Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Kenneth Leighton - Sacred Choral Music

Published Monday 10th May 2004
Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Kenneth Leighton - Sacred Choral Music
Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Kenneth Leighton - Sacred Choral Music

STYLE: Choral
RATING 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 9849-
LABEL: Naxos 8555795
FORMAT: CD Album
RRP: £4.99

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Kenneth Leighton was born in Wakefield in 1929. As a boy he sang in his home cathedral before he went up to Queen's College, Oxford, where he studied composition with Bernard Rose. This generous and very reasonably priced collection shows us just what an accomplished composer Leighton was and hints at what he may have gone on to achieve had he lived past his 60th birthday. His distinctive compositional voice is characterised by rich harmonies, subtle dissonance and rhythmic energy. On offer here are two contrasting Canticle Settings, the "Easter Sequence" featuring some splendid trumpet playing by Crispian Steele-Perkins and "Crucifixus Pro Nobis", a 15 minute miniature Passion which climaxes with a beautiful "Drop, drop, slow tears". The Choir of St John's College with Christopher Whitton on organ do full justice to the music and if this is to be Christopher Robinson's swan song as organist and director of music at St John's he can be very pleased with the final result.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.

Be the first to comment on this article

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.












We are committed to protecting your privacy. By clicking 'Send comment' you consent to Cross Rhythms storing and processing your personal data. For more information about how we care for your data please see our privacy policy.

NAVIGATION
CONNECT WITH CROSS RHYTHMS
SIGNUP

Connect with Cross Rhythms by signing up to our email mailing list

A Step Change...
Cross Rhythms Media Training Centre
MORE ARTICLES
DISCOGRAPHY
ARTIST PROFILES
Artists & DJs A-Z
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Or keyword search

 

PRAYER ROOMS
Watering Hole
Be heard in your pain and needs and cry out to your God in our Prayer Room