Light of the Spirit

“…the choral balance is splendid, clear and warm…” CD Review

“…  beautifully sung choral classics…” Classic FM Magazine

“This is a superb collection of spiritual choral music, beautifully rendered by the 24-voice choir and recorded over two sessions with some changing membership and wonderful sopranos (is it just one girl with a beautiful voice or all nine of them?). The choral balance is splendid, clear and warm, with combinations varying from 4, 5, 8 and even 16-part harmony, single and double choirs, men’s voices in Gregorian chant and women’s voices in music by Hildegard of Bingen. The jewels in the collections of 36 items for me were the Holst Nunc dimittis, the two anthems by William Harris (Bring us, O Lord God – a 1959 setting of John Donne – and Faire is the Heaven – a 1925 setting of Edmund Spenser), the Palestrina pieces and a glorious rendition of Walford Davies’ setting of Psalm 121.  The list goes on: there’s a superb setting of Steal Away by Timothy Brown and an old favourite in Norman Luboff’s setting of Deep River.” Libretto

“This is a two-disc set in Surround Sound, produced by John Rutter and recorded in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral, in the glorious acoustic of which his own Cambridge Singers have made such memorable recordings. Rutter tells us in the programme notes that the first CD ‘explores the theme of light,’ while the second ‘is about heaven and our journey to heaven.’ All in all, quite a programme!  For a choir of this type, the standard of the singing is second to none.  Although the sound is very different from that of a cathedral choir such as Hereford, the quality of the voices is high, the blend is excellent, the diction is immaculate, and the interpretations are expressive and well judged.  Most enjoyable.” Church Music Quarterly