British composer Judith Bingham typically uses imaginative and poetic performance directions in her scores. For the anthem “Epiphany”, the entire text is her own. The Magi are transposed into the deepest, darkest British winter, where in the “black hours begin their journeyings”. In their 2023 recording, No Small Wonder (Acis), the choir of Saint Thomas’s, Fifth Avenue, New York, directed by Jeremy Filsell, captures the bitter chill of Bingham’s dark-hued opening. Earthy lower parts look up to a celestial, translucent top line. The Magi are ever-present in the modal ostinati and declamatory triplets as the piece steadily grows to a mighty climax: “In dazzling darkness God appears”. The choir certainly dazzles in this recording, as does the 2018 Dobson organ, played by Nicholas Haigh. The album’s title track is Paul Edwards’s Epiphany jewel, and Alexander L’Estrange’s “Epiphany Carol” of 2013 is finely wrought.
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On The Record: listening choices for Epiphany to stir the heart and soul
british composer judith bingham typically uses imaginative and poetic performance directions in her scores. for the anthem “epiphany”, the e...
Alex Hodgkinson
5 min read
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