David Hill, The Choir of Durham Cathedral, Daniel Cook & Joseph Beech - David Hill: Herbert Howells | Psalms and Psalm Preludes (2025)

The output of composer Herbert Howells was perhaps paradoxical in that he was not an orthodox Anglican and may have been a nonbeliever, but nevertheless wrote large amounts of sacred music that continues to be performed and used today. The psalms were important to him, and it is interesting that the settings on this album date from across many years in Howells' career, but still make a consistent group. His larger works for chorus and organ are often heard, but these Psalm Preludes for organ and simple chant-like settings of psalm texts are not common, and several of the latter are world premieres. The project casts an interesting light on Howells' style, one of several factors that helped place this album on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2025. It reduces his organ style to dense, brief contrapuntal essentials, and the choral pieces show his capability of extreme simplicity, with a retrospective but original chant-like melodic style. (The psalms are fitted to melodies he composed independently.) Another attraction of the album is the bright singing of the Choir of Durham Cathedral under director Daniel Cook, and a third is the cathedral's organ under the fingers and feet of Joseph Beech; it is a vivid, clear instrument in which Howells' counterpoint emerges in detail. Howells' admirers will be fascinated by this recording, and even general fans of British modern choral music will find much of interest here.