Gramophone Editor's Choices - June 2021

Glen Dempsey (organ)

Choir of St John's College Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha

Howells: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis (Collegium Regale, 1945)
Swayne: Magnificat I, Op. 33
Watson, Sydney: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in E
Walton: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
Berkeley, L: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, Op. 99
Sumsion: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G
Jackson, F: Evening Service in G
Pärt: Magnificat
Anderson, Julian: Evening Canticles

Andrew Nethsingha and The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge release the second volume in the highly praised ‘Magnificat’ series, presenting nine settings of the Evening Canticles by celebrated Organist-Composers, written between 1932 and 1952 and non-church musicians from 1974-1989.

The recording culminates with a contemporary setting by Julian Anderson, composed for the Chapel’s 150th Anniversary and commissioned for the College Choir.

"These first volumes are designed to complement one another. ‘Magnificat 1’ started earlier, with Stanford in the 1880s; Volume Two brings us briefly up to the present day. The first release contained celebrated works by Tippett and Leighton from 1961 and 1972 respectively, in between the two main periods represented on this disc. Both albums contain iconic works by Howells, written a year apart. We hear composers creating different orders of priority for the parameters of composition.” - Andrew Nethsingha