Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This is a significant release for anyone with an interest in contemporary choral music although I humbly suggest that for many amateur choirs much of this will be far too difficult. That is 'difficult' in the sense of requiring professional amounts of time and talent to pull it off and not 'difficult' in the sense of being unlistenable. Under Director Andrew Nethsingha the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge has become one of the most prolific and popular choirs this century. They have an admirable record in commissioning contemporary composers to contribute new repertoire and in 2014 Michael Finnissy (born 1946) gave them and us his piece "John The Baptist" for that year's Advent service. Nethsingha approached Finnissy once again in 2017 - unusual for the Choir, as it generally does not commission more than one piece from any single composer, to maximise the number and variety they work with. The Choir's relationship with Finnissy, therefore, is a unique one, allowing the vocal ensemble to develop a deep reciprocal understanding of his music, and him the Choir's sound and the notes in the CD booklet by the composer and the director are particularly illuminating in explaining the process of composing for a specific choir and location. The 'Pious Anthems and Voluntaries' cycle is closely intertwined with the architecture of St John's College Chapel. The original chapel was built in 1280, followed by the founding of the College in the 16th century, with new buildings and developments added across the centuries. The nine works of Finnissy's cycle reflect this architectural layering in musical terms, with some of the pieces based on 16th century Responds and Votive Antiphons, which in turn had been built upon plainsong melodies from the centuries before. The singing by choir and soloists is exemplary throughout with moments that are deeply moving. The instrumentalists match them and the unusual combination of organ, flute and violin works well. For this listener the four a cappella anthems stand out with their echoes of Taverner, Tallis and Bach repaying constant repetition. I enjoyed some of the instrumental sections and Glen Dempsey is clearly an organist to listen out for in the future but, overall, I found it too reminiscent of Olivier Messiaen. I like Messiaen but would rather listen to the man himself than to someone trying to sound like him. But perhaps that is just me and the choral strengths of the 'Pious Anthems' on this double CD by far outweigh my lack of sympathy for the instrumental 'Voluntaries'.

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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