Choir of St Paul's Cathedral, John Scott Psalms of David Complete Genre:Classical This complete 12-disc survey of The Psalms of David from St. Paul's Cathedral is both a remarkable historical record of Anglican chant at its finest and an astonishing musical experience. Contained here are all 150 psalms ... more »in their traditional English garb from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, with revised or entirely new musical settings as published in The New St. Paul's Cathedral Psalter, edited by the choir's musical director John Scott, itself a revision of the 1875 Cathedral Psalter. As such, these recordings represent the very backbone of the Anglican liturgy, but even a casual listener will be in no doubt that they also offer music that is both contemplative and richly varied when removed from its liturgical context. The art of "pointing"--or setting--psalm texts has been essayed by many English composers, from William Croft through the Wesleys and William Boyce in earlier times to the great flowering in the late 19th century under Stainer and Barnby, with further contributions from Parry, Stanford, Elgar, Howells, and a host of choirmasters and organists, including Sir David Willcocks and John Scott himself. All are represented here. Recorded throughout in the vast acoustic of their cathedral, the St. Paul's choristers enunciate the words precisely, backed by inventive though unobtrusive organ accompaniment. Taken individually, it's possible to isolate moments when the choir seem to drag their feet or fail to give due weight to the words (Psalm 125, "They that put their trust in the Lord," seems far too subdued, for example), and the massive Psalm 119 is awkwardly split across discs 10 and 11, but overall this set is nothing less than a document of invaluable cultural and musical significance. --Mark Walker« less
This complete 12-disc survey of The Psalms of David from St. Paul's Cathedral is both a remarkable historical record of Anglican chant at its finest and an astonishing musical experience. Contained here are all 150 psalms in their traditional English garb from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, with revised or entirely new musical settings as published in The New St. Paul's Cathedral Psalter, edited by the choir's musical director John Scott, itself a revision of the 1875 Cathedral Psalter. As such, these recordings represent the very backbone of the Anglican liturgy, but even a casual listener will be in no doubt that they also offer music that is both contemplative and richly varied when removed from its liturgical context. The art of "pointing"--or setting--psalm texts has been essayed by many English composers, from William Croft through the Wesleys and William Boyce in earlier times to the great flowering in the late 19th century under Stainer and Barnby, with further contributions from Parry, Stanford, Elgar, Howells, and a host of choirmasters and organists, including Sir David Willcocks and John Scott himself. All are represented here. Recorded throughout in the vast acoustic of their cathedral, the St. Paul's choristers enunciate the words precisely, backed by inventive though unobtrusive organ accompaniment. Taken individually, it's possible to isolate moments when the choir seem to drag their feet or fail to give due weight to the words (Psalm 125, "They that put their trust in the Lord," seems far too subdued, for example), and the massive Psalm 119 is awkwardly split across discs 10 and 11, but overall this set is nothing less than a document of invaluable cultural and musical significance. --Mark Walker
CD Reviews
What can you say?
Carlo | Yonkers, NY United States | 01/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I almost hate to criticize this terrific thing. After all, where else can you get all 150 Psalms in a single collection sung by one of the world's great choirs? How much do I like it? I bought it *twice*. I originally bought all the CDs separately, before they came out with a single boxed set. They were stolen from my car (and, God willing, maybe they converted some poor thief to Anglican Cathedral Music and got him into church). After they were stolen, I immediately bought them again.One of the great pleasures of life is listening to the Morning and Evening Psalms while driving to and from work, and making listening a regular feature of Morning and Evening Prayer.So what's the criticism? The sound is a bit muddy, so the words can be rather difficult to understand without reading along (which is a real problem when driving), and personally, I prefer the Psalter from the 1979 BCP instead of the old one, from the Great Bible. But that's unreasonable. They ARE a British choir after all. Those are the only criticisms.Anyhow, if you have a taste for choral cathedral music, this is genuinely indispensible. St. Paul's has given the world a great blessing."
A- for effort
F. W. Brownlow | Holyoke, Massachusetts | 02/22/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This grand undertaking deserves high praise, and I'm struck, listening to chant after chant, how much Anglican chant as it used to be until the changes of the 70s was one of the great Victorian contributions to English life and art. For anyone who wants to hear almost the entire repertoire of Anglican chant deployed in singing the whole book of Psalms, this is an unrivalled source. It is wonderful, too, to hear the Coverdale translation: you realize what the churches have lost by abandoning the proper & regular singing of the Psalms. So one is immensely grateful to Hyperion for putting out this recording. It's not perfect, though.
The rhythmic pacing, though a little slow for my taste, is steady and sensitive, the diction clear, and the organ accompaniment superb (Providing an expressive accompaniment to a choir singing in 4-part free rhythm, and improvising descants to the melody at the same time, isn't easy). And of course there's the cavernous acoustic of St. Paul's, very impressive in the more thunderous psalms. Unfortunately, though, the "forward" style favored for the St. Paul's boys produces a sound that's unpleasantly chesty in the lower registers and reedy in the higher ones. The poorly integrated choral sound caused by this kind of voice-production can be downright unpleasant for anyone used to, or trained in, the classic English choral style. In fact, one has to wonder why this choir was chosen for such a huge project: even allowing for the near-universal decline in standards of vocal training for boys in England, better sounds than this can still be heard."
Great accomplishment, could be even greater
M. Snell | 12/22/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a monumental achievement and to be commended.
My only comment is that the recording was done in St. Paul's Cathedral where the sound is very resonant. This makes the feel very "churchy" which is nice for the experience of the music. But, I like these recordings for devotional use and the resonance blurs the lyrics such that they can be difficult to hear easily, and in my opinion this is too bad. Would that the recording equipment had been configured to hear the voices close and clear.
Maybe this recording could be remixed/enhanced so that the experience is first about the words and notes of the singers' voices?
But get this one nonetheless, it's great text, great music, great experience of choral worship."
Brilliant Recordings
Mr. W. A. Wynn | Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 06/11/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In our view the changes in pointing, and excellent selection of chants, give deeper meanings to the Psalms than those achieved in the "standard?" Parish Psalter.
We found great Spirituality and a wonderful sense of Worship whilst listening to this set. This is often sacrificed for brilliance of musical performance in other recordings.
Unfortunately the "St.Paul's Psalter" is not available (June 2007) but we are told that a new print run may happen within 12 months. This would be a most valuable companion to the recordings when and if it becomes available.
"
Grounding and elevating the soul
Wm Bonnell | San Francisco | 04/29/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Dulcet Anglican chant seeps into the soul, calming, soothing, stabilizing, grounding. Any and every one of the 12 discs that compose "The Psalms of David," as recorded by the Choir of St Paul's Cathedral, London, directed by John Scott, is worth having. Superb for meditation or as perpetual ambiance, these discs, with their mellifluous melodies, enhance the atmosphere. Whether driving or at home or in my classroom, I almost always have one of these discs playing to lift up my heart."
