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Westminster Abbey, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Jeremy Summerly
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: November 2005
Total duration: 77 minutes 16 seconds
'James O'Donnell proves himself master of two Westminster traditions: the Collegiate Abbey style is as assured as his former 'continental' Cathedral persona. Best are the persuasively-layered Britten Te Deum, and conspicuously bouncy Walton Jubilate. The Tomkins reponses almost purr with effortless control' (BBC Music Magazine)
'The setting's generous acoustics play their own part, bathing the entire recording in a warm, luxuriant glow. Those with even the vaguest interest in choral music will undoubtedly want to add this fine recording to their collection' (HMV Choice)
'I'm so taken with this program that I frankly rebel at the notion of spending one sentence, much less a paragraph, on the topic of alternative recordings' (Fanfare, USA)
'This is glorious music sung to perfection' (American Record Guide)
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Bells
[1'17]
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Movement 1: Kyrie
[3'17]
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Movement 2: Gloria
[4'49]
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Movement 4: Agnus Dei
[2'49]
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Hyperion’s record of the month for November sees the launch of an exciting new collaboration with The Choir of Westminster Abbey—the pinnacle of the premier league of the Church of England. This first disc presents a sequence of music such as might be heard in the Abbey on Trinity Sunday. Opening with the Abbey bells summoning the faithful, we travel through the three principal services of the day—Matins, Eucharist and Evensong—in a blaze of glorious music and atmosphere. Alongside such old chestnuts as Walton’s Jubilate and Stainer’s I saw the Lord, we have a new recording of Francis Grier’s astonishing Missa Trinitatis Sanctae—written for the Abbey choir in 1991—and a rare performance of Howells’s ‘Westminster Service’, the second of two settings of the Evening Canticles he made for the choir in the 1950s. Full documentation is provided, and includes a history of music-making in the Abbey through the ages, and an introduction by The Very Reverend Dr Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster. A second new recording from Westminster Abbey, the ‘Great Service’ by William Byrd, is being released simultaneously on Hyperion CDA67533. |
Other albums in this series |