Saving their best till last, the Dundee Cathedral Choir sing with spirit and confidence in Joubert's setting of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis written for them and other choirs of the Diocese as the Brechin Service. The colourful sonorities become almost exotic in ''and holy is His name'', the dotted rhythms faintly dotty in ''to lighten the Gentiles''. The ''Gloria'' seems designed to leave the congregation standing for a second or two after its abrupt end, arrived at by way of some vigorous pedalling by the organist: a tuneful and rhythmically vigorous piece, and it comes as no surprise to read of it in the leaflet as a modern chorister's favourite.
All of this is enjoyable enough, and most of the pieces that have preceded it make pleasant listening taken individually. But they hardly constitute a programme. Too much is andante, amiable but uncommitted in praise or penitence: music without exaltation. Then, when the quality rises from good to great, as it does with Byrd's Ave verum corpus, the performance fails to rise with it. This is nevertheless a good choir, fine in its blend, excellent in the quality of the boys' voices. The accompaniments are played with skill and sensitivity. But 50 minutes is not a generous allowance these days, and there is room in the programme for something else, an additional set of canticles perhaps: Walmisley in D minor to go with his anthem, or Vaughan Williams's 1928 Te Deum. Something good, strong and decisive.'