Benjamin Britten, Truro Cathedral Choir, Christopher Gray - Choral And Organ Music
STYLE: Choral RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 108225- LABEL: Regent REGCD349 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
Christopher Gray took over as director of music at Truro Cathedral in 2008 and this is his first recording in his new position - and very good it is too. The choir is a traditional Anglican combination of 18 boys and 12 men and any listeners who enjoy this form of choral singing will not be disappointed by what they hear. The earliest pieces on this disc come from 1931, both being Christmas works by a 17-year-old prodigy: "The Sycamore Tree" (originally titled "I Saw Three Ships") and "A Hymn To The Virgin". Also from the 1930s are the "Te Deum In C" and "Jubilate Deo In E Flat" although this was published only in 1984 so is perhaps less well known. Other rarities are the "Prelude And Fugue On A Theme Of Vittoria", Britten's only organ work to be published in his lifetime and here played by the assistant director of music at Truro Cathedral, Luke Bond, and "Advance Democracy", a setting of a poem by Randall Swingler written at the time of the Munich Pact. Thus we see - and hear - how Britten's music is rooted in the English tradition of the 16th and 17th centuries which prevents him being blown about by the winds of modernity. So he looks back and writes a Missa Brevis for the boy choristers of Westminster Cathedral and can also take a poem by Auden, "Hymn To St Cecilia" and make it sound both ancient and modern. My favourite is a selection of verses by Christopher Smart under the heading "Rejoice In The Lamb". I was familiar with the words "For I will consider my cat Jeffrey" but had not made the acquaintance of "For the mouse is a creature of great personal valour" which I expect C S Lewis had in mind when he created Reepicheep. But I digress. I enjoyed this CD very much: the content is interesting and the performances by both choir and organist are of the very highest standard.
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