Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

For those who enjoy cathedral choral music this is almost a worthwhile collection without quite hitting the target. The top and tail are both popular pieces by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) with "I Was Glad" to open and his setting of John Milton's "Blest Pair Of Sirens" to close. The choir give full value for both so we know from the outset that they can sing. Although the Girl Choristers dominate in number there are sufficient Lay-Clerks in the alto, tenor and bass parts to give a full and rounded sound and praise must also be given to our two organists, Jonathan Hope and Peter Wright. Some of the programme goes back to Tudor times with songs from William Byrd, Richard Farrant and Thomas Tallis but the majority is from the 20th and 21st centuries including five debut recordings: "Done Is A Battle" by Martin Bussey (born 1958), "O Little One Sweet" by David Terry (born 1975), "The Quality Of Pity" by Huw Morgan (born 1975) and two from Judith Bingham (born 1952) with "Missa Brevis Awake My Soul" and "The Shepherd". All are well sung but none grabbed my attention to any great extent. Instead it is the more familiar pieces such as Ralph Vaughan Williams' Antiphon "Let All The World" and the two by Parry that stand out - which is all too often the fate of new compositions when placed in too close a proximity to well established classics. But then, thinking aloud, there must be very strong commercial reasons for this as there are not enough potential customers who will buy a CD that contains nothing familiar, even if the reviewer gives it a much stronger recommendation than the one I am giving here. I repeat what I wrote above: the choir gives full value and I have no hesitation in confirming that the musicianship shown by vocalists and both organists is excellent and credit must be given to Director Stephen Disley. While I genuinely want to support contemporary choral music what is on show here is not quite good enough. Excellent singing, yes, and several strong compositions from the oldies but the newer material does not cut it for me.

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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