Hadley: The Tress So High; Finzi: Intimations of Immortality – Ian Partridge, Thomas Allen, Guildford Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Vernon Handley

‘For most of his working career Patrick Hadley was the archetypical Cambridge composer, seduced by the charms of life as a senior member of the university from writing the music he plainly had in him. The Tress So High, described as a symphonic ballad, is a wide-ranging choral work, taking the folksong of that name as a base. The idiom is broadly in the Vaughan Williams school but spiced with invention eclectically drawn from later composers. Thomas Allen makes an outstanding soloist and Vernon Handley draws persuasive singing and playing from his large forces. The music is beautifully recorded, and the coupling with Finzi seems wholly apt.

‘Anyone prepared to accept the validity of setting the Wordsworth poem in the first place (and the daring of seeking to illustrate so centrally self-sufficient a work of literature cannot be exaggerated) is almost certain to respond to the patent sincerity of Finzi’s music, which is in the richest English choral tradition. It is here performed with a passionate sense of commitment. In this the beauty and intensity of Ian Partridge’s singing are a key factor and equally the choral singing is richly committed, while the Guilford Philharmonic Orchestra is challenged to playing that would not disgrace a much more famous orchestra. Excellent recording too, and a most enterprising coupling.’

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music