Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge, Mark Williams - War & Peace: Music For Remembrance

Published Tuesday 7th January 2014
Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge, Mark Williams - War & Peace: Music For Remembrance
Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge, Mark Williams  - War & Peace: Music For Remembrance

STYLE: Choral
RATING 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 148604-
LABEL: Signum Classics SIGCD328
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This excellent new recording is almost certainly not the last to be released to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of "the war to end all wars" in 1914. Thus Mark Blatchey's elaborate and dramatic "September 1914: For The Fallen" incorporating Rebecca Crawshaw playing "The Last Post" on trumpet should perhaps be the title track although Douglas Guest's "For The Fallen" is equally apposite. However it would be unnecessarily limiting to classify this collection as suitable only for Remembrance Day as most of the songs are suitable for quiet contemplation and the album may also be a useful resource for funeral directors and choir leaders looking for appropriate choral music for solemn occasions. The singing is superlative with Director Mark Williams making good use of both the College and Chapel Choirs as separate entities and in combination, with appropriate organ accompaniment from Senior and Junior Organ Scholars Robert Dixon and Benjamin Morris. Each of the 16 pieces has a story behind it and Malcolm MacDonald's liner notes are both interesting and informative. Personal favourites - reviewer's call here - are Parry's setting of Tennyson's "Crossing The Bar", James MacMillan's heartfelt response to the Dunblane tragedy in "A Child's Prayer" and Vaughan William's "Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge" but there really is not a weak link anywhere in this collection. Highly recommended.

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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