Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

In my 2019 review of the first St John's 'Magnificat' collection I quoted the Director, Andrew Nethsingha, promising another in the series and possibly more. Here we are in 2024 with Volume Four, the final release on Nethsingha's term of office as he is now serving as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, where he directed the music for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Clearly, to reach volume four of a series means the first three must have been artistically or commercially successful and quite probably both, yet even four discs is only a selection of the many and various settings of those beloved verses from Luke's Gospel now known as the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and the centrepiece of any choral evensong. In this collection we go back as far as Charles Villiers Stanford, in this, the centenary of his death (he lived from 1852 to 1924) with his 'Service in G' from 1902 followed, chronologically, by Herbert Howells (1892-1983) with his 'Service in E for Tenors and Basses' from 1935 plus his Te Deum 'Collegium Regale' written for King's College in 1944. Stanford and Howells were, in their day, giants of church choral music and these representative compositions are still well worth hearing. Living composers are also featured, with a service commissioned for the college's 500th anniversary by Judith Weir (born 1954) and another special commission 'The St John's Service' by Jonathan Dove (born 1959). Even more contemporary are 'The King's College Service' by Joanna Forbes L'Estrange (born 1971), 'The Worcester Service' by Piers Connor Kennedy (born 1991) and - making this reviewer feel quite ancient - a 'Nunc Dimittis' by Anna Semple (born 1997) that features a violin part played by her brother Alexander who is also a member of the St John's choir. Thus we are blessed with another varied collection of settings for the same texts, sung by the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 iterations of the choir and one cannot hear any difference in the standard of the singing across the 18 tracks. Listeners who appreciate Anglican choral music will find much to enjoy here, directors of parish choirs will find inspiration, and while a four-volume collection of settings of two short New Testament passages may seem somewhat specialised for the non-specialist all four CDs are well worth a listen, with this fourth volume proving to be an excellent send-off for Andrew Nethsingha as he moves on to Westminster Abbey.

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.