Choirs Of St Mary's Collegiate Church - The Father's Love: The Choral Music Of Simon Lole
STYLE: Choral RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 14322- LABEL: Regent FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by John Irvine
I'm a great believer in supporting the causes of new composers, particularly of new religious music, and so I really wanted to say something good about this disc. But I couldn't. I couldn't fault the crystal clear digital recording, with its well balanced sound; I couldn't fault the performance of the choirs, who appear regularly on BBC radio; nor that of the organist, Kevin Bowyer, who is currently recording the organ works of Bach for a major classical label. I couldn't find anything wrong with Lole's compositions. The problem was, I couldn't find anything right with this album. There are hundreds of releases of this kind of traditional Anglican music around, and for a new composer to break through into this area requires quite startling originality - which Lole does not possess. This album will only appeal to a small market, and one already well served by the past masters. The only good thing I can say is that I found this disc pleasant enough to listen to - but then I didn't have to fork out a tenner for it. Terrible sleeve design too.
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