{"product_id":"wesley-s-s-anthems","title":"WESLEY, S.S.: Anthems","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eWESLEY \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eAscribe unto the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. Wash me throughly. O God, whose nature. Let us lift up our heart. Blessed be the God and Father. Cast me not away from Thy presence. The Wilderness \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Christopher Robinson, cond; Clare College Ch, Cambridge; James McVinnie (org) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e NAXOS 8.570318 (75:14 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eText and Translation) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eSamuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876) was the “natural son” of the elder Samuel (also a musician of no small note) and held a variety of musical posts at English cathedrals, including those of Hereford, Winchester, and Gloucester. Of him the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eOxford Dictionary of Music\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e observes that he “cherished high ideals in church music in days when the general standard was low and engaged in constant warfare on behalf of his views. Many of his church compositions are in regular use and are highly admired.” No wonder, based on the evidence presented here. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe work of the Clare College Choir was praised, albeit too briefly, by this writer in a compilation of works by the contemporary composer Tarik O’Regan in the September\/October 2006 issue of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e; and one need hardly listen past the first track of the present release, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAscribe unto the Lord,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e to be thoroughly impressed by both the range of Wesley’s style and the interpretive resources brought to bear thereon by the performers. In the former connection, the piece ranges from an appropriately hushed setting of “Let the whole earth stand in awe of Him” to a highly agitated and (for Wesley) considerably chromatic treatment of “As for the gods of the heathen, they are but idols.” The adjective “scornful” has never before occurred to this writer as a description of a passage of music; but it seems highly apropos here. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs to execution, the work of both full choir and soloists (heavily used in many of these pieces) is a model of perfect intonation, blend, and text declamation. The same virtues remain in consistent evidence throughout the program, notably in the exuberant polyphonic penultimate movement of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Wilderness,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e which demonstrates how much benefit Wesley derived from his study of J. S. Bach. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe recording acoustic is pleasantly forward and transparent without being microscopic. Special praise is due to organist McVinnie for his supportive but discreet accompaniments, and to the Naxos engineers for the exemplary balance between organ and voices. Excellent program notes by the eminent church-music scholar Nicholas Temperley, than whom no better choice can be imagined for this assignment. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eA quick check of a number of alternate performances of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThou wilt keep him,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e the most popular and most-recorded selection on this program, reveals that those performances are, without exception, included in multi-composer compilations. Ergo, while I can’t swear that the present disc is the only all-Wesley collection on the market, the evidence does suggest that such compilations are at best few and far between. Moreover, two of the selections appear to be only-available recordings: \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eOur God, whose nature\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLet us lift up our heart—\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003ethe latter really a small-scale cantata, at 18 minutes plus. For lovers of 19th-century English church music, this release is not to be missed. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: James Carson \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49705641804056,"sku":"747313031870","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1042800.jpg?v=1747138074","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/wesley-s-s-anthems","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}