One of the first lessons that has to be learnt in psalm-singing is not to gabble away on the reciting-note, and another is that while the big words may look after themselves, the little ones are likely to get lost. Durham's choristers are evidently well aware of these dangers. They adopt a measured pace, give adequate length to articles definite and indefinite, and the result is that every word is intelligible. The pointing is sensible, and a welcome variation of sound is secured when one of the less exuberant psalms is left unaccompanied. The organist contributes his share with some colourful registration, well-judged except for his use of a kind of whistle-stop that illustrates how the Lord ''setteth me up on high''. Welcome too are the inclusion of Stanford's rich-hued chant for the 150th, Howells's characteristic touches in his chant for the 39th, and the product of a sleepless night (we are told) when Lindsay Gray, a Choral Scholar, turned to good effect the Westminster chimes that had plagued him through the small hours in his room at Durham Castle.
Even so, something drove me to make comparisons, and that tends to be a bad sign. Westminster Abbey have made a couple of discs, and Vol. 1 (Virgin Classics (CD) VC7 91211-2) has several of the psalms included in Durham's Vol. 3. In Psalm 15, for instance, they use the same chant so there is a direct comparison, and it has to be said that a livelier style and greater variety pervade the Westminster performance. The main point, however, is the quality of recorded sound: the Virgin recording is generous, full-bodied, warm, and these are not terms that arise very naturally in relation to the clear but unexciting sound of the Priory disc.'