Gibbons: Choral and Organ Music
Gibbons is often better represented in the hymn book than in the serious music of a service - and this CD helps demonstrate why that's a shame. With a mix of verse and full anthems, plus both sets of Mag and Nunc, and a smattering of organ music it gives a good picture of Gibbons' church output. If you like the sound of madrigals, you'll like some of the church music, but there are also works in here to rival more heavy duty compositions - Out of the deep, for example. Both evening services are fun - the contemplative verse settings of the second service and the livelier short service.
Caleb Simper’s Music
The Story of the Crucifixion (1905)
This mini-cantata, a Lenten devotion, has words by the Reverend Thomas Blackburn (Rector of Woodville, Adelaide, Southern Australia). Unlike the longer works there are no congregation hymns - it consists of short choruses interspersed with solos and is only 16 pages long. In the publicity blurb it was described as: 'although more pretentious than The Story of the Cross, contains no difficulties an average choir cannot easily overcome'.
Watch this space for a MIDI file of the Story of the Crucifixion.
An interesting detail on our copies of The Story of the Crucifixion is a hand overstamp
above the publisher's name (Weekes), saying CALEB SIMPER, Kilbirnie, BARNSTAPLE -
this may indicate that our copies were obtained directly from Simper.