The subtitle of this album is "New Works for Remembrance," and its four selections by British composers are united by their use of texts that deal, either explicitly or implicitly, with the personal ravages of war. They were performed by the Portsmouth Grammar School Chamber Choir at the school's annual Remembrance Day concerts. Cecilia McDowall's Ave Maris Stella would be lovely except that it is difficult to take seriously because its opening and closing sections are a brazenly transparent rip-off of Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium. Lynne Plowman's Cries Like Silence, for four soloists, choir, orchestra, organ, children's choir, brass band, electric guitars, and bass drums, sets a grim anti-war poem by Ted Hughes. Her musical language is reminiscent of
Britten, and she brings a strong sense of drama to the text. Tarik O'Regan's And There Was a Great Calm uses texts by a variety of writers, including Rumi, Milton, Wordsworth, and Hardy. Its prevailing tone of resigned acceptance and serenity is punctuated with explosive affirmations of hope. The Lion and the Deer, by Sally Beamish, uses five poems by fourteenth century poet Hafiz, with spoken interjections of poetry written by students at the Portsmouth Grammar School. The choir sings with discipline, passion, and focus and is ably accompanied by the
London Mozart Players, led by
Nicolae Moldoveanu.