The Forth Turning

In 1990 Neil Hannon started recording and releasing under the name The Divine Comedy. Thirty years and twelve great albums later, Hannon is rightly adjudged one of the finest singer songwriters of his generation. To celebrate, Divine Comedy Records are remastering and reissuing nine of the band's classic albums.

Jephtha (1751) was Handel's last oratorio. It does not have quite the dramatic sweep of Messiah or Israel in Egypt, but it contains many moments equal to anything in Handel. These include the choruses, several of which are among the most dramatically effective fugues ever composed. One attractive feature of this excellent recording of the oratorio under the directorship of Harry Christophers is that these choruses are crystal clear in texture, with all the words intelligible: hard enough for the soloists, who likewise won't have you turning to the booklet, and well-nigh remarkable for a chorus. Christophers' group the Sixteen consists of 18 members here, plus an orchestra of 30, so this is a fairly sizable performance by current standards.

Punk's rise in Britain seemed to be leading to the demise of Barclay James Harvest, the fate awaiting so many of the island's veteran rock bands. Although 1976's Octoberon had finally pushed the band into the U.K. Top 20, it was all downhill from there, as the group's follow-ups in 1977 and 1978 landed ever lower in the listings, something that Barclay James Harvest's shift to a brighter, more American sound did nothing to prevent…