It was an excellent idea to take a specific Sunday in the church’s liturgical calender as the basis for this CD’s programme. We hear music sung at the services of Matins, Eucharist and Evensong, and the result is an enjoyable variety of compositions, including hymns, prayers and responses, psalms, canticles and carols. There’s also the welcome opportunity to hear Widor’s Mass for two choirs and two organs, well suited to the vast acoustic of York Minster. Its mighty organ is impressive in the Mass’s loud passages, and colourful in Richard Shephard’s arrangement of Richard Strauss’s song. Elsewhere it sounds frustratingly stodgy and fails to do justice to the skilled accompaniments of organist David Pipe.

Happily, the Minster choir have more aural presence and sing well under the direction of Robert Sharpe. They just lack the final degree of polish with the placing of notes at the beginning of phrases, plus the odd moment of ensemble. However, there’s a pleasing equality of tone between upper and lower voices, and their expressive singing encompasses with ease the wide spectrum of musical styles. They also deserve our thanks for introducing us to David Briggs’s gorgeous setting of ‘Infant holy’ and the beautifully crafted works of former Minster organist Philip Moore.

As always from Regent, the detailed booklet and recording are of the highest order. A rewarding CD, offering us a tiny sample
of the huge treasury of British church music.