Reviewed by Dave Massey

What a great idea! 'The English Anthem' is a set of five albums that cover the development (personally I'd call it 'deterioration') of the anthem or hymn over the centuries from approximately 1550 to 1980, covering composers from William Byrd through Wesley to Richard Rodney Bennett. It seems strange to me that something that was so closely related to popular music when it began became so divorced from it by the present time and is no doubt the reason for its current decline - dying like a ham actor that won't lie down! Some fine liturgical music here and the whole series is a useful overview.

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