Ave Rex, A Carol Sequence / Elegy for a Prince / This WorldeAEs Joie

"Here are three works for voice and orchestra, two choral, one for soloist, written between 1969 and 1974. They have a good deal in common yet enough separate identity for them to comprise an acceptably varied programme, the Elegy forming a relatively tough and tangy item to be sandwiched in between the choral collections. Of these Ave Rex is a set of carols, "Sir Christmas" being now by far the best known, and This Worlde's Joie a cantata in four movements, nearly 50 minutes long, employing a boys' choir as well as the usual force of soloists, mixed choir and orchestra. Sir Geraint Evans, who gave the Elegy's first performance, sings with authority and dark coloration. The soloists in the cantata are excellent … Willcocks and Atherton conduct with vigour and care for detail, and the recordings are admirably clean" Gramophone