The subtitle of
this disc “new music from Norwich” would be even more appropriate
if the word "cathedral" was added after “Norwich”.
Of the eight new or recent pieces here recorded all have a
Norwich connection as do several of the more famous ones also
performed. Few cathedrals anywhere could boast of having so
much creative talent among their own personnel.
The first of the “new” works
to appear is a setting by David Cooper - one-time organist
at Norwich - of George Herbert’s Come My Way, which
has been set by numerous composers in the 20th Century.
The best known of these settings is by Vaughan Williams in
the Five Mystical Songs, but Cooper’s is different in
both layout and mood. It is unaccompanied for the first two
verses and is rather sad in tone, almost like a plea. This
is followed by Norwich’s former organist Michael Nicholas’ Song
of Hosea, a premiere, which struck me as old-fashioned
and harmonically undistinguished. Very different in style is
the little cantata St. Peter and St. Paul by the well-known
Carl Rutti. This work is convincing dramatically, but not
as much musically. The choir works hard to put it across. Another
premiere recording is by composer, teacher and Norwich lay
clerk, Peter Aston, If you love me (John 14). While
conservative I found this quite touching as was another Aston
piece How lovely is thy dwelling place; indeed I found
this more moving than the first Aston piece.
Perhaps the most
impressive of the newer pieces is Mathew Cann’s setting of
Psalm 121, I will lift up my eyes, which Cann wrote
for his own wedding ceremony. He has a real ability to set
words to effective music. The choristers seemed to like the
piece as it is extremely well performed. One of Cann’s colleagues
at Norwich, Spencer Mitchell, has become increasingly well
known recently. His gentle setting of O Sacrum Convivium has
plainsong injected into its bloodstream, somewhat as in the
music of Duruflé and is the more effective for it. The entire
disc ends with Andrew Simpson’s Dixit Dominus, written
for the enthronement of Graham James as Bishop of Norwich in
2000. This is an exciting piece, with echoes from the 18th Century
and has an especially impressive middle section beginning with
the words Sacerdotes eius. I’m sure the Bishop was pleased.
The more standard
works on this disc start off with one of Stanford’s liveliest
short works Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem. David Dunnett
adopts a lighter and more restrained approach than is usual
- compare Winchester Cathedral Choir on Hyperion - and lacking
in stateliness, at least to me. The high voices on this work
are in very good form, as they are in the following Prevent
us, O Lord by Byrd. However, in both these pieces it is
difficult to make out the lower voices and this problem recurs
periodically on the disc so that it is frequently difficult
to hear them. Hadley’s My beloved spake is more successful
sonically, although I prefer the old recording by Hadley’s
own Choir of Caius and Gonville College. Another problem comes
up in the performance of Howells’ O pray for the peace of
Jerusalem: the choir’s intonation is very indistinct. This
applies to several of the newer pieces too. By contrast, the
Bairstow, Bainton and Statham works (all well known) as well
as the Cann have excellent intonation and demonstrate what
I think is David Dunnett’s strong point-firm control of the
interweaving of voices. This is especially evident in the Bairstow,
a wonderful rendition. The performance of Martin Lauridsen’s O
magnum mysterium is well thought out and merits the great
compliment of sounding authentically American. In all this
Julian Thomas provides excellent organ accompaniment, indeed
he is the most consistent performer on the disc.
This record cannot
be considered one of Norwich Cathedral Choir’s best efforts
- the quality of performance is too variable and the recalcitrant
acoustic of the Cathedral frequently defeats the engineers’ efforts,
as it has done before. For its new and interesting church music
it can be recommended highly and the quality of its recent
music alone justifies its purchase.
William Kreindler
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The Choir of
Norwich Cathedral/David Dunnett 
