The Peter Warlock we all know and love from the evergreen Capriol Suite and the boisterous songs with their astonishing accompaniments which would stretch the resources of a three-handed pianist seems a world away from the introverted and intense artist of these unaccompanied choral carols. Bethlehem Down with its haunting, desolate air is the best-known work here but it only hints at the emotional intensity of such wonderful carols as The full heart with its exotic harmonies and complex part-writing and the ravishingly beautiful Corpus Christi. Perhaps Warlock's real genius was this ability to create such profound expression in these short musical structures, but even the more outgoing pieces—the joyful Benedicamus Domino and the Cornish Christmas Carol with its gentle hint at ''The First Nowell''—have an artistic integrity which raises them high above the level of the goo and syrup of modern day carol settings. Given performances as openly sincere and sensitive as these few could remain unmoved.
The relationship between Warlock and Moeran can be overworked: musically the connections seem largely superficial. Not for Moeran the pained utterances of a twisted soul, but in these two matchless madrigal suites there is an indefinable Englishness—the result of a deep awareness of tradition and love of the countryside. Again the innate musicality of the Finzi Singers pays handsome dividends; these warm-toned, richly expressive voices (not least Andrea Gray and Andrew Carwood, magnificent soloists in Warlock's Corpus Christi) seem to capture the very essence of this uniquely lovely music.'