This recording of choral music by Richard Rodney Bennett, performed by the Cambridge Singers under John Rutter, mixes traditional choral forms with contemporary styles in works covering a near 40-year period.
The mix of styles is particularly evident in his music for the album’s title work, based on texts from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Andrew Marvell and Edmund Spenser.
While not a wholly comfortable album to listen to, there is much to enjoy, especially in Bennett’s contribution to contemporary Christmas music, Five Carols. This draws on 14th and 15th-century texts, but has nevertheless successfully made its way into modern choral repertoire.