Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Kevin Mayhew specialises in resources to serve and equip the Church and does it very well but I cannot see why a Christian bookshop would want to give this release valuable shelf space. Not, I hasten to add, because there is anything wrong with it but because there is no Christian content within it at all and none of the three composers are associated with Christian music. If you really wanted to own a copy of Tchaikovsky's 'Pathetique' surely you would visit your local specialist retailer that probably does not stock Kevin Mayhew releases and where you are far more likely to find the Naxos recording at half the price. Perhaps this is a clever marketing strategy and I am not seeing the big picture but I am pretty certain that I will not see this CD on the shelf either at my local Christian bookshop or classical CD dealer. Having said all this, the three pieces are worth hearing and Marin Alsop gets an excellent performance from the National Youth Orchestra. As music I would give this eight squares but as ministry it gets none.

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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