Composer: Herbert Norman Howells
Performer: Iain Farrington, Choir of St John’s College Cambridge
Conductor: Christopher Robinson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8554659
Release: 1999
Size: 276 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Magnificat and Nunc dimitis, St. Paul’s
01. Magnificat
02. Nunc dimittis
03. Like as the Hart
04. Paean for Organ
Requiem
05. Salvator mundi
06. Psalm 23
07. aeternam (1)
08. Psalm 121
09. aeternam (2)
10. I Heard a Voice from Heaven
11. Long, Long Ago
Office of Holy Communion
12. Kyrie
13. Credo
14. Sanctus
15. Benedictus
16. Agnus Dei
17. Gloria in Excelsis
Rhapsody, Op. 17 No. 3
18. Rhapsody No. 3 for Organ
19. Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing
Howells, probably more than any other composer, extended the cathedral repertoire in the 20th century. Here his music is performed by one of the best choirs. Under Christopher Robinson, St John’s has preserved its distinctive character (the bright tone of its trebles a famous part of it) and, as this record demonstrates, has gained in vigour and clarity of purpose.
Immediately notable is the choice of relatively quick speeds. Howells sometimes appears to invite a relaxed style of performance which isn’t to his advantage.
St John’s tempo suits the acoustic. This applies to a similar comparison with the Choir of King’s College in its more reverberant chapel, singing the Communion Service dedicated to it: the more opulent sound matches the broader tempo, St John’s achieving (as in the Sanctus) clearer effects within a narrower spectrum. Their discs also have in common the Rhapsody No 3 for organ, and whereas the expansive performance at King’s includes a murmurous pianissimo next-thing-tosilence, the quicker, more sharply defined one at St John’s has a dramatic urgency.
The choice of programme is particularly happy, with one of the lesser-known Evening Services (the ‘St Paul’s’) and one of the best known of Howells’s anthems (Like as the hart).