Christopher Stokes's playing is crisp in its precision, and he uses just right amount of rubato.

Sounds Romantic Organ Music of Elgar and Stanford played by Christopher Stokes on the organ of Manchester Cathedral Lamm 160

Stokes’s interpretation of the Elgar Sonata is a richly mature reading, revelling in the Manchester organ’s ability to score Elgar’s music… orchestrally quite an achievement in a work often recorded but whose soul remains just as often illusive. 

Hakim - Messe Solonnelle; Duruflé – Messe Cum Jubilo; Fauré – Messe Basse; Langlais - Trois Paraphrases Grégoriennes  Choir of Manchester Cathedral/Jeffrey Makinson (organ)/Christopher Stokes (conductor and solo organ)Herald HAVPCD 248

 

The sixteen trebles and nine lay clerks of Manchester Cathedral Choir are trained to a fine level of ensemble, and for Naji Hakim their musicianship clearly proved inspirational when composing his Messe Solennelle, commissioned by Manchester’s Dean and Chapter for the year 2000. …. The most recent of three Masses by Olivier Messiaen’s successor at the church of La Trinité, it is a late flowering of the venerable French organ school. Appropriately, the Manchester singers include in their collection other works both characteristic of that tradition and well suited to their robust, rather European timbre. 

John Ireland, Issac Watts and Samuel Wesley are among the other composers whose petitions to the highest aspirations of the human spirit are so eloquently voiced by the choir’s flawless articulation and translucent sound.

Passiontide: Music for Solace and Reflection

Choir of Manchester Cathedral/Jeffrey Makinson (organ)/ Christopher Stokes (conductor and organ) Naxos Catalogue No: 8.557025

 

The choir is first-rate….  An excellent collection, the more welcome at Naxos price.

The Spirit of the Lord  Choir of Manchester Cathedral / Jeffrey Makinson (organ) / Christopher Stokes (conductor)LAMM 163D

The blended sound of the trebles is evident in the delightful A Song of Peace and Doubt not thy Father’s care. …. Manchester Cathedral Choir is to be applauded for exploring this rich early twentieth-century repertoire and producing a disc that is a worthy addition to the canon of existing recordings.

A warm welcome to the idea behind this recording, and to its execution. The choir has a fine robust, forward treble sound, and sings expressively with good articulation of the words. The music itself is outstanding. …. the choir’s performance is never less than very good, and in the full anthems in particular, is exiting in its brilliance and expressiveness.

This gem of a disc draws the listener in to the quiet intimacy of this exquisite devotional repertoire. Their performances are beautifully styled, naturally shaped, clear, and technically first class. Interpretations are simultaneously fresh and relaxed. Tuning is sweet and unanimity is excellent. Particularly successful are extended verse sections in which a delicate tapestry of fine solo voices from within the choir and viols is woven with subtlety and intelligence.

What a fine choir this is, and what a satisfying recital, which I strongly recommend you to buy. It is good to have a genuine anthology, with viols and organ for variety, to which one can listen in it’s entirety without having to mess around programming the CD player to get things in the right order. Soloist and ensemble are never less than good, and sometimes outstanding…

O Clap Your Hands: Sacred Music by Orlando Gibbons  Choir of Manchester Cathedral/Rose Consort of Viols/Jeffrey Makinson (organ) / Christopher Stokes (conductor and solo organ)Herald HAVPCD 278

... a high-quality recording of fabulous music. In particular, the trebles' diction is admirable and the contribution of the Rose Consort of Viols enhances the performances.