Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

What do we look for when selecting a choral Christmas CD? Unless we are followers of the choir or have an affinity for the venue - and Hereford Cathedral is a special place - almost certainly we look at the track list. Here the choir director or whoever makes the selection is faced with some significant decisions: fill the CD with old favourites and potential purchasers may be saying to themselves that they already have everything on offer on other collections, but use new material and customers, failing to recognise anything, may walk away. Thankfully whoever made the selection here - and I guess either or all of choir director Geraint Bowen, organist Peter Dyke and/or producer Gary Cole have got the balance right. This is in part helped by their going beyond Christmas to include music suitable for Advent and Epiphany as well, giving us a total of 25 pieces spread over a generous 72 minutes. We get several favourites that most congregations will expect to sing over the Christmas period, including "O Little Town Of Bethlehem", "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". Also we have plenty of pieces that we may hear from the choir but which are probably not sufficiently known to be sung congregationally. Under this heading I would include Joubert's "There Is No Rose", Poston's "Jesus Christ The Apple Tree" and Tavener's "The Lamb" (this one being one of this reviewer's highlights). We get two debut recordings, both written by Richard Lloyd: "God From On High" and "An Hymn On The Nativity Of My Saviour". Both are worth hearing and may enter the Christmas canon of choirs beyond Hereford. There is much more that could be said about this CD in terms of content but we must instead say something of the musicianship. Hereford Cathedral Choir is a traditional all male example and director Geraint Bowen has it singing to a commendable standard. Much is sung unaccompanied but organist Peter Dyke is allowed to join in on occasions. The audio quality is excellent, the CD booklet is informative and includes full texts. All in all, this is an excellent 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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