CD Reviews

I'm continuing to make progress with my series of motets, Tempus per Annum; the motets for Easter Sunday and the Sunday after Easter came off the press with remarkable ease. Surprisingly they've both turned out rather contemplative rather then shouting with joy, which is rather fun. The current motet, for the 2nd Sunday after Easter is another Jubilate Deo ominis terra, for the English version I'm ringing the changes and using the text Shout with joy to God, a little happy-clappy perhaps but it makes a change.

The Psalm in the middle is rather curious, I still don't quite know what to make of the text Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee. . There's a lovely irony about the phrase, 'Say unto God, How terrible are thy works', because terrible, like awful, has rather changed its meaning in current parlance; so nowadays the phrase makes you think of Kevin McCloud on Grand Designs excoriating the shoddy work of a builder. But as for 'in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee.', why do we (or God for that matter) need to worry about God's enemies lying to him. Its moments like that that I wish my Latin were better (but as the Latin is a translation anyway we're not much closer, perhaps I should learn Hebrew).