Customer Reviews

Silk purses from sows' ears - By: , 23 Jul 2002
I was worried about this disc from the first, because the English Hymnal worries me. There's some great stuffin there, but there's also an awful lot of dreary tat & recording the whole hymnal requires recording all that dross. Good old Vaughan Williams for his effortsin producing this book, but "boo" to him for choosing some truly dire tunes.

It is unfortunate that The Abbey School has drawn the short straw for content. Compared to some other discsin the series, they have to cope with some fairly awful tunes.

However, the Choir comes out on top & all credit to them - their magnificent handling of some awful tunes shows just how talented these boys & their choir master (Benjamin Nicholas) really are.

The sound of the boys at Tewkesbury is recognisable because of their bright, crisp performance. They are augmented by a fine set of men & the overall blend is great. This disc shows how they cope with general hymnody but also gives them a chance to show just how well they handle unaccompanied singing, where the choir more than makes up for the absence of organ.

These boys are magnificent - they make it worth listening to bad hymn tunes, whilst still providing great interpretations of old favourites. They naturally bring out the best of "A great & mighty wonder" & "Christ the fair glory" whilst still managing to make enjoyable "Father, see Thy children bending at Thy throne" & "Stephen, first of Christian martyrs"

I can only hope that their reward for recording this disc was more than just a copy of it - they deserve to be given a recording of their last hymn disc; same quality but better hymns. They are "fab" as my trendier friends might say.