[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDA67017

£13.99

'One of the greatest a cappella works written this century'; so writes Gramophone's Marc Rochester in the sleeve note to this recording, and this is no exaggeration. Written in 1922, with a devastatingly effective Agnus Dei being added in 1926, Frank Martin's Mass for double choir is a truly wonderful work, combining intensely personal moments of religious contemplation with outbursts of overwhelming glory.

Pizzetti's Messa di Requiem, also composed in 1922, is a work firmly steeped in the Gregorian tradition, Pizzetti weaving an intriguing twentieth-century web over the familiar tunes.

Also included on this recording are Martin's Passacaille, the composer's only work for solo organ, and Pizzetti's De profundis, dedicated by way of apology to a colleague on whom Pizzetti had previously vented his infamous foul temper.

Recorded in Westminster Cathedral, London, on 7-11 July 1997
Recording Engineers
ANTONY HOWELL
JULIAN MILLARD
Recording Producer
ARTHUR JOHNSON
Cover Design
TERRY SHANNON
Booklet Editor
NICK FLOWER
Executive Producers
EDWARD PERRY
SIMON PERRY
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MCMXCVIII

Duration: 71'26
DDD
Front illustration: Votive Offering (1900) by Wilhelm List (1864-1918)

FRANK MARTIN (1890-1974)

Mass for double choir

ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI (1880-1968)

Messa di Requiem

WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR
JAMES O'DONNELL The Master of Music, organ

Contents:

    Frank Martin (1890-1974)

    Mass for double choir [25'50]

  1. Kyrie [5'27]
  2. Gloria [5'22]
  3. Credo [6'01]
  4. Sanctus [4'15]
  5. Agnus Dei [4'17]

  6. Passacaille for organ [11'13]

    Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)

    Messa di Requiem [28'35]

  7. Requiem aeternam [5'54]
  8. Dies irae [12'06]
  9. Sanctus [3'32]
  10. Agnus Dei [1'50]
  11. Libera me [4'46]

  12. De profundis [5'17]
Note: Due to a manufacturing error, some copies of this CD have a track discrepancy. Separate track numbers are given to the Sanctus and Benedictus of the Frank Martin Mass, while the booklet and listing above show the music as one movement, the Sanctus (Track 4). For these discs, the rest of the indexes are shifted, so that the Pizzetti Requiem begins with track 8.

There is, of course, no difference in the music itself which is all there in the right order.

GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER / RECORD OF THE YEAR
GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE BEST OF THE YEAR
PENGUIN GUIDE ROSETTE
RECORD OF THE YEAR, HI FI CHOICE

'For connoisseurs of choral music this is an essential buy. Outstanding performances of two rarely heard 20th-century masterpieces' (Classic CD)

'Magnificent' (Gramophone)

'Gloriously sung. This certainly deserves to become a classic recording' (BBC Record Review)

'A recording of arresting immediacy and musical richness' (BBC Music Magazine)

'I have been glued to my seat discovering this quite wonderful work [Pizzetti]. The performance needs no further reecommendation; it is utterly compelling' (Organists' Review)

'Martin's Mass is a life-enhancing creation of enormous invention and fervour. The Requiem by Pizzetti is simply ravishing. The recordings are superb' (Hi Fi News)

'Westminster Cathedral Choir here produces one of its most inspired offerings yet. This is one of the purest and finest choral recordings I have ever heard' (Church Times)

'A work of surpassing beauty which will be a revelation to those who have not encountered it before, particularly in this fervent and inspired performance.' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

'Both works are simply among the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. A most beguiling combination of melody and harmony, performed here with technical near-perfection and a magnificent range of emotional colour' (Hi Fi Choice)

'Quite remarkable' (International Record Review)

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