Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Your reviewer confesses that he finds this type of release difficult to review. The music is excellent, the musicianship superb and the audio quality is to Regent Records' usual superlative standard. But there is a but coming: how does one assess the spiritual dimension to instrumental pieces? They have been played on a church organ inside a church building but is there anything that lifts them up onto a higher plain? And does it matter? Lovers of organ music will surely love this disc. There is plenty of technical information concerning the Nicholson Organ of Southwell Minster for those who are interested. The featured composers are J S Bach, Dupré, Grainger, Guilmant, Leighton, Locklair and Widor. Some of these good men were indeed good men as well as good composers but little of their spirituality comes through. The one piece that did make me think of spiritual matters is the concluding one, "Rubrics" by the American composer Dan Locklair. Described by the composer as a "liturgical suite in five movements", the work takes its inspiration from the instructions or rubrics in The Book of Common Prayer of the American Church. It was a pleasant hour listening to this CD but there is little here that I will want to hear again.

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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