In the first collaboration between conductor David Hill, Connecticut-based chamber choir Yale Schola Cantorum, and Hyperion, the newly-released albums of Fauré’s Requiem and other sacred music and Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi Domine have been described as an “unalloyed pleasure” and a “treasure trove”, and David Hill has been praised for his “masterly direction”. David Hill has worked closely with the Yale Schola Cantorum since his appointment as principal conductor in 2013, taking over from Masaaki Suzuki.
This season, David Hill and the Yale Schola Cantorum can be heard performing across the US and in a tour of Spain. David Hill next guest conducts performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and Trinity Choir at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. More information is available here.
Yale Schola Cantorum / Palestrina; Missa Confitebor tibi Domine
“David Hill produces a marvellous sound from his choir, beautifully tuned, beautifully balanced and with many truly exciting moments... These tracks are an unalloyed pleasure.” - David Fallows, Gramophone
“Under the masterly direction of David Hill, this crack student choir produces a clean yet luxuriant sound, reflecting the sumptuous vocal resources that might have been used on a major feast day in one of the Roman churches.” - Kate Bolton-Porciatti, BBC Music Magazine - Recording ****, performance ****
“Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi Domine (1572) is a real find, a glorious work...This stylish, immersed-in, performance is characterised by David Hill’s directness, underpinned by forward momentum.” - David Truslove, Classical Source ****
Yale Schola Cantorum / Fauré; Requiem & other sacred music
“The real glories of the disc come with the handful of rarely heard choral miniatures which are, without exception, absolute gems. Hill’s overall approach is to produce a smooth sound rather than present significant interpretations of the music, and this is an approach that serves these shorter pieces particularly well, investing them with simple beauty rather than emotional or spiritual depth.”- Marc Rochester, Gramophone
“The motets are a treasure trove of elegant modulations, each in every way beautifully crafted with never a bar too many. Hill's instrumentally expanded version of the Cantique de Jean Racine is equally effective.” - Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine
“David Hill has reduced the instrumentation to violin, cello, harp and organ, a setting that creates an atmosphere of expectation and emphasises the work’s solemn expressiveness, the strings doing their job of adding refined counter-melodies and giving added life to the timbre of the organ. The harp has its own magic, but also mixes in with the sound as a whole to further enrich and enhance Fauré's understated effects… Hyperion is to be congratulated on such a fine production, as is David Hill and his musicians.” – Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International
