From the Vaults of Westminster Cathedral

From the Vaults of Westminster Cathedral

A liturgically-based path through the Christmas season is provided by this Westminster Cathedral sequence, music by Victoria and Byrd gracing the Annunciation, while a short, harmonically conservative Mass by George Malcolm, an ex-organist of the cathedral, is central to the Christmas segment.

 

Our rating

4

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:27 pm

COMPOSERS: Byrd,Charles Wood,George Malcolm,Monteverdi,Victoria
LABELS: Hyperion
WORKS: A Procession of Chant and Polyphony
PERFORMER: Choir of Westminster Cathedral/ Martin Baker
CATALOGUE NO: CDA 67707

A liturgically-based path through the Christmas season is provided by this Westminster Cathedral sequence, music by Victoria and Byrd gracing the Annunciation, while a short, harmonically conservative Mass by George Malcolm, an ex-organist of the cathedral, is central to the Christmas segment.

Epiphany brings Monteverdi’s Messa a 4 da cappella, whose polyphonic complexities elicit a confidently assertive response from the choir, with fine internal balances between the voice sections. An impressive six-part Nunc dimittis by Charles Wood prefaces ‘Marche des Roi mages’, Matthew Martin’s dramatic closing improvisation on the cathedral’s Willis organ, roaring the congregation on its path homeward.

This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024