'A new label, Obsidian, launches with a collection of vocal music by Thomas Tomkins who, while renowned in his day, is now rather less fashionable than his mentor William Byrd. This disc should do much for Tomkins’s reputation. The performances fairly glow, and so does one’s spirit after traversing this glorious programme.
No surprise at the deeply felt playing of Fretwork, but the Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, is new to me. They sing with as much sensitivity and soul as many more famous rivals. The vocal ensemble Alamire are marvellously balanced and they boast one heck of a bass in Robert Macdonald.
That Tomkins could compose such sublime music living at the same time that Oliver Cromwell cracked down on choral music is astonishing.' - James Inverne, Gramophone Magazine
“In the choral works David Skinner has drawn a beautifully blended sound from his Sidney Sussex Chapel Choir of mixed voices… …Skinner transcribed the organ parts for the Fifth Service and the closing anthem for viol quartet… which are so sensitively played by members of the renowned Fretwork.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2008
Gramophone Magazine
