December 2005
Beginning in 1982, Stephen Cleobury, then newly appointed as choirmaster, began commissioning new works for the service. Many of these were tonal, but many were not. At first, listeners were startled by the intrusion of these modern works, but they have now become so used to them that the yearly new composition is keenly anticipated. This CD gathers together 22 anthems that have been composed for the King’s service since 1982. The most familiar is John Rutter’s ethereal "What Sweeter Music," a setting of a poem by Robert Herrick which contains this lovely imagery:
The melodic Rutter piece is not typical of the repertory here, so be warned that much of what is on this disc involves thorny dissonance. Yet every work is rewarding if given an open-minded listen. Among the composers represented are Richard Rodney Bennett, John Chilcott, Judith Weir, Peter Maxwell Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, and Nicholas Maw. The performances are presumed definitive, and the choir of men and boys sings with beautiful tone and good intonation. The recording is spacious yet detailed. This is one recording that would surely have benefited from multichannel SACD treatment. Possibly EMI can be coaxed into doing that mix for next year’s holiday season. In the meantime, I got good results from this disc when I fed it through the dts NEO:6 setting of my processor. GO BACK TO: |
On Christmas Day -- New Carols
from King’s
