Christopher Gillett - Luminosity and other choral works (2010)

The scholarly music of British composer James Whitbourn (b. 1963) is some of the freshest to appear on the contemporary landscape. Along with his American counterpart, Eric Whitacre, the two have each achieved a unique choral sound that stretches far beyond traditional, sacred boundaries, while maintaining accessibility and tonality. This new generation of composers has found a popular "voice" among young singers, which resonates in high school and university concert halls everywhere. This sensational compilation, sung by Oxford's chamber choir Commotio, is infused with an array of distinctive colors and sounds, as heard in the eight-minute "Magnificat" with a brilliant tenor solo and in "Alleluia Jubilate" with its exultant strains of marked rhythms and vibrant organ. "A Prayer of Desmund Tutu" begins with the impassioned words "Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death," spoken by Tutu himself, and is further authenticated with drummed African rhythms. Two songs drawing from the book of Revelation, "He Carried Me Away in the Spirit" (unaccompanied) and "Pure River of Water of Life," showcase the chorus's ability to blend their voices under the artful direction of Matthew Berry. "Luminosity," the pinnacle work, was written as a seven-movement, musical excursion that emerges with a single drone heard on the Indian tanpura, intertwined with solo viola for an enthralling effect. This is 21st-century concert music that will hopefully continue to influence choral music for years to come. -Jane Holstein -- Christianity Today Magazine - July 6, 2010