The anguish of Oration is mirrored, at a lesser level of intensity, in the paradoxically lean and dissonant lyricism of the unfinished Allegro moderato (all that exists of a symphony for strings that Bridge was working on when he died) and in the grieving of the 1915 Lament (a poignant memorial to a nine-year-old girl who died on the Lusitania). On the surface, the disc’s opener, Rebus, is more upbeat—but even this vital concert overture is shot through with a darkness that keeps its fantasy from turning whimsical. Indeed, it’s only in the final work, A Prayer, that you find anything like unclouded affirmation. Composed in 1916–18, it’s Bridge’s only work for chorus and orchestra—and it’s marked by an uncharacteristically stalwart sturdiness. Not an especially ear-opening piece; but as a glimpse of a path not taken, it too is well worth knowing. Bridge’s admirers may have fond memories of excellent older performances of this music (Nicholas Braithwaite’s pungent Rebus and the Julian Lloyd Weber/Braithwaite Oration were among the gems of the old Lyrita catalog). But many of them are out of print; and except for the slightly stiff performance of the Allegro moderato (it sounds as if the orchestra needed more time to get comfortable with the austerity of the writing), Hickox more than holds his own. Chandos’s sound is as rich and full as expected. All in all, enthusiastically endorsed.

Peter J. Rabinowitz, FANFARE