HOPE SOARS ABOVE Truro Cathedral Choir & James Anderson-Besant

• Orlando Gibbons (1583 - 1625): O Thou, the central orb:
• 1 Gibbons: O Thou, the central orb 04:06
• William Byrd (1543 - 1623): Sing joyfully:
• 2 Byrd: Sing joyfully 02:41
• Orlando Gibbons: Second Evening Service:
• 3 Gibbons: Second Evening Service: Magnificat 05:44
• 4 Gibbons: Second Evening Service: Nunc dimittis 03:25
• Fantazia of foure parts:
• 5 Gibbons: Fantazia of foure parts 05:12
• Out of the deep:
• 6 Gibbons: Out of the deep 05:35
• John Bull (1562/63 - 1628): Almighty God, which by the leading of a star:
• 7 Bull: Almighty God, which by the leading of a star 04:46
• William Byrd: Fantasia in C:
• 8 Byrd: Fantasia in C 06:23
• Orlando Gibbons: Short Evening Service:
• 9 Gibbons: Short Evening Service: Magnificat 03:21
• 10 Gibbons: Short Evening Service: Nunc dimittis 03:29
• Thomas Tomkins (1572 - 1656): A Sad Pavan for these distracted times:
• 11 Tomkins: A Sad Pavan for these distracted times 05:35
• Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom:
• 12 Tomkins: Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom 06:15
• Total Runtime 56:32

Info for HOPE SOARS ABOVE

Building on Regent's long-standing and fruitful association with Truro Cathedral Choir we are delighted to release the first recording of the choir under its recently-appointed Director of Music, James Anderson-Besant. Released for the 400th anniversary of the death of Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) this year, the recording juxtaposes sacred choral and solo organ works by Gibbons himself with those by his contemporaries William Byrd, John Bull, and Thomas Tomkins. Included are two of Gibbons's most popular Evening Services, together with both popular and rarely-recorded anthems by three of the most famous English composers of the first quarter of the 17th century.

The recording also features three solo organ works, two of which are played on the historic John Byfield organ in St Mary's Aisle of the Cathedral, which contains pipework dating from 1750. The recording derives its inspiring title 'Hope soars above' from a line in the opening anthem 'O thou the central orb' - words written by Henry Ramsden Bramley in 1873 to replace the original text of Gibbons's 1619 anthem 'O all true faithful hearts' - which had a very restricted use in giving thanks for the recovery of King James VI. Bramley's radiant text opened up the appeal and wider usage of this otherwise forgotten fine anthem.

Over the last thirty years Truro Cathedral Choir has established through its broadcasts and recordings an international reputation as one of the UK's finest cathedral choirs. Their Director of Music, James Anderson-Besant, was Organ Scholar and then Assistant Organist at St John's College, Cambridge. This was followed by a period as Assistant Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, before being appointed to Truro in 2023, the youngest cathedral director of music in the country.

Truro Cathedral Choir
James Anderson-Besant, direction

Truro Cathedral Choir
has an unbroken tradition dating back to the 1880s. The choir currently has 12 adult professional singers and 34 boy and girl choristers. We perform much-loved works from the last five centuries of the Anglican Choral Tradition, and are also proud to commission and record new choral works by established composers, as well as promising young artists.

The choir perform in concerts at home and abroad, on broadcasts and recordings, inspiring others and raising awareness of the power of music.

James Anderson-Besant
Born in 1998, grew up in Oxfordshire. He started learning the keyboard at primary school with Judith Ward, who ran the choir at St Helen’s Church, Benson; James joined the choir and later became its organist. He learnt to play the organ with James Brown at Abingdon School, where he held academic and music scholarships.

After taking a gap year as the Organ Scholar of Gloucester Cathedral, which included teaching the first girl choristers in the Cathedral’s history, James then spent four years as Organ Scholar, then Assistant Organist, of St John’s College Cambridge. With the College Choir, he accompanied services, broadcasts, recordings and tours under the direction of Andrew Nethsingha, and helped train the choristers. He has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and his playing for St John’s appears on many acclaimed CD releases, including Advent Live II, Ash Wednesday, and The Psalms. An organ student of Stephen Farr, James won second prize at the 2019 Northern Ireland International Organ Competition. He graduated in 2020 with a double starred first degree in music, and during the following year supervised Cambridge music students in harmony and keyboard skills. While at university, James organised and directed student performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St John Passion.

From 2021-2023, James was Assistant Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, where he played the organ for the Cathedral’s services, and assisted Timothy Noon in the training of the choristers and in the choir’s musical rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. He also directed the St Peter’s Singers, the cathedral’s auditioned voluntary choir.

In 2023, at the age of twenty-four, James was appointed Director of Music and Organist of Truro Cathedral, becoming the youngest cathedral organist in the country. At Truro, James directs the Cathedral Choir in its daily rehearsals and services, and is responsible for all aspects of the Cathedral’s musical output. He is very excited to have the opportunity to direct the wonderful musicians of the Three Spires Singers and Orchestra, and looks forward to widening his knowledge of the major choral and orchestral repertoire in Three Spires’ busy schedule. In his spare time James enjoys walking, exploring Cornwall, and reading about history and engineering.

This album contains no booklet.