The Psalms

by St. John's College Choir, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha

Overview

The idea of an album consisting of almost an hour of psalm chants might seem dubious. Even St. John's College chaplain Andrew Hammond, writing in one of the sets of notes here, concedes that "[t]o a modern sensibility, Evensong (especially when sung by an accomplished choir) might seem more like spending forty minutes with a venerable ancient relative than with a sparky, spontaneous friend," Evensong being the Anglican service at which psalms are most frequently sung. However, for the Choir of St. John's Cambridge and director Andrew Nethsingha, this is just a challenge to surmount and surmount it they do. The key is to inflect the choir's characteristically warm tone in ways appropriate to what is being sung, and before long, listeners will find themselves being drawn into the little stories told in these pieces. Consider the opening work, a setting of Psalm 18 by Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876), which goes through many moods and dramatic events. Some of the psalms are sung a cappella, while others are accompanied by organ. This recording was made over several years, and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic; Nethsingha clearly drilled his young singers in what are interpretations of great depth and complexity. The booklet, too, is worth the listener's time, delving into the history and lore of Anglican psalm singing and including information on some obscure figures of the English church. In short, Nethsingha makes something unexpectedly lively out of this material, and he has been rewarded by listeners who put this album on classical best-seller charts in the fall of 2022. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	09/16/2022
Label:	Signum Classics
UPC:	0635212072127
Rank:	184851

Tracks

1. Psalm 18 'I will love thee, O Lord' (vv. 1-19)
2. Psalm 99 'The Lord is King'
3. Psalm 85 'Lord, thou art become gracious'
4. Psalm 76 'In Jewry is God known'
5. Psalm 52 'Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant'
6. Psalm 88 'O Lord God of my salvation'
7. Psalm 29 'Bring unto the Lord, O ye mighty'
8. Psalm 2 'Why do the heathen so furiously rage'
9. Psalm 139 'O Lord, thou hast searched me out' (omit vv. 19-22)
10. Psalm 148 'O praise the Lord of heaven'
11. Psalm 121 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills'
12. Psalm 122 'I was glad when they said unto me'
13. Psalm 123 'Unto thee lift I up mine eyes'

Album Credits

Performance Credits

St. John's College Choir, Cambridge   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Andrew Nethsingha   Primary Artist,Conductor
George Herbert   Organ
Glen Dempsey   Organ
James Anderson-Besant   Organ

Technical Credits

Chris Hazell   Producer
Andrew Nethsingha   Liner Notes
Henry Walford Davies   Composer
William Prendergast   Composer
Charles Hylton Stewart   Composer
Caroline Marks   Photography
Alan Stephen Hemmings   Composer
Thomas Attwood   Composer
Henry John Gauntlett   Composer
Simon Eadon   Engineer
William Hine   Composer
Ivor Atkins   Composer
William Crotch   Composer
Robert Ashfield   Composer
Emma Solley   Photography
Highmore Skeats   Composer
Andrew Hammond   Liner Notes
Percy Whitlock   Composer
Matthew Bennett   Editing
Ash Mills   Photography
James Proctor   Photography
Christopher Robinson   Composer
James Beddoe   Photography,Project Manager