Modesty in the music of triumph, restraint in that of loss and grief, a decent moderation in all things: Croft's compositions represent much that was best in the age. He was a pupil of John Blow, whom he succeeded as organist at Westminster Abbey and as Master of the Chapel Royal, receiving an additional £80 per annum for teaching the children to read, write and do their sums. I hope he was a likeable man: he sounds it.
The Te Deum and Jubilate, thought to be written in celebration of Malplaquet, clearly have Purcell's settings in mind, but are rather more deliberately sustained, the sections developing their material more systematically. Rejoice in the Lord has a sprightly opening chorus (did Sullivan's mind jig along to it as he set Gilbert's ''We thanked our lucky stars we were hardy British tars'' in Ruddigore?). The Burial Service, with its more than merely respectful inclusion of Purcell's ''Thou knowest, Lord'', fully deserves its honoured place in traditional Anglican services, with the final ''Amen'' bringing the single relaxation of the severe features, the intertwining of rose and scythe in a chaste and simple eighteenth-century memorial-stone. Choir, soloists and players all do good work, and the none-too-easy processes of balancing the various groups in the acoustic of St Paul's have been judiciously worked out. Among the soloists, the altos, and perhaps especially Christopher Royall, deserve individual mention. Among the many contributions Hyperion have made to musical life, one of the most valuable has been their English Orpheus Series, which with this issue now reaches Volume 15.'