Various Composers - English Cathedral Music [Various Artists]
I must admit the number one reason i bought this disc was because of the front cover, a stunning shot of a cathedral, looking up to the heavens, the stonework couched in the light of the glowing sun, and the vanishing points pointing upwards, the lettering and logo are superb, and the sky is just that right shade of cloudy blue, the power of gold and blue is incredible, i don't usually go for Choral music, so this is a bit off the beaten track for me, there are hits and misses for me, but it's good to expand my horizons in music, and this gets me moving down a different avenue.
At first i thought this was a purely Choral collection, with no instruments, that would have made more sense, instead what we get is a mixed bag of modern and ancient, some things don't quite sit together well, there's too much of a randomness to the whole thing, i think i would have accepted just Choral Tudor music.
The two pieces i really liked were Allegri's 'Miserere Mei', and Byrd's 'Bow Thine Ear, O Lord', the Allegri is justly famous for it's boy treble that rises into the stratosphere, the Byrd is less known, but i found it really compelling,
Here's Stephen Cleobury directing the Kings College Chapel Choir singing Alegri's 'Miserere Mei' on YouTube.
