Pitts: Seven Letters; O Wisdom of God; The Lord's Prayer; Adoro te; O Love

COMPOSERS: Pitts
LABELS: Hyperion
ALBUM TITLE: Seven Letters
WORKS: Seven Letters; O Wisdom of God; The Lord’s Prayer; Adoro te; O Love
PERFORMER: Tonus Peregrinus/Anthony Pitts
CATALOGUE NO: CDA 67507

Antony Pitts came briefly to media attention earlier this year as the Radio 3 producer who resigned in protest at the broadcasting on



BBC Two of Jerry Springer – the Opera. He re-appears in less controversial guise as composer of this CD of choral music, centrepiece of which is Seven Letters, a setting of the epistles written by St John to the churches in Asia Minor in the Book of Revelation. Oddly, given the amount of admonitory material in the letters, the musical idiom is largely non-confrontational, and makes widespread use of solo voices delivering text in recitative-like fashion over long wordless harmonic suspensions. There is interesting detail, but the cumulative effect of the piece is curiously neutral. Seven shorter pieces complete the programme, the best of which are Adoro te and Amen, both of which make striking use of dynamic and spatial effects. The performances are excellent. Terry Blain