The Choir Of The Grosvenor Chapel, Richard Hobson - Into Thy Hands: The Music Of Grosvenor Chapel

Published Wednesday 19th October 2011
The Choir Of The Grosvenor Chapel, Richard Hobson - Into Thy Hands: The Music Of Grosvenor Chapel
The Choir Of The Grosvenor Chapel, Richard Hobson - Into Thy Hands: The Music Of Grosvenor Chapel

STYLE: Choral
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 120173-
LABEL: Regent REGCD351
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

The Grosvenor Chapel was opened in 1731 as a proprietary chapel for the new estates of west Mayfair built by the wealthy Grosvenor family which, as was customary at this time, decided to build and equip its own place of worship. The Chapel still exists as part of the parish of St George's, Hanover Square and still maintains its own tradition of music in worship. This recording offers a selection of choral music drawn from the wide range of repertoire sung by the Grosvenor Chapel Choir at the Eucharist each Sunday morning. Over 400 years of English music is represented with works from Tallis to the contemporary British composers Jonathan Dove and Francis Jackson, together with an orchestral mass by Mozart ("Missa Brevis in D major", K194). The Mozart Mass is sung just as I like it: light and bright and with a good tempo. The other lengthy piece on this CD is Handel's "As pants the hart for cooling streams" which would have been a typical offering in the Chapel's earliest days when Handel was the most fashionable composer in the land. The anthem by Francis Jackson, "Come, thou holy Paraclete", written for the Grosvenor Chapel, receives its first recording and it fits with the rest of the repertoire very nicely. The singing is generally very good indeed although there is, at just one or two points, a sense that they are trying a little too hard, but this is a minor quibble and did not detract from my appreciation and enjoyment of a good release.

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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