Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

If you think that Ash Wednesday commemorates the burning of the pancakes by King Alfred the Great you may wish to look away now. In fact Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and penitence which precedes Easter. Ashes are placed on worshippers' foreheads in the shape of a cross as a sign of repentance. Evensong on this day has been an especially important service in the liturgical year at St John's College, Cambridge; the BBC started transmitting it live in 1972 and for several decades the service was broadcast annually; more recently it has been biennial. Wednesday (of course) 6th March 2019 was a live broadcast, however the recording on this release uses the chapel's own microphones, permanently installed in St John's for webcasting, rather than those of the BBC and the audio quality is excellent. The CD gives a record of a typical Ash Wednesday service, opening with "The Preces" by William Byrd (c. 1539-1652) and a numinous "Miserere mei, Deus" ("Have mercy upon me, O God") by Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652) with some outstanding singing, particularly from the trebles. And then we run into a, well, problem is over-stating it but the flow of the music is interrupted by "The First Lesson", verses 10 to 18 of Isaiah Chapter One, read - and read well - by Harry Redding. I do not have a problem with the public reading of Scripture and if this release is to be an accurate record of the Ash Wednesday service of 2019 then the readings and prayers need to be there but, personally, I will be pressing "skip" next time I listen to the CD. Returning to the music we get the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from "The Short Service" written by Thomas Weelkes (c. 1576-1623), with the Second Lesson, this time from Luke 15 and read by Sarah Cox between the two. As we move towards the close we have The Apostles' Creed, "The Responses" and "Ne irascaris, Domine" ("Be not wroth very sore, O Lord") again by Byrd, The Prayers led by The Rev'd Carol Barrett Ford, and an excellent organ solo played by the Junior Organ Solo James Anderson-Besant, Bach's "Prelude in E Minor" (BWV 548i). At a touch over 50 minutes (including the spoken parts and organ solo) this is a pleasant listen and yet again Director Andrew Nethsingha has got some beautiful singing from his choir. If you want to hear how good an Anglican Ash Wednesday service can sound this release will show you but if your collection already includes Allegri's "Miserere", one of the great choral pieces, there may not be quite enough music to tempt you into making a purchase.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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