Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan will forever be remembered as the composer of the Savoy Operas with his librettist W S Gilbert but there is more, much more, to his music than this. Indeed I am pleased to announce myself as a G & S enthusiast, both as a performer and a paying customer so I was interested to hear this collection of some of Gilbert's hymns. There are 14 on this CD which is only a selection of his output but, like so many prolific composers both past and present, we have to pan a lot of dirt before we find the gold. The title track takes the famous words of Sarah Flower Adams (1805-1848) but Sullivan's tune "Propior Deo" is not the one I know. While there is nothing wrong with this version I can see why it has been superseded. However for the opener, Sabine Baring-Gould's "Onward! Christian Soldiers" Sullivan's tune "St Gertrude" is the one you will know. John Henry Newman's "Lead, Kindly Light" was not written as a hymn but Sullivan's "Lux In Tenebris" is a perfect fit and deserves to be better known but so it goes. Sometimes words and music belong together like bread and butter or Gilbert and Sullivan and sometimes they do not quite mesh. Sullivan was of his time. Give him some well written words and he will come up with a tune but much of his sacred output is too Victorian for modern tastes. His sacred oratorio 'The Light Of The World' was, with the exception of Handel's 'Messiah', the most performed work of its kind of its time - and I have said it again: "of its time". The Scottish Festival Singers under Ian McCrorie give a spirited performance, recorded at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh. Admirers of the S in G & S will enjoy hearing what else the great man wrote and listeners who enjoy tuneful hymns of times past will also appreciate this collection.

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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