Reviewed by Liz Knowles

This four CD box was a pleasant arrival through my letterbox. It celebrates some of the great choral works, some written for church choirs, some for the rise in amateur choral societies from around the 18th century onwards. CD1 is ‘Highlights Of The Messiah’ by Handel – the best known work in the collection, and I already have at least three recordings of the entire thing. But it’s interesting to see how different choirs treat familiar works – changes of tempi, phrasing, expression etc – and The Messiah is always good for a singalong! CD2 is Mozart – the Coronation Mass, Exsultate Jubilate and the Vesperae Solennes de Confessorae – settings of the great words of liturgy and the psalms. CD3 is Brahms’ lush setting of the Requiem – A German Requiem, though here it’s sung in English. I’ve never sung it and am not familiar with it (yet) but I can quite see why a good friend of mine recommends Brahms to lift the spirits. CD4 is maybe a little disappointing – the ‘Great Choruses’ reprise bits of Messiah and the Requiem that we’ve already got (always a risk when it’s a repackaging job) but there again there are some lesser known works and some that were entirely new to me. Kingsway are to be congratulated on the superb booklet which gives all the lyrics, information on the composers and their contemporary context and musings on the place of the piece in the spiritual life of the believer. These works are the staple diet of the numerous amateur choral societies and choirs which exist all over this country (though the recording artists in this box are mostly German), and are a major factor in live Christian music today. This is a superb introduction to that vast body of work and I’d like to put in my bid for receiving Volume 2 as soon as it’s available!

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