Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

York Minster is one of the great medieval churches of Europe. Here the greater Festivals of the church's calendar are celebrated with music tailored to the theme of the Day and sung by the Minster's excellent choir, under the assured direction of Robert Sharpe. This new recording presents Epiphany Sunday at the Minster - the twelfth night after Christmas Day, marking the pilgrimage of the Magi to the infant Jesus. The three services of the day - Matins (Morning Prayer), the Eucharist or Holy Communion, and Evensong (Evening Prayer) - are sung with a selection of the celebratory music that might be heard in the Minster on Epiphany Sunday. We start with a bell ringing and an Aisle Prayer to introduce the worship, both of which add to the atmosphere but neither bear repeated playing, as is the case with Responses and Collects at Matins. To my mind these are not unlike recitative in opera - necessary if we are there following the story on stage but superfluous when listening to the music on CD (so next time I play this disc I might use the skip button). However there is much that is worth hearing more than once: in addition to Charles-Marie Widor's well-known large-scale Mass setting at the Eucharist, and famous canticle settings by William Walton, George Dyson and Herbert Howells at Matins and Evensong, there are new works receiving their first recording from David Briggs, (an Epiphany carol commissioned by the Minster in 2012), and Richard Shephard. Briggs (born 1962) has set the traditional Polish "Infant Holy" using Edith Reed's translation. It is a lovely poem but although Briggs has done nothing wrong my feeling is that there are nicer tunes available. Richard Shephard (born 1949) has taken an ancient "Te Deum laudamus" ("We praise Thee, O God" ) and breathed new life into it; this reviewer would be happy to hear it again. The Choir of York Minster is a mixed choir and on this disc it is in top form, ably accompanied by organists David Pipe and Ben Horden and well recorded by producer/engineer Gary Cole.

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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