As in the seasonal calendar a single window opens first, so in this Advent recital a solo voice sings in the distance; and by the end, all windows alight, the great Cathedral is filled with the organ’s \fortissimo from deepest pedal sub-bass to brightest trumpet and topmost piccolo. The programme begins with some plainsong dating back to the first millennium of the era. It may not quite fulfil everybody’s idea of “a dramatic and declamatory opening”, as William McVickers’s admirable notes describe it, but certainly it is apt and adventitious. The end, more plainsong but not so plain now, has O come, O come, Emmanuel decked in twentieth-century garb, audaciously arranged, then to become the subject of an organ toccata with sufficient energy to propel the hymn, the Cathedral and all into the new age.
In between comes a satisfying alternation of ancient and modern. Particularly splendid is Martin (Fall of the leafe) Peerson’s Blow out the trumpet, a fun-anthem, strong in rhythm and colour. Robert (drowned-in-the-Trent) Parsons’s five-part Ave Maria is also a joy. The modern works include an interesting, deeply felt piece by John Rutter, Hymn to the Creator of Light, its first section less ingratiating (but not therefore less good) than is his more characteristic style and, followed by an angular refulgence of praise, preparing for a lovely effect as a chorale-melody is introduced and sung quietly in octaves amid an affectionate interweave of gentle polyphony.
The famous choir are on top form, providing good treble soloists for Philip Wilby’s imaginative Echo Carol and a fine countertenor, Christopher Royall, for This is the record of John. Britten’s Hymn of St Columba is especially well performed, probably making the strongest impression of all. Andrew Lucas is the remorselessly exercised organist in this, and John Scott takes over for the Toccata: both do excellent work.'