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The King's Collection

CD recording of the choir of King's College in Cambridge

THE KING'S COLLECTION (CD)
The Choir, King's College, Cambridge (dir. Stephen Cleobury).
Decca 460 021-2

One of the advantages for the Christian in listening to choral music is the opportunity often afforded to hear the words of Scripture set to beautiful music.
In this recording there are many such moments, although it must be said at the outset that the items on the CD include pieces representative of the whole range of Anglican churchmanship, from Britten's 'Hymn to the virgin' to Bach's 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring'!
The choir of King's College, Cambridge, has long been a standard-bearer for English choral singing, and its reputation is certainly enhanced by this excellent recording, which has been available for a year or so. In particular, apart from the quality of the singing and playing, the clarity and power of the recording itself is quite stunning, and I have rarely heard the sound of an organ so faithfully reproduced. Those who have been 'followers' of King's for a long time will note that the sound produced by the boy trebles is if anything even better than before, the rather too 'covered' tone having been superseded by a clearer and brighter one.
The pieces are a mixture of the familiar, such as Mendelssohn's 'O for the wings of a dove', and the new, represented by the contemporary setting of the 'Nunc Dimittis' by Burgon, and John Tavener's extraordinary 'Song for Athene' which was dramatically brought to the nation's attention at the funeral of Diana, Princes of Wales. There is also a pleasing variety of musical styles; some listeners will greatly appreciate more reflective pieces such as the beautifully simple 'God be in my head' (Walford Davies) and Faure's 'Cantique de Jean Racine', while others will prefer Handel's stately 'Zadok the priest'. For me, the undoubted highlight is Hubert Parry's 'I was glad', which opens the programme. Written for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, it has been a favourite ever since, and is performed here with tremendous energy and panache. Try to pick a time when you won't disturb the neighbours, and turn up the volume - it's a marvellous sound!
For the genuine choral fan, there may be a few too many 'pot-boilers' on this disc, but there are some genuinely excellent 'numbers' which will surely come to be regarded as the definitive recordings.

Simon Brennan