Walton: The Twelve

“Solti's Belshazzar's Feast is more symphonic than dramatic but monumentally impressive. Preston directs a useful anthology of short choral works.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“Decca have done it again, transferring this highly spectacular choral work [Belshazzar’s Feast] with incredible aplomb. The Coronation Te Deum is hardly less impressive, the choral sound richer textured to suit the occasion, and there is a great bass pedal effect near the end. … Solti has come to Belshazzar's Feast, a great British masterpiece, and in his refreshing way has given it a crisp, international look … It is certainly a most distinctive performance, sharply focused and helped by a recording of superb clarity and brilliance … Indeed the range and bite of the sound here is little short of miraculous” Gramophone Magazine (Belshazzar’s Feast, Coronation Te Deum)

“The disc thus gives a panorama of the composer's choral development over five decades … Preston has welded the choir into a most expressive and flexible instrument … The disc does credit to all concerned and will add lustre to the already high standard of Argo recordings in this field.” Gramophone Magazine (CD2: Choral works)

“Heather Harper’s singing … is a constant pleasure. Paul Hamburger, a first-rate accompanist who has appeared far too little on records, plays the quite demanding piano parts with great skill and sensitivity” Gramophone Magazine (Songs)

“Stanford’s Te Deum and Jubilate from his B flat Service have become comparative rarities, and they make a terrific impact here, organ and choir combining with exultant, spine-tingling resonance...This is cathedral choral singing at its finest and most inspiring.” The Telegraph, 28th July 2010

“This music for Westminster Abbey's patron, St Peter, offers a nimble, not to say ecumenical chance to unite contrasting choral works on one disc...The choir sounds best in Stanford's quintessentially Anglican Service in B flat and in Walton's The Twelve (1965)...Its flamboyant organ part and fugal "Twelve as the winds and the months" finale are intriguing and uplifting.” The Observer, 8th August 2010

“this glorious disc from Hyperion celebrat[es] what the Abbey choir is all about...The centrepiece of the disc is Byrd's glorious Mass for five voices, superbly delivered in the performance of outstanding clarity and sensitivity under James O'Donnell.” International Record Review, September 2010

“The musicians of Westminster Abbey are in top form. Crisp phrasing, firm control of line and lumionous colours create many fine moments, notably in the Palestrina and in Byrd's Gloria. Under organist Robert Quinney, the transcribed Bach Sinfonia sweeps along to a heady climax.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2010 ***

“A sumptuous banquet of choral delight awaits the hungry listener, laid out in three carefully balanced courses, to be savoured slowly, the whole programme sung (and played) with superlative skill” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2010

“This latest addition to Naxos's English Church Music series isn't just a first-rate bargain but provides a distinctive alternative to the Finzi Singers in the Chandos Walton Edition, in its use of boy trebles. The presence of boys' voices consistently brings extra freshness to the St John's Choir's performances, giving them the sort of bite one can imagine the composer having in mind, with Waltonian syncopations wonderfully idiomatic in their crisp articulation.
Smaller in scale, with the organ set behind the choir, these more intimate readings also convey more clearly the impression of church performances, a clear advantage in the liturgical items above all, not just the delightful Missa brevis, but the Jubilate, and the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis.
You might argue that this collegiate choir is on the small side for the big ceremonial Te Deum written for the Queen's Coronation in 1953, but there, more than ever, the freshness and bite make for extra clarity hard to achieve with bigger forces. With Robinson and the St John's Choir the words aren't just sharply defined but are given life, with subtle rubato and fine shading of dynamic.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Though Backhouse has female sopranos and altos instead of the traditional boys' voice, their timbre is always fresh and bright, and apt for this music...[a] very satisfying selection of anthems, essential listening for anyone fond of Anglican church music.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2011

“The Vasaris are perfect for such luxurious music - the glorious textural colours combined with the traditional church location make for a heavenly blend, and Stanford's unaccompanied Magnificat for Double Choir exemplifies their talent perfectly.” Muso Magazine, April/May 2011 ***

“The choir sing well, leaving no loose ends.This disc is well worth a bob or two to add to your collection” Classic CD

“This disc has important bonuses that all Walton devotees will value. The inclusion of The Wallace Collection brings an immediate advantage in the first choral item, the Coronation Te Deum, when the extra bite of brass adds greatly to the impact of a piece originally designed for very large forces in Westminster Abbey. Brass also adds to the impact of the final item, Antiphon, one of Walton's very last works, setting George Herbert's hymn Let all the world in every cornersing. The new disc also includes Walton's four carols, which makes this as comprehensive a collection of Walton's shorter choral pieces as could be imagined. As for the performances and recording, the professional group, Polyphony, with sopranos very boyish, have many of the advantages that the St John's Choir offer on Naxos in bright choral sound set in an ecclesiastical atmosphere. The acoustic of Hereford Cathedral is a little washy in places, and the balance of some of the solo voices is odd at times, yet the merits of these performances far outweigh any slight reservations, with the professional singers a degree more warmly expressive than the all-male St John's Choir.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010