O come let us sing
The Bradford Service
- Magnificat
- Nunc dimittis
Two Celtic transcriptions for organ
- Danny Boy
- To Skye
Movements from Black light - A Requiem for times of war and destruction
- Requiem
- Sanctus
- Agnus Dei
Sarabande (with a touch of Satie)
O Sacrum Convivium
Whatsoever Things
The White Tiger
The mystery of things
Birthday Moods
God You're Misbehavin'

At last a modern-day "choral" composer, amongst others, who doesn't walk around wearing pink-tinted sunglasses or paints every note in pastel colors. It seems the trend these days to write choral music light and airy enough to float on cloud nine (literally). I've heard recent settings of the Requiem bubbly enough to be played at a wedding. And not to get too religious here, but the composer's own words to God You're Misbehavin' well project the fact that humanity is fumbling in the dark right now.

The music of Paul Fisher (b. 1943) is never atonal, but what I find interesting and captivating is that throughout most of his writing there lies a modal and/or harmonic ambivalence that in the end always finds perfect resolution, as in the powerful ending to the Nunc dimittis. His gift for harmonic transmutation is highly evident in Birthday Moods, a set of variations on Happy Birthday that he describes as light-hearted, that I on the other hand perceive as seriously sarcastic. Organist Richard Cook always highlights the main theme very well as well as the mood of each variation with clever stop registration. My favorite piece has to be the Agnus Dei from the Requiem, in which the music mysteriously shifts from darkly ominous to luminous in serendipitous fashion. And the Proteus Ensemble, a chamber choir led by Stephen Shellard capture and project all of these mood swings exceptionally well. The recording itself which took place in Worcester Cathedral adds to all this the acoustical character and scope of the building and sits you within its walls.