Orchestral Anthems Bairstow: Blessed City, heavenly Salem; Dyson: Evening Service in D; Elgar: The Apostles – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; Ecce sacerdos magnus; Finzi: Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice; Howells: Behold, O God our defender; Purcell: Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei, Z135; Vaughan Williams: Te Deum in G Choir of Merton College, Oxford; Girl Choristers of Merton College, Oxford; Britten Sinfonia/Benjamin Nicholas Delphian DCD34291 55:08 mins
Sometimes, even the most fully voiced organ isn’t enough: this album celebrates a selection of choral anthems written for church or cathedral where an orchestra replaces what would normally be an organ accompaniment.
Edward Bairstow’s ‘Blessed city, heavenly Salem’ keeps the scale of the accompaniment fairly modest, using just strings and piano. The effect may still be disconcerting to those accustomed to the organ-led original, with clunking pizzicatos underpinning ‘Bright thy gates of pearl’, Lisztian piano chords in stanza four and rich, divided string textures adding a perhaps too comfortable pastoral patina.
Two works by Elgar strike a more holistic tone in their combination of choir and orchestra. Conductor Benjamin Nicholas shapes Ecce sacerdos magnus with pleasing cogency, Elgar’s orchestra a stirringly supportive presence in crescendos. ‘The Spirit of the Lord’ (from The Apostles) is even better, Merton College Choir and the Britten Sinfonia working hand in glove to summon the glowing warmth and spiritual fervour of Elgar’s writing.
The biggest piece here is Finzi’s 14-minute ‘Lo, the full, final sacrifice’, where Nicholas again knits his forces together very convincingly. Here and elsewhere the recorded sound (All Hallows’, Gospel Oak is the venue) is a touch over-reverberant, fuzzing over the choir’s articulation in big climaxes particularly. But both the antiphonal exchanges of Vaughan Williams’s Te Deum, and its sturdy unison passages, are rousingly captured.
Michael Emery’s booklet essay usefully clarifies the context in which these anthems were created, and should definitely be read before listening to the music.
Terry Blain