The disc masquerades
under an unfortunate name. The Light
of the World was a title coined
from a biblical passage (John 8) for
the famous painting of Christ by William
Holman Hunt (1851) whose symbolic imagery
fascinated the Victorian public of the
day. I had at first assumed that this
was to be a new recording of the equally
famous oratorio, The Light of the
World, by Arthur Sullivan in need
of a second CD revival. Instead, we
have a collection of choral music for
church and cathedral. Amongst the programme
happens to be a piece called The
Light of the World by Johnny Dankworth.
It is a setting of a piece of the same
name by Paul Wigmore. But don’t be put
off, the Wigmore/Dankworth piece is
very engaging and a delight to listen
to!
The collection is drawn
from the music of a wide variety of
composers. The accompaniment is predominantly
organ but there are chamber contributions
and a role for the guitar. The programme
is a mix of conservatively modern and
traditional settings. The variety sustains
interest and the blend is good. However,
I do find Amazing Grace (American
folk melody) and Londonderry Air
unusual choices in this context.
The training of the
Tewkesbury choir is very good, as one
might expect from an abbey of strength
rubbing shoulders with the nearby Three
Choirs Festival. The pure voices of
the trebles are nicely balanced by a
slightly recessed men’s choir. The organ
has richly resonant 16ft/32ft open wood
pipes that give a nice breadth to the
sound. Diction is always difficult in
a wide acoustic, but clarity here is
better than might be expected. Soloist
treble, ten year old Andrew Swait, is
clear and sings with appealing sweetness
of tone and gentle vibrato. On one or
two tracks I find the organ intrusive
and would have preferred a more forward
placing of soloist and choir on the
sound-stage to prevent a slight masking
effect.
The choir reveals its
strength in the presentation of Mawby’s
Ave verum corpus. The majesty
provided by part harmonies and power
of delivery are impressive.
I waited for the
Lord was a delight, with Andrew
Swait’s solo secure in pitch and purity.
An equally good second treble is not
named. The throaty 4ft(?) stop used
in the accompaniment here gives a sluggish
heaviness to what should be the light
staccato effect. This couldn’t have
made it easy for the proficient singer.
To my ears, Laurisden’s
Ubi caritas et amor is less effective.
The piece tends to meander without much
purpose or stimulation.
Long since in Egypt
by Parry (better known as ‘Dear Lord
and Father of mankind’) is taken
at a distinctly ploddish pace. Its melodic
line is a good one and could have been
much more engaging had it been taken
faster, with the bonus of being more
motivating to sing. I was keen to sample
composers like Parry, Mawby, Burgon,
Alcock and Lauridsen whose works I am
less familiar with. The Mahler-like
Sanctus by Alcock, with developing
crescendo, provides a good opening second
track. The Nunc Dimittis by Burgon
may not be known by name yet will be
recognized by those who remember the
1970s theme tune to BBC TV’s ‘Smiley’s
People’ (with Alec Guinness). This is
a particularly fine piece, superbly
sung.
It is impressive that
preparation of this CD has only taken
a month and it perhaps puts some of
the major labels to shame.
Good notes accompany
the disc, which can provide an enjoyable
diversion during the festive season.
Raymond J Walker
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Tewkesbury Abbey School Choir/Benjamin Nicholas
