Reviewed by Dave Massey

This album spans some three and a half centuries of church music from Adrian Batten (1591) through Back (1685) to Walford Davis (1869) and as such is a marvellous illustration of the effect tradition has on progress. The Clare College Choir is so tight and well balanced that it doesn't take long before the spine starts to tingle - especially on tracks like "Never Weather Beaten Sail" (Thomas Campion), and Byrd's "Ave Verum Corpus". A nice inclusion on this compilation is the "Ave Verum" (Hail true Body of Christ) by Edward Elgar - a composer whose sense of melody in my book is unsurpassed. This is the kind of compilation that can be enjoyed by everyone, there's nothing so heavy that the casual listener would be put off, whilst the musical snob can wonder in awe at the simplicity and beauty of expression that was one of the first victims of the age of enlightenment.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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