The Choirs of St Alphege Church, Joe Cooper - Christmas From Solihull

Published Tuesday 26th January 2016
The Choirs of St Alphege Church, Joe Cooper - Christmas From Solihull
The Choirs of St Alphege Church, Joe Cooper - Christmas From Solihull

STYLE: Choral
RATING 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 160029-
LABEL: Independent STACD001
FORMAT: CD Album

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Your reviewer has several times enjoyed the honour of leading the Nativity Service at his home congregation where it's always a challenge to know what to include. The Gospel readings pick themselves but the songs are tricky, as one inevitably misses out someone's favourite. This CD features 25 nativity hymns plus four organ solos so there is a fair possibility that many of your favourites are included and listeners who enjoy traditional Anglican choral music will find it worth their while to visit www.stalphegemusic.org.uk and invest in their own copy. Although the Choir of St Alphege has recorded and released music before, the most recent, prior to the CD under review, was from 1973 so this is, in effect, the new choir's debut. There are in fact four choirs involved, the Boys, the Girls, the Ladies and the Men in various combinations. Under Director of Music Joe Cooper the reformed choirs are aiming high and are ably supported by organist Nicholas Johnson. We open with "Once In Royal David's City" featuring soloist Harrison Morton-Deaville and conclude with "O Come, All Ye Faithful" in David Willcocks' arrangement which should give you a good idea of what to expect in between. "English trad" gets more than its share of credits along with "Sans Day Carol" which is "Cornish trad" and arranged by John Rutter. The organ solos add to our enjoyment with two Bach settings of "In Dulci Jubilo" (BWV 608 and 729 since you ask) along with Dietrich Buxtehude's take plus Harrison Oxley's "Prelude on 'Quelle est cette odeur'". This leads in to one of my favourites: Bach's "Wachet auf!" I hope that you can tell that I enjoyed this release but it has to be said that although the choir is aiming high it is not quite there just yet and does not match the great cathedral and Oxbridge college choirs. But we all have to start somewhere, there is much to applaud on this album, and the choir merits your support. (Maybe for Christmas 2016.)

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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