Descants From Trinity: 21 Popular Hymns with Descants
The subtitle of this disc, "21 popular hymns with single and double descants devised by Richard Marlow," proclaims both the program's uniqueness and its importance to all those who vainly search for artful and reverent recordings of the classic hymn repertoire. No choir in the world knows more about or more frequently performs the great hymns of the English Protestant church than Trinity College Choir--an institution that has existed in various forms for more than 450 years. Here, the famous choir and its glorious sopranos offer hymns such as "Westminster Abbey," "Aberystwyth," "Nun danket," "Forest Green," "St. Edmund," and "Moscow," accompanied by organ and embellished with both single and highly unusual double descants. Happily, and effectively, composer Richard Marlow has found a way to allow the fundamental hymn tunes and harmonies to shine while the descants tastefully and sublimely complement and uplift.--David Vernier