In youth it was natural to think of Rheinberger as a dull old stick and then not to think of him at all. Later, grown wary of abusive phrases with ‘old’ in their midst, one resorted to more respectfully dismissive epithets such as ‘worthy’. Now comes a chance for second thoughts. All of the items here, save the Mass, are claimed as the subjects of world premiere recordings, and they include a Requiem, his fourth and last, written in 1900 and a notable addition to the catalogue. Of the shorter pieces, none can be called trivial, and the Mass for double choir, dedicated to Pope Leo XIII and winning for its composer the knighthood of Gregory the Great, impresses as a masterwork of serene faith and unostentatious skill.
The performances themselves contribute strongly. This is a choir of well-matched young voices, secure in matters of balance and intonation, sensitive in phrasing and nuance. Out of their ranks they produce some admirable soloists, and their sopranos are untouched by tremolo, hardness or surface-scratch. A particularly pleasant composition is the Wie lieblich for women’s voices and harp. The organ solos are also well played, the Canzonetta an unexpectedly lilting melody, the Intermezzo one of those expertly written pieces which makes it seem as though the notes lie naturally beneath the player’s hands and feet. The recording was made in the Chapel, not of Caius College but of St Catherine’s up the road, and is ideally clear without being dry.
So how does the ‘worthy old stick’ emerge? Creditably, no doubt, but that is another of those deadly terms of faint praise. The troublesome thing is that he is so utterly untroubling. He is the soul of well-governed moderation. A text such as the one (“Anima nostra” from Three Sacred Choruses) about the soul being freed like a sparrow from the snare of the hunter moves him to venture a little dotted rhythm by way of celebration, but he will go no further, and when Geoffrey Webber in his helpful booklet-notes, described the “Laudate Dominum” (from Op. 133) as “a rousting paean of praise” one feels that some qualifying adverb, such as ‘relatively’, might tactfully be introduced.'