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Best Loved Hymns

Sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Beating Time

BEST LOVED HYMNS
Choir of King's College, Cambridge
Dir. Stephen Cleobury.
EMI. 69 mins. £13.99

It has often been said that hymns are one of the glories of the Christian Church, and that Christians have, through the centuries, been characterised by their singing to and about their Lord.

There are so many fine hymns that choosing a collection of 'best hymns' is rather like choosing a world football XI - there will be as many opinions as there are people! However, King's College has made an excellent attempt here to bring together some of the very finest. As one might expect in the case of a traditional chapel choir, none of these are modern examples - no Graham Kendrick here then; I found myself asking whether any hymn in more modern idiom could replace any of those in this collection, and the answer is probably no!

The collection brings together some immediately recognisable favourites such as Praise my soul the King of heaven, When I survey the wondrous cross and Thine be the glory, as well as a few less familiar gems, for example Drop, drop slow tears (tune by Orlando Gibbons), My song is love unknown, and my all-time favourite All my hope on God is founded set to Herbert Howells's magnificent tune Michael. Glorious things of thee are spoken is sung to the tune Abbots Leigh, in my opinion a much better one than the more traditional Austria.

A number of the hymns are given quite extensive arrangements on this recording, with lots of brass and harp accompaniment, and extensive re-jigging of vocal parts. This is frequently very successful - Thine be the glory and All my hope... are superbly dramatic.

However, the low point for me is the treatment handed out to Be thou my vision: harp accompaniment and meaningful pauses may well be trendy, Celtic and crowd-pleasing, but in my view all the dignity and majesty of this wonderful hymn has been almost completely removed - a missed opportunity!

As one might expect, the singing and playing on this CD is of the very highest quality. Just as importantly the words are crystal-clear, and we can enjoy some of the best Christian poetry set to some of the best music; a real treat.

Simon Brennan, Charterhouse