David Lloyd Jones Holst Gustav The Planets (2004) [sacd R][of]

Primarily a renowned music critic and conductor and composer of ballets, Constant Lambert wrote very few choral works. Summer’s Last Will and Testament is an extensive cantata of stylistic diversity and emotional power. Completed in 1935, this setting of writings by the poet Thomas Nashe has strong claims to being one of its composer’s finest works. Despite attracting little attention at its premiere, Malcolm Arnold called it “one of the undiscovered treasures of the English choral repertoire”.

Leonard Bernstein’s recording with the New York Philharmonic of Gustav Holst’s famous The Planets, along with Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from his opera Peter Grimes. There is a difference of opinion as to whether this multi-channel SACD is a good re-mastering of the original discrete 4 channel Quadriphonic master in which the orchestra actually surrounds you or is it taken from a 2 channel master and the rear channels and center channel have been re-produced artifically with just reverberation sounds which means the orchestra only sounds like it’s in front of you, but not behind you.