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'A great collection and an absolute winner'
'On trouve chez Layton, avec des chœurs d’une beauté et d’une précision étonnantes, un surcroît de chaleur et d’investissement, ce qui place ce disque en tête de la discographie'
'This sterling collection should win Walton’s choral music many new fans'
Gramophone Award-winning choir Polyphony and their inspired conductor Stephen Layton appear set for further prizes on the strength of their latest Hyperion release, and anthology of choral works by William Walton issued to mark the composer’s centenary and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. This disc, which opens with Walton’s Fanfare for Elizabeth II and Coronation Te Deum, is distinguished throughout...
Every generation delivers an outstanding talent with the vision and commitment necessary to produce refreshingly individual, totally convincing interpretations. Stephen Layton's readings of Walton's choral music on this tremendous disc are without equal, supported by the high-octane, stylish singing of Polyphony and one of the finest recorded sounds I've heard for years. Layton sets a stately...
Performance *****Sounds *****
This collection of Walton's smaller choral works includes the four carols omitted from the recent Naxos issue with the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, and gets off to a resounding start with the short Queen's Fanfare from 1959, leading unauthentically but seamlessly into the Coronation Te Deum. In its original scoring with brass, organ and percussion, this...