Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

As a collector of trivia I was thrilled to learn that the title of this album comes from a quote dating back to the 10th century when a monk named Wulstan described the huge organ of Winchester Cathedral as being like "a Voice of Iron" with a team of 70y needed to pump the bellows. I would certainly like to hear that but, of course, all we have now are a few written hints and our musical imagination. Philip Wilby (born 1949) gives us plenty to think about in what is the first full recording of the three part "For The Iron Voice" of which only the Second Part, "Pensiero", and Finale, "In Moto Perpetuo", have been previously issued. Indeed the majority of this varied collection are first recordings, the other exception being "Pastorale" by Alan Gibbs (born 1932). No doubt collectors of contemporary organ music will have heard enough but the rest of us will ask for more information. The opening track, "Tesserae" by John Pickard (born 1963) is a lively start with a stream of musical fragments being repeated and juxtaposed which, for these ears at least, sounded very clever but too complicated to be enjoyable. Elizabeth Winter (born 1979) gives us a pleasant "Evening Voluntary" and the "Scherzo" by Paul Fisher (born 1943) is amusing but the rest of the programme was wasted on me. I had been looking forward to hearing "The Legend Of St Nicholas" by David Briggs (born 1962) as we all know and love dear old St Nick in his guise of Santa Claus and I was hoping for some Christmas presents but Briggs takes us right back to the original story. When I read the composer's notes I found that what I was hoping for was indeed there if I had the ears to hear it but, sadly, I missed the hints. My fault I am sure and the organist, Paul Walton, should not be held responsible for my obtuseness as he plays very well indeed and the organ of Bridlington Priory, built by the Belgian firm of Annessens in 1889 and most recently restored by Nicholson of Malvern, gets a fine work out. As you can tell, the music is too specialised for me but those who have an interest in contemporary organ works and who collect recordings from significant players and instruments will want to add this to their collection.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.