Search - Guest, Choir of St John's College Cambridge :: World of Psalms

Superlative work

Z. M. Josephs | 05/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is sung mostly by the choir of St John's College Cambridge, with the King's College and Westminster Abbey choirs contributing one psalm each. The organists are John Scott, Jonathan Bielby and Simon Preston. After recently listening to some other recordings of psalms by other, renowned, groups, I returned to this one with renewed appreciation. I was impressed by the delicacy with which the organ in each case accompanies the singing, providing striking harmony without overwhelming the voices. The musical dynamics for each psalm captures its mood perfectly. However, the most impressive part of this ensemble lies in the singers' style. Their voices are certainly commendable, but that was to be expected. It is the flawless enunciation of these singers that constitutes the rare feature, one which ensures that the listener can appreciate every word of the psalms (even at the tricky notes) without reference to any programme notes. The arrangement is also interesting: For example, the way in which Psalm 108 (track 5) follows on from Psalm 47 (track 4), which in turn follows on from Psalm 24 (track 3), is especially remarkable. In 18 tracks, the compilers have managed to capture the essence of the psalms quite tastefully. I would strongly recommend this collection of sung psalms to anyone who has an interest in music, in the psalms or is just curious about variations on beauty."

Where do sorrowful Christians go to sing?

Art Rilling | Hutchins, TX United States | 05/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Christians actually do feel sorrow (gasp), although they find precious little outlet in modern churches to express those moods. But do the Anglican churches sweep the sorrowful moods of the spiritual man or woman under the carpet? Noooo; they make a choir event of it by singing the sacred Psalms. The World of Psalms gives splendid voice those moods. I own other CDs of Anglican Psalm chants, but this one and O God, My Heart Is Ready (St. Thomas Choir New York) are my favorites for both voice and enunciation. And of course the Psalms are not all sorrowful, which gives rise to my only disappointment that, given the many English Psalm chant tunes available for all the psalmists moods, too few tunes could ever be used for one CD."