The idea of director
Andrew Nethsingha
and the
Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge
, to focus on the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis as a genre was a novel and instructive one, and their series here reaches its fourth and final volume. It is a bittersweet release, marking not only the end of the series but also of
Nethsingha
's tenure with the choir, and it has a certain valedictory quality. Many of the composers have ties to St. John's or one of the other Cambridge divisions, and the light, agile sound
developed with the choir is at its peak. The program is a strong one, showing the music's roots in the older composers
Stanford
and
Howells
, but flowering into a great variety of music, from the rich traditionalism of
Judith Weir
to the tunefulness of
Jonathan Dove
to the experimental
Anna Semple
, who contributes a
Nunc Dimittis
without a Magnificat.
includes some lesser-known figures like
Adrian Cruft
(1921-1987) and
Joanna Forbes L'Estrange
, and the whole program has a delightful variety. If
can accomplish even most of what he accomplishes here, his tenure at Westminster Abbey will be a fruitful one; for the present, listen and enjoy. This release made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2024. ~ James Manheim