Judith Bingham: The Everlasting Crown

Judith Bingham: The Everlasting Crown

Regular price £12.99
Total playing time [31:54]

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Stephen Farr (organ)

Premiered at London's Royal Albert Hall during the 2011 BBC Proms, Judith Bingham's epic organ work The Everlasting Crown is here given its first recording. Based on a fictitious crown made up from real and famous gem stones, it is a work of amazing depth and range. Bingham draws on the mythologies and infamous owners of some of the world’s most precious stones, with each movement representing a different stone.

Celebrated organist Stephen Farr, who premiered the work, makes his Resonus Classics debut with The Everlasting Crown performed on the recently restored and impressive Harrison & Harrison organ of St Albans Cathedral.

Album booklet (PDF)

Tracklist

The Everlasting Crown

1. The Crown
2. Coranta: Atahualpa's Emerald
3. La Pelegrina
4. The Orlov Diamond
5. The Russian Spinel
6. King Edward's Sapphire
7. The Peacock Throne

‘[...] Farr is utterly outstanding, tracing the music across the seven movements with a kind of inexorable inevitability [...] repeated listening of this is an absolute pleasure.’

- International Record Review

‘[…] superbly caught by this splendid recording from Resonus – a company which supports its pioneering work in releasing its product only as downloads with outstanding recordings and superlative printed matter – but even more so by Farr, whose breadth of vision, intense sense of purpose and brilliant technique combine to make this a recording which, every bit as much as Bingham’s music itself, deserves repeated listening.’
Gramophone

'[...] Farr is utterly outstanding, tracing the music across the seven movements with a kind of inexorable inevitability [...] a great deal of subtle colour emerges [...] Given such an attractive package as Resonus has issued, repeated listening of this is an absolute pleasure.'
International Record Review

'Two compelling points of interest - a first recording of Judith Bingham's 'The Everlasting Crown', and an opportunity to hear the results of the recent refurbishment of the mighty and majestic Harrison and Harrison organ in St Albans Cathedral - make this a simply unmissable proposition.'
Choir and Organ (Star Review)

'Renowned organist Stephen Farr performs this sensual seven movement composition with exquisite virtuosity and unworldly fluidity [...] Simply stunning in performance and sound quality, this album cannot be missed!'
HiRes Review

‘This recording [...] is another feather in the cap of Resonus [...] with good recording and documentation, this is very much for you'
MusicWeb International

'Recorded on the Harrison & Harrison instrument which Peter Hurford and the late Ralph Downes designed for St Alban’s Abbey in 1962, both instrument and acoustic combine with Stephen Farr at the console to allow the biggest sounds the space and the intimate sections the clarity they need. [...] The sound quality of Adam Binks’ recording is quite first-class'
Audiophile Audition

'Resonus Classics' latest recording of Judith Bingham's music, her solo organ work 'The Everlasting Crown' premiered by Stephen Farr at the 2011 Proms, is magnificent, and the whole presentation admirable.'
Musical Pointers

I am sure organ enthusiasts will enjoy hearing the newly refurbished Harrison & Harrison organ of St Albans Cathedral (picture and tech spec available in the booklet) and organist Stephen Farr, Director of Music at St Paul's, Knightsbridge and also Worcester College, Oxford gives an excellent performance.'
Cross Rhythms

'Farr performs the work beautifully; it is well recorded and sounds terrific.'
Fanfare

Credits
© 2012 Resonus Limited
Ⓟ 2012 Resonus Limited
Catalogue No. RES10108
Producer, engineer & editor: Adam Binks
EAN: 5060262790076
Cover Image: King Edward the Confessor
(Left Panel of the Wilton Diptych, c. 1395) - restoredtraditions.com