“I should declare an interest at the outset of this review. Towards the end of 2020 I conducted an extensive interview with Ian King and, following on from this, I was asked to write the booklet notes for this CD. Ian King was terminally ill by the time I first became involved in this project and, in fact, I never even spoke to him on the telephone, let alone met him. The interview was conducted by email and, latterly, after he had been admitted to a hospice in Worcester, by text. Yet, despite the gravity of his illness he remained actively engaged with the interview, suggesting additions and changes until shortly before his death. I understand that he was equally involved in communicating about the recording project with Adrian Partington: the ordering of the pieces on the CD, for example, was something in which he was closely involved. I refer readers to the interview where you will find detailed comments by Ian King on the music included here, as well as on other pieces.…
That’s the opening of John Quinn’s must-read review of Music for Gloucester Cathedral by Ian King published in MusicWeb International. We highly encourage you to read it and listen to the recording.
“Until it was suggested to me in 2020 that I might interview Ian King I was ignorant of his music. Since then, I’ve listened to it a great deal – including to pieces not included on this CD – and I’ve come to esteem it very highly. … Some of these pieces have especial stature: The Christmas Truce is an imaginative and moving piece; The St John Passion is a notable addition to the Lenten liturgical repertoire; and The Gloucester Service is, I think, among the very finest recent settings of the Evening Canticles. … Every piece on this CD is here recorded for the first time and Ian King’s music was in the safest hands. Jonathan Hope’s organ contributions are unfailingly excellent. The members of the Gloucester Cathedral Choir have clearly taken this music to their hearts: they sing with skill and great commitment. Adrian Partington clearly believes in this music and directs the performances with flair and attention to detail… Ian King’s music deserves widespread attention. This excellent CD is an ideal introduction to his work.”
—John Quinn, MusicWeb International