Track Listing

1. Coronation Te Deum, for soloists, chorus, organ & orchestra
2. A Litany, for chorus ('Drop, Drop Slow Tears')
3. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Chichester Service), for chorus & organ: Magnificat
4. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Chichester Service), for chorus & organ: Nunc dimittis
5. Where does the uttered music go?, for chorus
6. Jubilate Deo, for double chorus & organ
7. Henry V, choral suite (arr. by M.Sargent) and orchestral suite (arr. by C.Matthieson): Touch her soft lips and part (organ solo)
8. Cantico del sole, for chorus
9. Henry V, choral suite (arr. by M.Sargent) and orchestral suite (arr. by C.Matthieson): Passacaglia "Death of Falstaff" (organ solo)
10. The Twelve, anthem for chorus & organ
11. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, for chorus
12. Antiphon, for chorus & organ
13. Missa Brevis, for double chorus & organ: Kyrie
14. Missa Brevis, for double chorus & organ: Sanctus and Benedictus
15. Missa Brevis, for double chorus & organ: Agnus Dei
16. Missa Brevis, for double chorus & organ: Gloria

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105787 in Music
• Released on: 2002-03-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
St John's English Choral Music series for Naxos (this Walton disc is No. 4) has won golden opinions (and an award or two), but there has been nothing better than this. With Christopher Robinson nearing the end of his reign in charge of this world-renowned choir, there could hardly be a better testament to his work. The likes of "Drop, drop slow tears" and "Set me as a seal" are standards for choirs up and down the land, but pieces such as the remarkable "The Twelve" and "Where does the uttered music go?" require a particular virtuosity, which is more than evident here. Space doesn't permit an extolling of all the virtues--in brief, a sound fresh, rich, and natural; ensemble and balance of voices immaculate; solo contributions impressive. Christopher Whitton's organ playing also impresses, not least in arrangements of the two ubiquitous movements from Walton's film music for Henry V. The acoustics of St John's is caught just right--neither too dry nor too swimmy. As a chorister himself, Walton knew the musical traditions of the Anglican church inside out. St John's et al. show here they know his music just as thoroughly. Rush out and buy. --Andrew Green

Customer Reviews

Robinson saves the best for last.
I agree completely with the editorial review on this excellent disc; they never fail to impress. This is now the recording to have of Sir William Walton's choral music and the very tight and musical performances do justice to the composer's dramatic music. The acoustics of St. John's are the perfect atmosphere for Walton's music, much of which was composed for Christ Church Cahthedral Oxford, Britain's smallest cathedral. Many works such as 'The Twelve', with its many staccato effects and chamber music-like writing, would be out of place in a larger room. I don't remember from my visit to St. John's exactly what the acoustics are like, but I believe that the Naxos engineer did add some reverb, however it is never overdone. If I had one complaint about the disc it would be the organ playing, which is adequate for accompanying a choir, but isn't the most exciting for the transcribed solo works, luckily the organ is excellent. It is not that the playing is bad, it is just a let down after the excellent singing.

I would not let that stop the reader from buying it, as this choir is now the best men and boy's choir in the world, the conducting is excellent, and the music is uplifting.

Excellently performed
This collection of Walton's choral music from Cambridge's Choir of St. John's College is immediately recommendable (regardless of whether you generally warm to church music - I recommend this as a firm atheist). As opposed to, say, the Finzi Singers on Chandos, the Cambridge Choir uses boy trebles rather than female singers (which surely has both pros and cons).

The Coronation Te Deum and The Twelve are probably the best known works here, and a brilliant, affirmative piece the former is, splendidly sung. Some might be bothered, though, by the fact that the Cambridge Choir's version is a little too intimate, and doesn't really capture the intended splendour. The Twelve is more unconditionally convincing in that sense - and just as well sung - but for my money, the finest piece here is the Missa Brevis, a delightful, intimate work. I don't understand the rationale behind including the Passacaglia from Henry V, but never mind - this is a warmly recommended collection.

Great boy treble tradition resounds
Over time even traditionally great choirs vary in their excellence, so in recent years the choir of St. John's College Cambridge has a sound that is again at its apogee. Choirmaster Christopher Robinson (now, alas, recently retired from St. John's) has nurtured a choral brilliance that reminds me of the years when George Guest directed the choir. It is a delight to see that the great tradition of men and boys choirs still resounds in the Anglican Church (at least in many of England's 'Collegiate' and Cathedral choirs). St. John's is one of two ancient male voice chapel choirs at Cambridge University (the other being King's College Chapel Choir) in which the boy trebles are actually in a sense 'professionals'. Each college, in whose chapel they sing daily services, operates a nearby boarding school where the young singers--chosen for prodigious talents at strict competition-- take a high level of musical training, along with the regular school curriculum. The men's voices consist of young university students attending Cambridge on 'choral scholarships'. And for me the often heard debate regarding the merits of boy trebles versus girls (or women's) voices in church music is not moot when it comes to the Anglican musical and liturgical tradition. There is a kind of effortlessness and artlessness to the singing of the English choirboy, at this level of selection and training, that produces a wistful, often plaintive sound. It is a sound that seems most perfect for the Anglican liturgical repertoire. A female singer often seems to me likely to 'interpret' the note more, probably by virtue of natural instinct, and interject themselves more into the musical meaning of the piece. The boy treble 'tends' to have a natural emotional detachment in his singing which for me more profoundly expresses the ineffable nature of traditional Anglican music (if the expression of the ineffable is not a contradiction in terms:-). Anyway, for many all this is arcane opinion. But for lovers of this musical tradition it is its arcane nature that fills us with joy and wonderment.