Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

Another Celtic tour de force to go with the previous three volumes in the series , marred only for me by the absence of Joanne Hogg's wonderful voice. Claire Tomlin provides vocals on this one, but in truth its mainly la-la-la on three tracks out of the twelve. Otherwise it's the usual team of musos - Teryl Bryant, Dave Clifton, Troy Donockley, Dave Fitzgerald, Nick Fletcher, Mike Haughton, and Tim Oliver, along with a bit of nifty fiddling from Chris Haigh, Chris Rodgate's oboe and some expressive cello from William Schofield. The arrangements are as usual of the highest standard, as is the musicianship (only to be expected, given the cast list) and the choice of music is designed to focus attention on the Passion story. The title of the album is a quote from Isaac Watt's hymn "When I Survey", which sits alongside Bach's Passion Chorale "O Sacred Head", "To God Be The Glory" (what Bill Doane would think of his tune being reincarnated as a mandolin, djembe and fiddle opus is anyone's guess, but I loved it), and "Crown Him With Many Crowns", together with modern songs by Stuart Townend and Dave Bilbrough, and some songs without words but with evocative titles - "Mary's lament" ,"Man Of Sorrows" ,"Christ Is Risen". No accusations of pseudo-Celticness here, nothing cheesy or cringe worthy, just magnificent music. Long may the series continue but let's have Joanne back next time.  

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.