Vaughan Williams, The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha - Mass In G Minor

Published Monday 9th April 2018
Vaughan Williams, The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha - Mass In G Minor
Vaughan Williams, The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha  - Mass In G Minor

STYLE: Choral
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 169797-
LABEL: Signum Classics SIGCD541
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Ralph Vaughan Williams served as a wagon orderly during the First World War, that "war to end all wars". Many of his friends, including fellow composer George Butterworth, did not return so we should not be surprised at the change in outlook exhibited in the works on this disc. Vaughan Williams was never a practicing Christian but he always understood that faith - any faith, in his view - could be a means of making sense of this broken world in which we live. The music collected here reflects Vaughan William's spiritual quest and is released to mark the centenary of the 1918 Armistice. The only work predating 1914 is "Antiphon" from 1911, the conclusion of the composer's setting of George Herbert's 'Five Mystical Songs' and which is better known by its opening lines "Let all the world in every corner sing, My God and King." The lead work on this disc is VW's "Mass In G Minor" (1920-1921) which consciously looks back to the great composers of 16th century English church music such as Byrd and Tallis. While I enjoyed listening to this piece again and have nothing but praise for the performance of The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge it is not a work to which I will return. However, much of the remaining 40 minutes on the disc (the Mass takes about 26 minutes) is well worth hearing, especially "O Clap Your Hands" (1920) and "Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge" (1921) both of which, to my ears at least, sound fresh and make me think that the composer, while he was writing these pieces, was very close to believing in Someone greater than himself. Listeners with an interest in British choral music of the 20th century will find much to appreciate on this disc although if you collect in this area you may find that you already have some of this by other performers. As I said, The Choir of St John's are in good voice and while this may not be the definitive recording of Vaughan William's Christian compositions it is certainly very well done.

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.

Be the first to comment on this article

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.












We are committed to protecting your privacy. By clicking 'Send comment' you consent to Cross Rhythms storing and processing your personal data. For more information about how we care for your data please see our privacy policy.