“...A boisterous, unapologetically flag-waving arrangement of God Save the Queen from 1969 rounds out an important and wonderful album...”

*** (Good Album)

*****     (Superb Album) 

Sound 4/5     SACD Sound 4/5

“…Expressive and beautiful breath control from Emily Birsan (soprano) and Ben Johnson (tenor) give sublime renditions of the verse of George Herbert. And there is a truly contemplative interpretation of the powerfully dramatic words of Dylan Thomas (And death shall have no dominion) together with some apposite biblical texts. The BBC symphony chorus master, David Temple, adds to this recording with some animated but disciplined vocal control. The BBC Symphony Orchestra players live up to their distinguished reputation for faultless playing and the evergreen Sir Andrew Davis shepherds home every last note of Bliss’s distinctive Coventry cathedral calling…”

“… The artists involved here give a splendid account of themselves, the soloists coping equally well with serenely calm lines as well as some strikingly florid passages elsewhere. The choir blends very well with the orchestra and the organ makes its presence felt not just in the prelude, “A troubled world”, but also in the section “And the loftiness of man”. Bliss’s choral writing manages to be thoroughly English yet wholly personal at the same time; it is never quite like anyone else’s…”

Performance ****      Recording *****

“… There is no doubting Sir Andrew Davis’s grasp of The Beatitudes, and he steers a broadly authoritative performance, with incisive, committed playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra…”

Album of the Week

“…Davis follows his championing of the First World War cantata Morning Heroes with this splendid account of the oratorio, reflecting the spiritual atmosphere of the occasion, yet not without its interludes of drama and violence. The writing for soloists (Emily Birsan, above, and Ben Johnson) is ecstatically lyrical. The Introduction and Allegro is a vigorous orchestral fugue and Bliss’s arrangement of the national anthem, with ceremonial trumpet fanfares, owes its rarity to the difficult, and nuanced, harmonic setting of the words.”

“… Andrew Davis clearly has a peculiar empathy for this music and the clean edges of Bliss’s orchestral palette, complemented by some lovely playing from the BBC SO and the two soloists, Emily Birsan and Ben Johnson…”