Laurence Cummings - GIBBONS: Choral and Organ Music (1996)

The Oxford Camerata provides a representative selection of choral works by Gibbons, together with three of his organ pieces. The programme is introduced by a bright and busy performance of the eight-part O clap your hands, followed by the noble verse anthem Great Lord of Lords – and it's pleasing to hear in this piece, and in the other verse-anthems, the rich timbre of the countertenor Robin Blaze, a welcome acquisition for the Camerata, which has a great deal of vocal talent in its make-up. They tackle the gently moving See,see, the Word is incarnate with great confidence, together with the First and Second Services and the quiet collects with all the knowledge and aplomb of cathedral lay clerks or choral scholars from Oxford and Cambridge. Laurence Cummings plays two short preludes, the one in G major – a real test of agility – from Parthenia and that in D minor from Benjamin Cosyn's VirginalBook. The Fantazia of four parts is a most extraordinary work, quite hard to steady and control.
A welcome addition to the programme.