Chapel of King's College, Cambridge [L] R4 3 p.m. 24.xii.2018

[mopsus]

I'm not a hifi geek, but I think of 80 minutes as the limit of an audio CD. Certainly the blank ones onto which I am gradually transferring an LP collection I've inherited are no longer than that. I've been told that the managing director of the first company to make CDs wanted them to be long enough to contain a complete performance of Beethoven's 9th. (A related topic would be the longest LP side; but that would be getting geeky and off-topic.)

[Petrushka]

I'm not a hifi geek, but I think of 80 minutes as the limit of an audio CD. Certainly the blank ones onto which I am gradually transferring an LP collection I've inherited are no longer than that. I've been told that the managing director of the first company to make CDs wanted them to be long enough to contain a complete performance of Beethoven's 9th. (A related topic would be the longest LP side; but that would be getting geeky and off-topic.)

I did hesitate about whether to include my post on the Record Review board or The Choir but settled for this one. Happy for a host to move it if so desired.

CDs are increasingly coming on the market with more than 80 minutes of music and I own one lasting 83 minutes. My 20 year old player has no problem in coping with it or any other extended CD. No, as this issue is very specifically a commemorative one it seems bizarre to omit the items. A solution would have been to have issued it as two CDs as King's did with the 2010 service. I'd have been happy with that and the second organ voluntary could have been included as well.

As I point out, the lavish production values, booklet and documentation are superb, enhancing the commemorative aspect of this issue. I just feel that omitting two carols was the wrong decision.

[Nick Armstrong]

All tracks plus the complete booklet are available on Qobuz, which will do me just fine.

There is an error in the text of the booklet which only a few here (and one in particular) will or need know about