Anthems for the 21st Century – Cathedral Music Volume 2

Everything in this programme is either specially commissioned or recorded for the first time, and the stated aim was to provide new works of a style and scope suited to performance in Divine Service. The performances are absolutely first-rate, though one hopes other organists besides Jeremy Filsell will be able to meet the demands of the accompaniment to his own Mysterium Christi, a most exciting and compelling work. Among other names which which will be less familiar to most of us, Jonathan Dove, Gabriel Jackson and James Macmillan contribute typical examples of their current style, and it is good to have the work of a senior cathedral organist included: Philip Moore’s I saw him standing is a work of real quality which for once does not lapse into plainsong, a device perhaps too frequently employed by York Minster’s distinguished organist. An oddity is Give us this day by Ward Swingle, which introduces the homely accents of Parry, Stanford and Co. to what is otherwise a pretty good compendium of current trends in composition.  Strongly recommended. 

Timothy Storey
Cathedral Music Volume 2