Wesley, S S: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace

“an attractive programme, sung with expertise and devotion” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 ****

“One of the best [canticle-settings] is Wesley in E...Nethsinga directs splendidly, the performance as broad and grand as one could wish...this is a disc to uplift the spirits.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2013

“The gem here is Lauds, most delicately accompanied by Paul Provost, who supports sympathetically throughout” Gramophone Magazine, November 2010

“What a tremendous programme this is...I can think of no higher praise than to say that it has little chance of finding a place on my shelves because I can't stop playing it.” Organists Review

“…Swedish group Sofia Vokalensemble… embrace this tradition as if they had grown up breathing the air of Westminster Abbey.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2009

“The Choir of Clare College, which many will remember for their fresh and accomplished singing under John Rutter, is here directed by Christopher Robinson, than whom none better.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007

“The fine Clare College choir sings [the anthems] with appropriate fervour” Sunday Times

“There are few lovelier anthems than Wesley's Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace; Cast me notaway is worthy to stand with Purcell's Hear my prayer; and among his larger choral compositions The Wilderness retains an enviable place in the service-lists. For those who know Ascribeunto the Lord there will be many more for whom its final chorus, 'The Lord hath been mindful of us', is a firm favourite, satisfying in structure, vigorous in counterpoint, and sporting as its main themes two of the best melodies in the chorister's repertoire.
The Choir of Clare College, which many will remember for their fresh and accomplished singing under John Rutter, is here directed by Christopher Robinson, than whom none better.
The Robinson touch is manifest in the marvellous phrase 'that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice' (Cast me not away). Poor old Wesley had injured his in a fishing accident: he writes feelingly and the choir are with him. The 'ransomed of the Lord' passage in The Wilderness has terrific energy. And the soprano soloist in 'And sorrow and sighing' sings like an angel.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Judith Bingham is that seemingly rare thing in contemporary music. A composer whose music has the ability to connect and communicate with its audience on an immediate and direct level.” MusicWeb International

“Judith Bingham is a composer with a special gift for vocal setting and a wealth of experience in what can be sung: for 13 years she was a permanent member of the BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers (for whom she is Associate Composer).
All five works on this new disc reveal a distinctive voice writing in a recognisably modern idiom which combines clarity of thought and complexity of vision. Bingham's music draws audiences in, without alienating them or com- promising her expressive integrity. Salt in theBlood (1995) is a prime example, a large musical – at times theatrical – tapestry of British seasong, weaving in existing shanties and invented hornpipes to retell the tale of two sailors' rivalry as to who was the better dancer. Bingham thinks convincingly in long spans, as her 2004 Prom commission The Secret Garden confirms (given here in a live performance). FirstLight (2001) and the brief The Darkness is noDarkness (1993) engage with the English choral tradition to an unusual degree, the latter – a reinterpretation of a Wesley hymn – in particular.
The performances all round are first rate and the recorded sound is excellent, which is no less than Bingham deserves. The BBC Symphony Chorus sing with gusto and Fine Arts Brass relish some fine brass writing, not least in TheSnow Descends (1997), an atmospheric paraphrase for brass of one of Bingham's choral works. Recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010