Arise, Shine

Perceptible qualities of love and community run through the aptly titled Arise, Shine, reflected in the album’s uplifting programme and enhanced by the close bond between Anna Lapwood and the choristers of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Made near the close of Lapwood’s transformative nine-year term as Pembroke’s director of music, this album bears witness to a thriving tradition, polished by the college’s weekly round of liturgical services and nourished with new works and arrangements. Lucy Walker’s A Hymn for St. Cecilia and exquisite setting of The Lord’s Prayer underline her place among today’s finest choral composers, her lustrous harmonies drawing in part on what she learned as a member of Lapwood’s choir. Keep watch in future for Maryam Giraud, whose Rain, sung here with absolute conviction, delivers a deeply moving setting of verse by one of her colleagues in Pembroke Choir’s alto section. An Irish Blessing, Lapwood’s generous graduation gift to a Pembroke organ scholar, charms utterly with its simple melodic lines, sophisticated writing for high sopranos, and tear-jerking ending: a truly fond farewell.