It's probably not for everyone and maybe it's not even for most people, but for lovers of the choral music of Holst or
Vaughan Williams, it's just wonderful. For those people, this superbly sung collection of unaccompanied choral music will be just the thing after a hard day's night on the heights with The Planets or Pilgrim's Progress. All the really big Holst and
Vaughan Williams choral hits are here, everything from
Vaughan Williams' saucy folk song setting of The Dark-Eyed Sailor through Holst's modal ecstasy in The Evening-watch to
Vaughan Williams' ringing, resounding Shakespeare's Full Fathom Five then Holst's coolly evocative Winter and the Birds to close with
Vaughan Williams' melancholy setting of The Turtle Dove. The
Finzi Singers choir is small, but their voices are warm and deep-toned.
Paul Spicer's direction is supple and strong, bringing out the music's uncanny fusion of modality and modernity. Chandos' 1993 sound from St. Silas' Church London is detailed but reverberant. This is for lovers of Holst and
Vaughan Williams only. But a disc of pure bliss for those few who do.