[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDA67680

£13.99

Hyperion is delighted to present this latest CD from The Choir of Westminster Abbey under their inspirational director, James O’Donnell. They continue their exploration of the rich repertoire of the liturgy in its historical context in the Abbey with music for the Feast of the Ascension. Ascension Day is a particular moment of celebration within the annual round of Easter praise and is celebrated in glorious and triumphal language. The works recorded here represent a wide range of the best of liturgical music, starting from the intricate and joyful writing of the sixteenth-century composer Peter Philips and ending with fascinating and appealing pieces by living composers. Along the way are works from the great flowering of English cathedral music in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Recorded in Westminster Abbey on 18, 19, 25, 26 June 2007
Recording Engineer
DAVID HINITT
Recording Producer
JEREMY SUMMERLY
Executive Producers
SIMON PERRY
NICK FLOWER
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MMVIII

Duration: 66'18
DDD
Front illustration: Westminster Abbey (1904) by John Fulleylove (1845–1908)

The Feast of the Ascension at Westminster Abbey

THE CHOIR OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY
ROBERT QUINNEY organ
JAMES O'DONNELL conductor

Contents:

    —— MATINS ——
  1. Caelos ascendit hodie    Sir Charles Villiers Stanford   [2'03]
  2. The Preces    Bernard Rose   [1'12]
  3. Psalm 24    Sir Joseph Barnby   [2'46]
  4. Festival Te Deum in E    Benjamin Britten   [6'11]
  5. Der 100. Psalm    Heinrich Schütz   [4'15]
  6. The Responses    Bernard Rose   [5'54]
  7. O clap your hands    Ralph Vaughan Williams   [3'08]

    —— EUCHARIST ——
    Missa brevis    Sir William Walton   [7'50]

  8.   Kyrie   [1'58]
  9.   Sanctus & Benedictus   [1'16]
  10.   Agnus Dei   [1'22]
  11.   Gloria   [3'12]
  12. God is gone up    Gerald Finzi   [4'37]

    —— EVENSONG ——

  13. Ascendit Deus    Peter Philips   [2'44]
  14. Psalm 93    Sir George Macfarren   [1'47]
  15. Magnificat ‘Chichester Service’    Sir William Walton   [4'03]
  16. Nunc dimittis ‘Chichester Service’    Sir William Walton   [2'13]
  17. Viri Galilaei    Patrick Gowers   [7'30]
  18. The Dismissal    Bernard Rose   [0'21]
  19. Toccata    Francis Pott   [9'37]
Sleeve Notes

'This addition to Westminster Abbey's invaluable series of music for feast-days gets off to a cracking start with Stanford's magnificent eight-part motet Caelos ascendit hodie. This sets a jubilant tone for the whole programme, which contains some outstanding 20th-century contributions to the Anglican repertoire, including Britten's Festival Te Deum with its exciting organ effects, Finzi's triumphant God Is Gone Up and Patrick Gowers's Viri Galilaei, whose meditative opening leads to a paean of exultation. All these, and Schutz's Der 100. Psalm, are sung with exhilarating panache' (Daily Telegraph)

'After seven years at the helm, James O'Donnell has made a formidable singing outfit of the Westminster Abbey Choir … The treble line is robust and thrillint, its soloist, Jacob Ewens, a sinuous star in Britten's Te Deum in E' (The Times)

'Everything is a joy here, including the modern works, the anthem Viri Galilaei by Patrick Gowers and Francis Pott's brilliant Toccata for organ, played with assured virtuosity by Robert Quinney. The choir of Westminster Abbey under James O'Donnell sing with the happy care which his choristers at the Cathedral used to bring to their work with him' (Gramophone)

'The planning is astute … Just as cunning is the way some old cathedral favourites nestle alongside more contemporary settings. O clap your hands and God is gone up may be Anglican staples, but they are given fresh and energetic renditions here, while the brief Stanford motet at the start is a most exhilarating introduction. Best of all, perhaps, is Ascension motet Viri Galilaei by Patrick Gowers … this splendid and dramatic setting with its concluding triumphant hymn is further vibrant proof of his sympathetic writing for voices' (International Record Review)

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