Magdalen College Choir CDs

The title perhaps suggests a disc containing lots of rustic folk dances. In fact the title line appears in the middle of Gibbons's anthem O Clap your hands together, on a CD that is wholly devoted to church music. Included are four anthems, two hymn settings, and four extracts from Gibbons's Second Service including a splendidly robust Magnificat, where the line "He hath scattered the proud" really makes you sit up and take notice. Discreetly accompanied by Fretwork, the music benefits from Magdalen's trademark mellow and transparent tone, and attention to diction and detail. It is easy to see why this music appeals to Ives, with its ever-changing textures, and interplay of different voices. The sound balance is first-rate.

Bill Ives was once a member of The King's Singers, and their latest line-up is featured on Sacred Bridges (Signum SIGCD065). A sleeve note states the disc's purpose: "A celebration of the rich connections between Orient and Occident, a musical exploration of the complex intertwinings the sacred bridges between Christianity, Islam and Judaism as seen through settings of the Psalms of David". The Singers, recorded rather close to the microphone, sing some tracks on their own, for others they are joined by the instrumental group Saraband. Their pipe-led contributions remind me of mood-setting background music to TV travelogues featuring exotic eastern locations, and, with the notable exception of the setting of Psalm 5, there actually seems to be little apparent intertwining between the very different vocal and instrumental styles involved. But the Singers' unaccompanied tracks are well worth hearing especially the short, and very moving, traditional Jewish setting of Psalm 113.