Fans of John Rutter will welcome this premiere recording of his Psalmfest, a collection of seven of his existing psalm anthems plus two new compositions. Those who are less enamoured of his unashamedly user-friendly musical style might still wish to acknowledge his superb craftsmanship, resulting in intelligent, imaginative and varied settings of words from the Psalms of David. The spirit of Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells is evident in the harmonic language and choral textures, while the lively rhythms and quasi-pianistic accompaniments reveal the influence of Britten and Bernstein.

The excellent singing of the St Albans Cathedral choirs combines brightness of sound with crystal-clear diction. The two soloists are also very good, although listeners may prefer the flowing, seamless legato of Elizabeth Cragg to the slightly more articulated phrasing of Pascal Charbonneau. The singers are well matched by the brilliantly executed accompaniments of the RPO, whose splendid playing highlights Rutter’s colourful and glittering orchestration. Just occasionally in louder passages the orchestra are a little too heavy for the voices, and perhaps a reduced instrumentation might have been better-suited to a cathedral choir of 55 singers. Nevertheless, balance and ensemble are, on the whole, impeccable, apart from the first movement of Psalmfest, ‘O be joyful in the Lord’ (the quickest item on this disc), where the orchestra are sometimes marginally ahead of the singers. The recording is of a high quality but aims for clarity at the expense of atmosphere, so one is unaware of the large spaces and warm acoustic of St Albans Abbey.

Overall, then, an enjoyable CD, with a happy union between the enduring words of the psalms and Rutter’s equally timeless, evergreen music.