I have known this recording for over forty years since I first sang the piece in my school choir and since as the baritone soloist, and I have never found one to match it. The pure, cool sound of the King's College trebles is ideal; there is none of the distracting edge or unsteadiness too often encountered in rival versions - surprisingly, even in the recording on the Regis label by David Hill conducting the normally excellent Westminster Cathedral Choir - and Willcocks knows exactly how to pace the proceedings and shade the dynamics. Treble soloist Robert Chilcott sings divinely, dead on the note without gulps or scoops, while John Carol Case's plaintive baritone hits just the right tone of entreaty.
The sound is remarkably clean despite the resonant acoustic. This is still the best version available.