Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Roderick Williams was born in London in 1965 and first came to our attention as an operatic baritone. Now he is diversifying into composition and this collection reveals that he could well be as talented at writing as he is at singing. Once I had finished my first listen of the CD I spent the rest of the day singing - or at least attempting to sing - his excellent arrangement of the catchy spiritual "Mary Had A Baby (Yes My Lord!)". While I suppose it is good news that this song stuck it does raise the possibility that the other pieces are not quite so memorable. This would be unfair. As I said, "Mary Had A Baby" is catchy and the new arrangement keeps the popular tune while managing to improve on it and I think that many choir leaders will use this version in years to come. Much of the other compositions require more time to appreciate. There are some well-chosen texts such as "And A Little Child Shall Lead Them" from the book of Isaiah, "The Lord's Prayer" and an inventive "Ave Verum Corpus Re-imagined". The composer tells us that he finds himself writing in the style of whatever he is rehearsing as a singer which takes us in some interesting directions and may well provide a challenge for a future biographer. Our performers are the (deep breath) Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir under Ralph Allwood and with Jonathan Eyre on the piano. The ORNCTLCC has existed in its current format since 2001, when Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance became heavily involved in the provision of music at the Chapel making Trinity Laban the only Conservatoire in the world to support a Collegiate Chapel Choir. Producer Adrian Peacock has made good use of the acoustic at the chapel and the singing is excellent throughout with conductor Ralph Allwood no doubt deserving equal credit. This is a well presented introduction to a contemporary composer of whom I hope and expect to hear more.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.