Jonathan Dove wrote ‘There Was a Child’ as a tribute to a friend s son who died tragically young. Filled with both joyous celebration and heartfelt emotion, it s a big, warm-hearted modern masterpiece in the spirit of Britten and Vaughan Williams following in an evergreen English tradition and featuring the combined forces of the CBSO and CBSO Chorus, Youth Chorus and Junior Chorus with soloists Joan Rodgers and Toby Spence. A review of the concert from which this recording was taken: “Jonathan Dove s There Was a Child is a major addition to the choral repertoire, and will surely be taken up by societies up and down the country, perhaps with reduced orchestration for economy s sake. Emotionally soul-baring, sharing an umbilical cord with Finzi s Intimations of Immortality and even Dies Natalis, this panorama of a young life draws texts from so many fine poets and therefore demands consummate clarity of presentation.” Birmingham Post
