Agnus Dei 2: Music to Soothe the Soul
Building on the enormous success ofthe first Agnus Dei disc, its successor offers more of the same musical mood, but with a few surprises too. One of the hits of the first album was John Cameron's arrangement of Elgar'sNimrod, using the words of the Lux Aeterna. Here he really rolls his sleeves up and similarly tackles the Albinoni-Giazzoto Adagio (using the words of the Beatitudes) and the Intermezzo from Bizet's secondL'Arlésienne Suite(using the text of the Agnus Dei). The role of the orchestra (the excellent ensemble Capricorn) has been expanded, and Edward Higginbottom himself has arranged a delicious string septet accompaniment to Brahms'sGeistliches Lied. Much of the music is of the kind that the choir obviously eats for breakfast--which is not to say that they ever sound bland or tired, just at home. The one weak track is Monteverdi'sBeatus Vir, which needs voices of more sophistication and agility than the boys can provide. That aside, this is another album that should do their reputation no harm.--Warwick Thompson