In 1997, I was given the opportunity to participate in a commercial CD recording of Classical Music as a choral extra. It was an immense privilege at the time as CDs were the incumbent medium for distributing all recorded music and you had to buy them individually as single playlists for about 14-15 pounds.

My job was to beef up the choir in numbers 9 and 14 to a larger ‘congregational’-sized choir made up of singers from Patrick McCarthy’s choirs Colchester Bach Choir & Dovercourt Choral Society with the solo choir parts being taken over by Peter Holman’s resident early music chamber chorus Psalmody. Also on the CD were The Parley of Instruments Peter Holman MBE’s famous early music band. 

Vital Spark of Heavenly Flame as it was called by the name of its title track means that I was immortalised on a commercial recording. This experience was a vital one for me later on in my decision to study studio recording of classical and popular music at HOFA Studios online courses based in Southern Germany. 

Peter Holman MBE is an ace harpsichordist and musical director who studied with Thurston Dart and became a guest professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London alongside the other virtuoso harpsichordist I know Alexander Puliaev. He also used to teach at Colchester Institute Music Dept when it was more of a Conservatoire.

Timothy Roberts who was known to me for editing his own OUP realisations of 30 Popular Purcell songs in 2 volumes I purchased that year took over the organ parts whilst Peter Holman directed.

The CD is of ecclesiastical music of the British classical period. They are rare anthems which are largely arrangements of Handel by minor British Composers. As I cannot commercially display the music here due to copyright please navigate to the Hyperion Records website by clicking on the CD cover art for samples of the music, the facility to download Mp3s of it and more information. In the 1990s Hyperion Records was the second most popular Classical Music label behind Deutsche Grammaphon and ahead of Decca. I’m proud to have recorded for them if only as an unnamed extra. 

Strangely enough, Vital Spark of Heavenly Flame is what I normally am in love a catalyst rather than her first choice!