This selection of anthems and motets is calculated to delight lovers of English church music of the Victorian era and later. Most of the old favourites are there, sung with warmth and affection by these 32 singers hived off from the much larger London Symphony Chorus. The fact that the group's original commitment was to the performance of Italian Renaissance polyphony must go some way, I believe, to explaining why Stanford's three unaccompanied Latin motets figure among the more successful items in the recital; the same could be said of Elgar's short, lyrical Ave verum—by a slip of the pen erroneously referred to as Ave Maria in the insert-notes. The six-part ''Beati quorum via integra est'', the third of Stanford's motets, pleased me greatly with its contrasting textures and the delightful ebb and flow of its antiphony.
Elsewhere, the choir displays tremendous energy and power, notably in Parry's I was glad, and again, though perhaps too stridently, in Balfour Gardiner's Evening Hymn. But there are pieces where the singers show that they are capable of a more delicate touch: the mysterious unison opening, for example, of Bairstow's Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and the middle section of I was glad, at the words ''O pray for the peace of Jerusalem''. There are some good acoustic effects in W. H. Harris's double choir Bring us, O Lord, and we are treated to a highly dramatic pictorial interpretation of the fiery Seraphim in the same composer's setting of Spenser's poem Faire is the heaven, also for double choir.
I think that, given the choice, I, personally, would opt for John Rutter's smoother, more integrated and etherial performance of this lovely piece on Collegium: to my mind Jeremy Backhouse's slightly overstated performance presents too material a picture of heaven, devoid of much of the mystery and wonder that Rutter manages to conjure up with his Cambridge Singers. Many listeners, though, will appreciate and prefer the intensity of the Vasari Singers' performance, and, all in all, this is a disc, at medium price, that is certain to please all those who still enjoy the experience of Evensong in an English cathedral or college chapel.'