Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha - Eastertide Evensong

Published Monday 7th March 2022
Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha - Eastertide Evensong
Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha - Eastertide Evensong

STYLE: Choral
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 180861-
LABEL: Integral Music SIGCD707
FORMAT: CD Album

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Parts of this Easter release I enjoyed very much but other parts I will not return to. It is all done very well, I hasten to add, and the problem is mine not the choirs. As it says on the cover, this is a live recording of an Eastertide Evensong and the church family to which I belong does not 'do' evensong. If ever I am in a cathedral city and happen to be free at the right time, I am happy to sit quietly at the back and listen to a sung evensong but I am an observer not a participant and really, in my book, worship is not a spectator sport, so to speak. Perhaps listeners who appreciate evensong more than I will get more from this recording than I could. As I say, it is done well enough and the recording is clear but, in all honesty, I am not going to return to the reading of the lessons or the prayers again. No doubt you had to be there and I wasn't. However, the choir and both organists are all in good form and I am happy to sing the praises of the musical elements of the service. We open with "My Beloved Spake" by Julian Anderson (born in 1967) which sets the scene well. The three Psalms, numbers 12 to 14, are here set by John Goss (1800-1880), Charles Hylton Stewart (1884-1932), and Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) and all are well sung and worth hearing. And then the Lessons and the Apostles' Creed break the musical flow although, of course, one can use the skip button and continue to enjoy the music which now moves into Herbert Howells' popular "Gloucester Service" with the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis being the centrepiece of the service. But there is more to come, with my own favourite from the programme in John Taverner's glorious "Dum Transisset Sabbatum" and then, after the prayers, organist James Anderson-Besan plays us out with Charles-Marie Widor's "Finale (Symphonie VI)". The choir under Andrew Nethsingha remain one of the very best and listeners who enjoy traditional Anglican choral music will get much pleasure from this 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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