Search - Elgar, David Hill, Waynflete Singers :: Jerusalem

Great performances that hearken back to the golden age of An

Classic Music Lover | Maryland, USA | 09/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're hungry for some real meaty Anglican church music in the classic tradition, this CD will be certain to please. You won't find any John Rutter, Paul Patterson or other "Alternative Service Book" or 1979 Book of Common Prayer material here -- just old chestnuts from Parry, Stanford, Hadley, et al, superbly sung by the Winchester Cathedral Choir with all the authenticity one could possibly hope for. A special treat is hearing these works with orchestral accompaniment instead of the usual organ, which means that we get to hear Sir Edward Elgar's arrangement of Sir Hubert Parry's famous World War I-era hymn "Jerusalem." Also, Patrick Hadley's anthem "My Beloved Spake" -- perhaps the greatest of all English anthems alongside John Ireland's "Greater Love Hath No Man" -- is heard in its rare orchestral garb. The orchestral version introduces many additional touches and flourishes, such as the flutes and their Spring-like utterances. I still love the conventional organ-and-choir version of MBS, but this alternative makes a very effective presentation as well, and provides new dimensions of understanding to the piece.



This, then, is a great "retro" disk for those times when you want to just forget 21st Century Anglicanism with all of its attendant dysfunction and strife, and instead revisit the "civility and order" represented by the faith of 75-100 years ago."