Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Malcolm Archer moved from Wells Cathedral to take up his post as organist and director of music at St Paul's Cathedral in 2004 and David Bednall is currently acting assistant organist at Wells. On this recording they take turns at playing the organ at Blackburn Cathedral and between them take us through the Church calendar from "Veni Emmanuel" for Advent to the Feast Of All Souls and a Te Deum for Christ The King. Some of the improvisations are free meditations on the Biblical texts: Lent, for example. The music for Palm Sunday and the Entry Into Jerusalem is almost a tone-poem: we can hear the tramp of marching feet and the cheering of the crowd building to a crescendo which is followed by a contrasting meditation on "Ubi Caritas" for Maundy Thursday and the washing of the disciples' feet in a theme immortalised by Duruflé. And the mood darkens as we move towards Good Friday with a theme taken from Bach's 'St Matthew Passion'. This is certainly a musically literate recital that is deeply moving in places and that can be enjoyed as music without examining the depths alluded to.

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