Bernstein: Chichester Psalms / Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem – Stephen Cleobury

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2018)
This latest release from King’s features two major choral works from the last century linked by the common theme of peace. While Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is given in the composer’s authorised version for organ, harp and percussion, Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem is here recorded in a new instrumentation for small orchestra by Jonathan Rathbone, which will soon to be available from OUP. Rathbone’s version is to be welcomed: it re-imagines RVW’s original orchestration, making this powerful piece within the reach of all kinds of smaller vocal ensembles. Stephen Cleobury’s King’s forces, ably matched by the ever-reliable Britten Sinfonia, give of their very best, though occasionally one hankers for the bigger, …