The New College Oxford Choir has recorded Byrd's " Jus-
torum Animae " and Stanford's " Beati quorum via integra est " (Stanford in an austere mood). Those who favour that kind of sport can compare these gramophone performances with those of the choirs of Temple Church, St. John's, Cam- bridge, and St. George's, Windsor. I shall indulge in no such comparison, for I hold that people who sing in stained glass- houses should not be provoked to throw stones. The singing of the New College Choir is straightforward and sound, and ' attracts chiefly because it does not seek to be impressive. Apart from the shaky beginning of the trebles in " Justorurn Animae," and the foggy tone of the basses as they are ap- proaching a low A flat in the " Beati," the records fairly represent the standard of performanee_in choirs and places where they sing regularly. Bent BLAINE.
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