Casual browsers may not get much information about this choir-and-organ album (part of a series featuring the
Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford
) from the rather kitschy graphics. The meditative music is not particularly "thunderous," and what is really the key attraction of the album is mentioned only in small print. That key attraction is the organ, which is a new instrument recently installed in the Magdalen College Chapel where the album was recorded. The organ was built by the German firm of Eule, and it is the company's first instrument delivered to the U.K. in a century. Even for listeners other than organ buffs (and for them it is well-nigh essential), the sounds of this organ have much to offer. Start right in with
James MacMillan
's
A New Song
and hear the rippling organ lines that back up the smoother melodies of the choir. That's a texture that several of the pieces employ, and the three organists involved seem to be having fun running up and down the keyboard. Director
Mark Williams
constructs a program that showcases the instrument effectively; it is made up largely of British contemporary works, with divagations to the U.S., France, and Estonia with
Arvo Pärt
, and back in time as far as
Haydn
.
Williams
does an unusually persuasive job here in connecting the mainstream of recent British choral music to its long tradition, and the organ is a key medium for exploring these connections. It's an unusually cohesive album, the organ sounds great, and it's recorded with clarity at Magdalen. ~ James Manheim