St Martin’s Voices
Andrew Earis director
Stephen Farr organ
Resonus RES10361
Lucy Walker is a young (b.1998) composer specialising in choral music and her work has been commended by no less an authority than Bob Chilcot. In 2023 she became Composer-in Residence with St Martin’s Voices, a versatile vocal ensemble based at the Church of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields. However, this was not the venue chosen for this recording, which was St James’, Islington.
Lucy Walker has won many prestigious commissions from such notable patrons as Pembroke College, Cambridge, the Choir of the Holy Sepulchre, York Minster, the Leys School and Wells Cathedral. Of perhaps the greater significance are those works written as part of her residency with St Martin’s Voices. These include Here, home, the St Martin’s Service, Before the ending of the day, Make me an Island and I saw eternity.
By any standards, this comprises an impressive body of work. The musical style is firmly within the English choral tradition, with grateful part-writing, idiomatic word-setting, well-contrived climactic moments, but never at any time sounding reminiscent. This would seem only to be possible for someone who has so thoroughly absorbed the idiom that she cannot help but write persuasively for her forces.
This is a most impressive debut disc for a number of reasons; the quality of the items included is uniformly high and the composer’s stylistic consistency does not imply any lack of variety in approach. The words set are beautifully shaped by the music and there are no extravagant demands in terms of pitch or texture.
The St Martin’s Voices sing superbly throughout and with remarkable sonority, given that only thirteen names are listed as having taken part in the recording. Like all good small ensembles, it frequently sounds much bigger than that figure would suggest. Once again, one must commend the skill of the composer in ensuring that the vocal spacing in the music allows the voices to sound at their best.
Stephen Farr’s contribution is both skilful and understated and the recorded sound is excellent with just the right amount of space around the voices. Altogether this is an extremely fine and thoughtfully put together recording which gives a very full picture of this composer’s prodigious talent and skill.
Review by Martyn Strachan