and important recording. |
Peter Togni (son of the late Victor Togni) November 2006
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| Peter brought me over a copy of your CD "Without Boundaries" last evening. What a thrill! I would just like to tell you that I love it and thank you so much for falling in love with these Inventions as is so evident your playing of them. I love them all but I particularly like what you did with the Ave Maria and the Laudate Dominum. The Alleluia always thrills me and Victor takes the organ bench again. What a wonderful CD. |
Margaret Togni Fox (wife of the late Victor Togni) November 2006 |
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