The Choir of Bath Abbey
Huw Williams Director
CRD 3556
This CD is being issued to mark the 125th anniversary of the Bath Abbey Boys Choir. The programme is an enterprising blend of well-known choral items with others which are much less familiar. Given the nature of the celebration, two large scale items, Parry’s Hear My Words, Ye People and Stanford’s Te Deum in B flat include the voices of choir alumni.
There is quite a variety of ensembles, with Ireland’s It is a thing most wonderful and Mary Plumstead’s A Grateful Heart being sung by the trebles alone. Matthew Martin’s Justorum Animae, by contrast, is sung by only the lay clerks. The splendid arrangement of Ev’ry time I Feel the Spirit by William Dawson conjures up the genuine sound of a Gospel choir, with a well-characterised solo by Mike Entwisle, showing another aspect of this choir’s versatility.
The standard of performance is uniformly high with only occasionally a very slight waver in pitch or intonation. This is a choral sound which is natural and uninhibited, closer to what used to be described as a ‘continental’ style of singing, exemplified by choirs such as St John’s College, Cambridge under George Guest or Westminster Cathedral choir when George Malcolm was director of music. (At the same time the choir of King’s College, Cambridge under Sir David Willcocks was thought to represent the ideal of the English style of choral singing.)
From reviewing quite several choral recordings in recent months, I have concluded that this distinction is now virtually a thing of the past. Most choirmasters seem to encourage a less self-conscious approach to singing, so different groups have their own individuality.
From the technical point of view, performances seem more secure and accomplished and to have more character than may be found in older recordings. The drama inherent in many of the texts tends to be more vividly brought to life. A good example in the present instance is the performance of Macmillan’s A New Song which is extraordinarily powerful.
The Klais organ, in the skilled hands of the Assistant Organist, Dewi Rees, sounds very fine and supports the voices magnificently without ever overwhelming them. A glance at the scheme of rebuilding carried out in 1997 discloses that as much as possible of the excellent older pipework was retained on its original wind pressure. This means that the sound is completely authentic, although, in places, somewhat brighter than might have been expected from an instrument containing such a quantity of historical material.
This is a most enjoyable release and a very worthy celebration of the choir’s long history.
Review by Martyn Strachan