MUSIC / Records

CLASSICAL

Kenneth Leighton: Cathedral Music. St Paul's Cathedral Choir (Hyperion CDA66489). This shows a composer working through the tradition of Walton (from which it gets a fierce, bony brightness) and Howells (an importunate harmonic pathos) but ending up with something which is simply Kenneth Leighton: a voice which was best heard in the miniature masterpieces he produced for Anglican choirs. The selection (robustly performed) is low, sometimes, on tenderness but high on virtuosity. The most substantial item is the little-known Crucifixus Pro Nobis, the most cherishable the three-minute Lully, Lulla. And every one a winner.