Stephen Pritchard 

James Whitbourn: Living Voices and other choral works – review

James Whitbourn's music combines voices and soprano saxophone to beautiful, soothing effect, writes Stephen Pritchard
  
  


Here's another welcome collection from a truly original communicator in modern British choral music. Whitbourn's interest in the compelling combination of voices and the soprano saxophone dominates here, his 2001 Son of God Mass using the instrument in improvisatory, spiritual mode to link the sections of the mass and overlay a lithe counterpoint to the choir. Similarly, in Requiem canticorum, written last year, saxophonist Jeremy Powell spreads a healing balm over the whole piece, making it a profound, consolatory experience. And there's a bonus on this disc: Whitbourn's "Winter's Wait", the terrific carol he wrote for King's College, Cambridge last Christmas. The Princeton choir is directed by James Jordan with precision and poise.

 

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