Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

My first thoughts on receiving this CD were mixed. I had hopes, as all releases on Regent Records are well recorded and when I saw that Gary Cole was producer and engineer I knew that what I was going to hear would sound good. I got that one right. My less than positive expectation was that this could be hard going as, frankly, not all parish choirs deserve to be recorded for posterity. I am pleased to say I got that one wrong. It is true that the Choir of St Mary's Collegiate Church, Warwick is not up there with the best cathedral or Oxbridge choirs but then St Mary's, Warwick is neither a cathedral nor a varsity but - and just as an aside - if ever you are in Warwick the church building is well worth a detour. So what we get on this well recorded set is an unusual and ambitious collection of choral and organ music in honour of the Virgin Mary. We open with Gorecki's famous setting of "Totus Tuus", written for Pope John Paul II, followed by Patrick Hadley's "I Sing Of A Maiden" and Maurice Durufle's "Tota Pulchra Es, Maria". Stop me if you have heard any of these before. Next, though, we hear a debut recording of an organ solo by Judith Bingham, "Ancient Sunlight", played by the director of music, Thomas Corns. This, in my opinion, takes the CD up on to another level which is then exceeded by Jean Langlais' "Missa 'Salve Regina'" with a notable contribution from Fine Arts Brass. This, for me, is a highlight and almost worth the price of admission on its own. Anything that follows this is going to be anticlimactic so an organ solo played by Ruaraidh Sutherland, Langlais' "Ave Maria, Ave Maris Stella", is just right to help us catch our breath before the closing choral finale of Franz Xavier Biebl's "Ave Maria" and Benjamin Britten's "Hymn To The Virgin". Again, you may have heard these before but here we get more than adequate performances that are worth hearing before we conclude with another Sutherland organ solo, Flor Peeters' "Toccata, Fugue et Hymne Sur 'Ave Maris Stella'". So, as we have said, an interesting collection that is sung well and lifted out of the ordinary by some excellent instrumental contributions.

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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