Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012) was a versatile and prolific composer in a variety of genres. I would have pigeon-holed him as a jazz man but he is probably best known today for his work on Four Weddings And A Funeral. On this most pleasant disc we meet him in a playful mood with some pretty settings of an eclectic set of texts. The unifying factor is that all are for female voices and NYCoS National Girls Choir hits all the right notes under conductor Christopher Hill and come across as sweet without becoming sickly. In part this is down to the texts which are quirky, often humorous, and always sung so clearly that we did not once need to look at the CD booklet to check. The title piece was composed in 1982 as a cantata for high voices and piano duet. The poems by Martin Hall quote whimsically from letters supposed to have been sent to Charles Lindbergh after his first solo trans-Atlantic flight. His correspondents include Scott of the Antarctic, the rusting hulk of the Titanic and Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto. It is a lot of fun and might interest choirs looking for a secular element for a concert. Indeed this is true of most of the content being choral but not church music - which is an observation and not a criticism. The exception are 'Four American Carols' from 2010 which give a blues / spiritual flavour (or should that be flavor?) to "A child of God", "I wonder as I wander", "Away in a manger", and "Rise up, shepherds, and follow". Any or all of these would make a welcome addition to any choir's Christmas repertoire. The finale deserves a mention: "Over the Hills and Far Away" is a piano duet from 1990 played here by Philip Moore and Andrew West. It is a fresh and original take on some well-known folk tunes and nursery rhymes.

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